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A few days before we discussed Montessori schools in class, I happened to speak with my sister, Caren, who teaches at a Montessori school in CT. Both her kids when to Montessori schools and for her son it worked out great, while it wasn't right for her daughter so she switched over in 3rd grade. My sister lived in Milan for a while, and they put her son, when he was 2 1/2 yrs old into a Montessori school. I can remember how smart he was at 3 years old and his vocabulary was much more advanced, however, I think this was due to his exposure to 3 languages. She told me about how they prefer a high student to teacher ratio, which seems weird to me. She also explained, as we discussed in class, that it is based on doing hands on activities and the senses. The "grade levels" are composed of three ages of children and therefore the older kids are expected to teach the younger kids and help them and a lot of the learning is done through interaction. Caren explained that there are no tests or grades, and that the child will learn at a rate that is right for them. She explained to me that the school is not about competing and judging, so grades do not work. Tests and grades can cause anxiety and feel of failure, when learning needs to be viewed in a positive way, and if students are worried about failing or grades then their focus is on those things rather than on learning. All of the activities are very interactive and visual. Kids learn from interaction with one another and from themselves, and they learn how to assess themselves in some way. I think this is a great way to work with students who are disciplined and self motivated, however, for those who may have a learning disability in something like reading, it might be very difficult. One question I still have is how do Montessori schools handle students with disabilities? It seems without formal testing it might be hard. I really hope I get the opportunity to observe a Montessori classroom either this semester or next. I am also very curious about Emilia Reggio schools, with seem to be similar in some ways. With my background in art and design I think it might be something I am very interested in.
A few days before we discussed Montessori schools in class, I happened to speak with my sister, Caren, who teaches at a Montessori school in CT. Both her kids when to Montessori schools and for her son it worked out great, while it wasn't right for her daughter so she switched over in 3rd grade. My sister lived in Milan for a while, and they put her son, when he was 2 1/2 yrs old into a Montessori school. I can remember how smart he was at 3 years old and his vocabulary was much more advanced, however, I think this was due to his exposure to 3 languages. She told me about how they prefer a high student to teacher ratio, which seems weird to me. She also explained, as we discussed in class, that it is based on doing hands on activities and the senses. The "grade levels" are composed of three ages of children and therefore the older kids are expected to teach the younger kids and help them and a lot of the learning is done through interaction. Caren explained that there are no tests or grades, and that the child will learn at a rate that is right for them. She explained to me that the school is not about competing and judging, so grades do not work. Tests and grades can cause anxiety and feel of failure, when learning needs to be viewed in a positive way, and if students are worried about failing or grades then their focus is on those things rather than on learning. All of the activities are very interactive and visual. Kids learn from interaction with one another and from themselves, and they learn how to assess themselves in some way. I think this is a great way to work with students who are disciplined and self motivated, however, for those who may have a learning disability in something like reading, it might be very difficult. One question I still have is how do Montessori schools handle students with disabilities? It seems without formal testing it might be hard. I really hope I get the opportunity to observe a Montessori classroom either this semester or next. I am also very curious about Emilia Reggio schools, with seem to be similar in some ways. With my background in art and design I think it might be something I am very interested in.
1 comments:
Hey Leigh!
I interestingly enough was wondering the same thing as to what do Montessori schools do when they have a child with learning disabilitites? I think that it would be hard to use the same teaching strategies in which children would learn best from other children, if there was a child who had a larning disability. I do agree that its a great way of teaching, but also it would be difficult if there was a child with a learning disabiliy. I think it may interrupt the flow of teaching.
The teaching environment that appealed to me the most was the Reggio Emilia approach. I liked the way that they had small discussion groups. And also I liked how in this approach, the student teacher ratio seemed to be very small. I think this is a wise aproach to teaching because it allows for teachers to spend ample time addressing each students needs.
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