My son was in Montessori for 2.5 years. I was really into it, very interested in their methodology and just thought it was all around fantastic. Until I realized that my son wasn't really being understood and introduced to the materials at a rapid enough rate. It was while he was in school that he was tested for giftedness (well, potentially other things but giftedness is what I suspected) and even after getting that "diagnosis" the teacher still wasn't changing up the work. A lot of the things, he'd "get" the first time and then he'd just have to keep repeating it for no reason that was particularly compelling. It was then that I realized how much money I'd paid for him to build block towers and count to ten.
If your child is already reading, I'd expect him to be doing only minimal work with the sandpaper letters (only enough to practice writing) and to be working with the moveable alphabet. He wouldn't even need a real lesson on the pink tower...it's just building a block tower.
How familiar are you with the progression of materials and lessons? Does the teacher know of his abilities? I'd go into it with an idea of where you think he should be, what his concentration level is like at home (the 3 year old year is traditionall meant to be about building concentration skills through practical life activities), and what you know him to be capable of. I trusted too much that the teacher already knew these things, but despite having years of experience, and my feeling that she was indeed a very good teacher for other students, she just wasn't getting him.
You could also mention that you're particularly concerned because you like the method, the teacher, and the school, but have read many stories of gifted children having an extremely poor experience when not being introduced to new material quickly enough (a search of this forum will show you many examples).
Good luck.
Thanks so much for your thoughts!
I'm unfortunately not very familiar with the lesson sequence, so I'll ask for clarification. I'll also ask when he might start working with the moveable letters. That will hopefully help the conference move in the right direction.
It's hard to say what she knows about his abilities. During the hour long family interview she brought a few simple activities to gauge his ability while we talked to the academic director. He finished them in 10 minutes. I honestly thought she had other works hiding somewhere, but she didn't. Based on her experience, she thought those things would occupy him for at least 45 minutes. When he was done, he picked up a Dr. Seuss book from the bookshelf and began reading it aloud while laughing. My husband was quick to point out that he had never seen the book before, so she at least knows he can read with some comprehension. But when I said that we feel his math abilities exceed his reading abilities, she seemed skeptical. She has commented on his intense focus, so she does recognize that. Maybe giving specific examples from our home life will help?
