I can also echo Kriston with some of the same frustrations. My son (now 5) entered a Montessori school just before his 5th birthday (after a miserable preschool experience). We came with IQ test results in hand but they still made my son jump through hoops to really start to learn in the math area. On his orientation day he grabbed a sheet of addition problems from the shelf and filled in the correct answers immediately. From there the teachers showed him the correct way to use the manipulatives to get the answer. They told me that he needed to feel 4+5=9 in order to understand it. It's been a struggle over the past few months but they are now finally realizing that my son gets abstract math concepts. He is no longer required to use the manipulatives and he does get individualized math work.
Language arts is another story. He is still making his way through the early readers, reading each one three times before he can move on. My son is not that far advanced in reading (comfortable at Magic Tree House level) but he does find these books very babyish and easy. They keep stressing to me that the phonics is very important, even to gifted children but I can't help think that this is probably a step he can skip. He gets more reading work in the classroom in the science area. Usually he reads the teacher level fact cards and does "research" on the varies topics to present to the class.
Overall I would say I am content with his school situation for the moment. I am actually moving my almost 4 DD there for the fall. I think that Montessori has lots that can be beneficial to a gifted child but like every school situation it depends upon the teachers.
