Thanks again, everyone.
I would prefer to see study skills and EF develop because a learner is being instructed and challenged in the quality of their work, in the zone of proximal development. so that the exertion of work ethics, study skills, and organization are in service to personally meaningful learning. This is what NT learners more often receive, because conventional schools do instruct them in their ZPD. Why should academically-advanced learners have to learn it using drudgery?
I completely agree. I know in my personal elementary school experience, finishing seemingly pointless worksheets only led to more worksheets. I got completely overwhelmed by the amount of paper involved and that was probably involved in me mentally checking out of school. I do know that while the gifted program is deliberately assigning a lot of work, they believe it to be meaningful and interesting work. I have talked to a teenage student who said that she never felt like her homework was a waste of her time, it just took a lot of effort to accomplish the tasks. I just don't know what to ask the school to really tease out necessary work vs. work for the sake of work. I suspect the appropriateness of any given assignment depends on the student to whom it has been assigned. I do think that a child can have valuable and fulfilling experiences outside of school during hours not spent on homework.
I think about the ZPD a lot when helping my daughter with things, I'm constantly considering how to scaffold her to accomplish something she wants to do, and when and how to taper the support. The Montessori model, done well, seems like it's more likely to allow students to work in their ZPD. I like the focus on independence but am not sure whether it would curtail scaffolding ... too much. My concern real concern is whether a teacher will notice when a child is working below ZPD, particularly when that child is exceeding typical grade-level expectations, and what the school would do about it.
It took me a full year to realize that he had been doing the *same work* the entire time--work he called the "scratchy letters." When I realized this, I told him that if he wanted he could do something else, that he just had to tell his teacher that he was ready to move on. So then he moved on to some word thing that he did for *another* year. The thing is that he could already read simple text before he even set foot in the school (at age 2.5). He didn't need to go through the Montessori sequence. I told them all of this, but their stance was that the child needed to decide how to spend their day.
You really are describing something like the one of the worst-case scenarios I�d worry about in a Montessori environment. One I would want to avoid if it all possible. It sounds like this school was trying to imply that your son spent a whole year on the letters because they were "following the child." Do you think it�s really the case that he actively decided to pour himself into the sandpaper letters? Or were they failing to notice he might have needed to be explicitly offered something else? My understanding is that a classroom may contain more advanced works that are off-limits to a child until the teacher has decided that a child is ready. Do you know if they were rigidly boxing him in to the sandpaper letters until he�d done some particular sequence of activities each and every step? Were they offering any other choices? Did you see any sign that he was developing other skills, like handwriting or spelling, related to these activities? Or was it just a dead-end?
I know my does not need instruction on individual letters at this time, though she�s still figuring out some phograms at this time. I do think she would enjoy the phonetic matching games and the writing. I�d prefer her to be able to jump through parts of the language curriculum if she encounters something she�s already mastered, rather than be required to do unnecessary repetition ad nauseum. That is its own kind of busy work...
A kid only has so much early childhood in which to play and imagine. I see now that those years are precious, and there is no reason to waste them on structured academic learning.
Do you think the preschool years your son spent in Montessori (inclusive of the hours he spent in recess and outside school) wound up including significantly less imagination and play than that of your other child(ren)?
DS7 is in a Montessori elementary school, and I am certain he would have hated the Casa sequence. He was able to read at 2 like Kai�s son and thrives on conceptual discussions that extend and apply abstract thinking. Montessori, with its rigid insistence taken in many schools on concrete to abstract progression, doesn�t respect the needs of young abstract thinkers who can skip ahead of physical works.
Regarding working abstractly in elementary school, what does that look like when compared to using the concrete works? Does he, for instance, use pencil and paper instead of the number beads? Whatever he is doing now to move through the curriculum, do you think he would have been required to show mastery through means limited to the concrete if he had attended Casa? If, hypothetically, he had attended Casa and you had become concerned he was being held back from abstract thinking, can you think of any accommodation you might have been tempted to request of the teachers to meet his needs? I�m trying to figure out what to watch out for and what questions to ask the school.
Also be aware that, if your child is science minded, that Montessori is extremely weak in science, with focuses in language arts and math. Anticipate that you�ll have to teach science at home if you want it covered adequately.
I have been told that the local Montessori school does the Great Lessons curriculum and that this includes science presentations and experiments. Is this what you son�s school does? Do you think it lacks depth in particular areas of science, or in scientific experimentation and documentation generally? Are you using any particular materials at home to supplement science, if there are any worth recommending?
