Montessori has its advantages but in your shoes, I'd dig deep into the school's curriculum. Maria Montessori lived many decades ago and the world has changed a lot and we now know a lot more about how children's cognitive development than they did back then. Who exactly is in charge of the school's curriculum and how it is being developed? How can they meet the needs of a gifted learner?
This won't be a true Montessori setting. It is a state school, so the curriculum is a mash-up between meeting the state standards by using some Montessori methods. So what they are really doing is picking and choosing. The students will also have break out tie for "specials" daily- PE, Technology, Music, Art, and possibly Dance but tht hasn't been decided yet. I had a chance to visit the classroom in an existing school where they have already implemented the program, and talk to the director. (The montesori we are looking at is going into a new school that is being built now- not sure if I mentioned that. So some of the faculty will be moving to the new school, and the director of the program is one of them. She would be DD teacher)
I asked her these same questions,and spoke with her about my concerns for DD. Each child sits down on Monday and is given a few items that they must work on for the week (different from traditional Montessori, but this is how they keep the kids on target with state standards.) The children must also choose items that they want to work on for the week, they can still only use materials they have been given a lesson on, etc. If a child chooses work they have already mastered, they will be directed to select something similar that they have not mastered yet. I think this could be good for DD, because at least she will have some control over what she works on, but there will be clear parameters. It will be a lot herder for her to pick the easiest thing available because she doesn't want to work. The lessons will begin at the level of the student, so for example, my DD can read, so they won't waste her time teaching her how to read "the montessori way". At least, this is what the teacher tells me. They will use adaptive testing at the beginning of the year to determine where the student is working. The only problem here is that the tests only go up through the next grade. They will brush her up on how to use the materials if needed for a new lesson, but they won't make her go back to the beginning. This is different from a Montessori Charter school that said they would make her start at the beginning, even though she is reading chapter books.
I asked about acceleration, and what happens if a grade 1 student burns through all of the grade 3 materials in a subject by mid year. She said they bring the higher level materials to the student from the upper classroom, not send the student to the higher class. Although, I think if I wanted to make a fuss over it, they would allow her to go to the other class instead, especially if she were ready for multiple pieces of "work". Not for the whole day, but likely for part of the day.
Miraculously they all seem to be very flexible. Her current school has been, my only complaint is that small problem when they sent her to the 1st grade class and the teacher refused to have her back because she wasn't working. (Hello? Did no one explain to you that this is a problem we are having with her, and sending her to you class is the solution? Also, I'm not a teacher, but I probably wouldn't have chosen the week of Christmas break to try something new. Just sayin')
