It made me wonder if the adherence to some of the philosophies actually allowed some kids to go unnoticed as gifted.
Yes, absolutely. However, that's because the concept of “giftedness” doesn't translate well into a really good Montessori classroom where children are allowed to progress at their own pace. One child might move through the math curriculum very quickly, while another might speed right through the language work. On the other hand, certain children need many repetitions on every piece of work and that is okay too.
Our (MG) daughter started at a Montessori school when she was 3 y/o and has been there for 6 years. The first 5 years were excellent because her teachers always introduced her to work when she was ready for it. There was no endless repetition of anything that she had already mastered. She was very happy and challenged. (This last year hasn’t been quite as good, mostly due to a new teacher who has been trying to keep all of the same-aged children in a lock-step curriculum, but I will set that issue aside for now. Ineffective teachers can be found in all schools, not just Montessori ones.)
When we would go to parent teacher conferences, DD’s teachers would show us examples of her work and discuss what materials she was using and what she was learning from them. (For example, “She has been really focused on using the racks and tubes to learn about division lately.”) Coming from a more traditional educational background, I found it a little frustrating that they never compared her to other students. I always secretly wanted to ask, “And how many other children have been introduced to division? Is she the best at it? What is her percentile rank?”
However, those comparisons are just not part of the Montessori culture, and if you aren’t comparing the children to one another then there isn’t as much reason to label a child as “gifted”.
