I've had a very positive experience placing my dd3 in a Montessori school. The school is focused on complete child development, not just academics. My daughter is quite shy, so the teacher goes out of her way to make sure my daughter feels comfortable and has opportunities to make friends. My daughter was even able to perform on stage, singing a song with the rest of the class at a recent recital.
The students are also challenged to be self-sufficient, and self directed in choosing work. The work they do sometimes accomplishes a goal in an indirect way. For example, working with push-pins increases finger strength and coordination, improving penmanship.
Academically, the students are supposed to work at their own level and their own pace. My DD3 has been doing addition worksheets and spelling with the movable alphabet, which I am told most students don't do until the following year. I waited a while to see if the teacher would advance her further, but progress was slower at school than at home. Eventually I spoke up and asked the teacher to pick up the pace, and it seems that the reason for the pace was that that the teacher wanted to make sure DD had sufficient practice and exposure to the topics to form a solid foundation. Unaware that my daughter was getting additional exposure at home, the teacher was not inclined to offer additional acceleration. Once I communicated to the teacher that academically her schoolwork was review of things DD had learned at home rather than exposure to novel concepts, we saw additional advancement. I believe my daughter is now working exactly at the level she should be to be challenged and interested while maintaining confidence in her abilities. That means she is working with the kindergarteners sometimes, so I do wonder what the future holds, but right now I'm just taking things one year at a time.
The point I wanted to make is that even in an environment that is supposed to follow the child, in which the teachers are mindful and accommodating of differing levels of ability, it may take some communication to get things just right.
