1. The school she offered to us has multi-grade montessori classroom. She will put DS in Grade 3-6 as a 3rd grader next year for 4 days a week. They ask lots of open ended questions in class with lots of projects that suits students at different levels. She also offered to do 2 days homeschooling and 2 days in school per week if we want. However, this school is 40 miles away from where we live, with a 40-45 minute commute (mostly freeway). It seems very far. This is a small school.
2. The principal also offered us another option. Next year, she is going to pull one of the good teachers from option 1 school to a school near us. This school is also montessori based, but new and not very established. It also offers a multi-grade classroom. DS will be put in 3rd grade in grade 3-5 classroom. Currently the school is not very well run.
I was just skimming through posts, but something here would give me pause, besides option 2 school being not very well run. I don't think I've ever heard of a montessori school with a grade 3-5 classroom or grade 3-6 classroom - that's just not the normal breakdown (usually it's grades 1-3 and grades 4-6; I don't recall what the reasoning is for the breakdown but there are some kind of actual reasons). Not that it would necessarily be a bad thing, but it tells me that both the schools might not adhere closely to true montessori principles, and that's what would bother me a whole lot. (there are good montessori schools and bad ones - any school can call itself montessori - and my personal guess is that the ones that stick closer to the principles probably tend to be the better ones, though of course that is a generalization.) So before going forward with either option, I'd like them to explain why they break it down that way and I'd want to otherwise verify that they were good schools.
That said, in theory a montessori school should be a good place for a gifted kid. My dd is only MG, but we were told by the GDC that montessori was a second-best alternative to a full time gifted program. Since dd (and her brothers) have had other issues (of a 2E nature; late bloomers), we weren't ready to put her into a full time gifted program just yet and now they're all in the public charter montessori down the street from us. The advantages are that, at least in theory, the curriculum is without limits. Plus two of my kids are very much visual-spatial learners, and I think monessori can be great for that (not so much sitting and listening). In reality, it depends a lot on the teacher. DD's teacher (she's currently finishing 2nd grade) is a bit more linear in terms of the curriculum - you must do A, then B, then C, etc. and she may be less eager than I would prefer in encouraging dd to stretch herself (dd can often use a nudge, etc.). But my other two boys will hopefully have teachers who are better with regard to allowing them to skip ahead, or around, in the curriculum - they are starting first grade in August, and no siblings can be in the same class, so I'll have three kids in grade 1-3 classrooms (I'll be sampling half the teachers at that level LOL). One of their current K teachers assured me that the teacher one of them will be getting is very flexible with jumping ahead in the curriculum.
Both my boys' K teachers told me long ago, flat out, that they'd be happy to bring in materials from the next level if they ran out of things to learn from the works in their current classroom. That turned out not to be necessary (they haven't been tested but I'm guessing they're MG), because they still had the opportunity to learn pretty extensively and are both achieving well above "grade level" (or what is considered grade level by the district) in most areas. But the principle is there to draw upon if necessary.
Also, I'm definitely a fan of the multi-age classroom in general. I like that my kids' friends are various ages - some older, some younger - I think it proves the point that the rigid age-groupings of regular public school are not the social necessities they are often made out to be. Academically, montessori is a little different because the kids really aren't stuck to a particular grade-level curriculum (*if* montessori is being implemented correctly/well), but rather each kid is on his or her own curriculum and at his or her own pace.
Lastly, I think that driving convenience can be a huge factor, depending on what else is going on in your family. I have my almost-3 y.o. in a toddler program at a private montessori that's about 15-20 minutes from us, but I kept him there only two days per week (they are half days) in part because of the cost and in part because of the drive - hugely inconvenient for me (ruins the baby's naps, etc.). Just two weeks left and I can't wait till it's done (in August he'll be joining his siblings at the public charter down the street - I can't wait!!!). I can't imagine driving 40+ minutes each way to a school, especially if I were carting around younger siblings, though all-day does make a difference (much better than returning in 3 hours).
that's my two cents - good luck with your decision
