I am also completely in love with Montessori. I too have considered getting my Mont. certification. Some of the experiences that people have posted about sound horrible. This approach actually seems to completely contradict what I�ve learn about the philosophy. I have no experience with Montessori schools, however we do use tons of Mont. materials in homeschooling. The materials are very very versatile, much of what is used in preschool is used again in lower elementary. There are tons of extensions for the materials and so it doesn�t make sense that kids would be held back. If I was going to send my child to a Mont. school it definitely would be to a school that at least offers an elementary program. Also, I would ensure that the preschool teachers have a thorough knowledge of the 6-9 scope and sequence. There is division among �Montessorians�. Progressive Montessorians are open to presenting materials out of sequence which is important for all kids, not just gifted (IMO). Forcing kids to complete, repeat activities that they have mastered is ridiculous. If kids choose to repeat activities that they appear to have mastered that makes sense to some degree, but even then they should be encouraged to move on. As far as our homeschooling experience goes, we pick, choose and adapt as needed. We have a lot of fun with it. It is the only thing that works for us.
Annaliisa,
I have similar feelings about Montessori. I'm planning to homeschool next year and have been looking at the materials that Montessori has to offer. But when I spoke to a friend who is preschool Montessori trained,surprise! She seems locked tight in the "Montessori is for the preschool crowd only" mentality. Somewhere along the line, some preschool teachers have forgotten the philosophy of it all.
Because my son is very tactile and loves patterns, I can see that he'll have a whale of a time with the math materials for upper elementary levels. He's very intuitive at math and is doing Olympiad level questions, although I sometimes feel his knowledge is too mental. He has pictures in his head but he'd love if he could actually see and play with them. I'm sure the materials can only add to his understanding of the real world.
Annaliisa and everyone else out here, I'd be grateful if you could point to blogs that have been helpful. I'm only in the start up phase but will need to jump in with both feet soon.
