How do most children adjust to traditional school's after attending Montessori from pre-K to 6th grade?

Question

I am considering putting my 4 yr. old into a Montessori school that goes up to 6th grade, and I'm concerned about how she will adjust to a traditional school setting after she gtraduates. Does anyone haved any experience in this matter? My child is advanced for her age already and is very independent and eager to learn on her own so, her present teacher and I believe that Montessori is a good match for her. Any advise would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Whenever I hear this question I think about a scene in the movie Mean Girls. Kady, the movie’s protagonist has been homeschooled in Africa by her anthropologist parents. Her first “real” school is a public high school.

At first she is shocked and confused by the rules of the school. As she says in a voice over,”Never before had I lived in a world where adults didn’t trust me. I got in trouble for the most random things.” Then she is seen getting up to sharpen her pencil or to go to the bathroom and teachers being dismayed with her.

This is the kind of “transition” problem Montessori children have. They have been taught to be responsible and to think for themselves and now they are placed in a situation where they aren’t usually allowed to.

Being a Montessori teacher in a traditional school, I can tell you that these are the things that teachers get upset with. My program only goes to 3rd grade, so I get to hear it from the 4th grade teachers everyday. I’m not going to lie to you, they complain. I think it is human nature to be skeptical of things that are different and to try and find fault with them. But over the years I’ve tried to push past the complaints and actually look at the “problems” that my students have when transitioning.

First are the MANAGMENT problems. Asking permission for everything. Montessori students are used going to the bathroom when they need to go, they sharpen their pencils when they need to, they get up and get something that they need to complete their work with, they put on chapstick…. The only time I make them ask for permission is during a lesson or if they have been abusing the privilege, so a classroom where they have to ask permission, or just aren’t allowed to do such things during class time takes a little time to get use to.

SOCIAL- Montessori students are used to working together and helping their peers. They are used to using conflict resolution skills to work through their problems, they are used to the teacher not only respecting their input and opinions, but encouraging them, and they are use to respecting other children’s needs and having their needs respected. This can cause a problem when children are now in a situation where they are constantly given ultimatums and they aren’t allowed to come up with solutions on their own.

ACADEMIC- Montessori children are use to being able to move on to new material when they are ready for that information, not when the scripted program and district benchmark says that they should. They are also used to saying to the teacher, “I’m having a lot of problems understanding this concept, could you show it to me in another way?” Additionally, they are use to having a hand in their education. A common question is “May I study …. a write a report on it for science this week?” Obviously, in a classroom where the teacher follows a script and teaches only what they are scripted to teach, will take some time getting used to.

So yes, there are adaptation problems. But you know what? Montessori children are unusually adaptable. They know how to work independently and in groups. They are problem solvers who can make choices and manage their time well. So in general, after an initial adjustment period, they can do adapt quite well. And, at least in my eyes, the skills that they have learned from being in Montessori classroom completely outweigh the problems that they encounter when they first make the transition to a traditional school.

Additionally, I think you need to think about your goal for you child's education. As Matt, another Montessori teacher who posts here has stated in a similar answer, "If you're looking for someone to succeed in life, Montessori is a good choice. If you're looking for someone to succceed in public schools, the public school system might not be a bad choice."

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I'm sitting here with two of my ex-students.  I showed them your question and they wanted to add their two cents. This is the first time I've ever sat ex-students down and said, "Tell me about your transistion."  All the other times I just listened and watched as teachers, parents, and children spoke about what was happening in the years following them leaving Montessori.  Even I am amazed at how important their Montessori upbringing was to them. (Both children went from age 3 to third grade.)

"K" is 12 years old, in seventh grade and has been in a Gifted and Talented classroom since 4th grade.  He says," It is really a big change.  People in the traditional classrooms don't think about the other people in the classroom.  They just think about how well they are doing.  In addition they don't have the same relationship with their teacher, I felt like my traditional teachers just came to school to teach the lessons and not really to see how the students were thinking and caring.  They didn't teach us about the things that you could base your life upon, and only worried about academics and scores on tests.

I had a problem with rules in a tradition classroom.  I couldn't sharpen my pencil when I needed to; it was during a time when the teacher told us that we needed to take notes!

I also never got time to focus on what I was learning, it was always off to a different topic.

Teachers said every  year that that they never finished teaching concepts because there wasn't enough time. But  after the standardized test school just turned into a daycare center, it was like now we didn't have to learn anymore, why couldn't they finish or at least get a little bit closer to the end of the topics then?"

"S" is 9 and just went to a 4th grade GATE classroom, she says, "At the beginning of the year I would go home and feel bad for myself because my new teacher was so strict. Because it was the beginning of the year and she was trying to get the rules out. She would blame things on Montessori if I did something wrong. Like if I got up to get my own paper instead of sending my materials person to get it.

In GATE I kept on getting a lot of math and reading.  Whenever I finished something, I got more and more work. But it was never new material, it was just more. LIke  I was being punished for being smart.

I think that our teachers are just there to make us pass tests. I mean, I get tons of homework now, like 10 pages a night, but my teacher says as soon as the standardized tests are over we won't get any more homework.  Do they really care about our education or do they just want us to pass the test?

I care about my grades and I don't want the teacher who just wants me to pass, I want to understand what I'm doing and how to do things. My teacher explains in a different way than I learn and it gets harder. Then when I get the assignment  I don't know what to do, and then I can't finish it and she gets mad.They don't understand that different students have different learning skills.

When I grow up I want to be a doctor, but if I am being taught like this, it's going to be hard."

Both of my students want you to know that they are very glad they went to Montessori and even though they have had problems transitioning, they NEVER regret having grown up in Montessori classrooms.

K wants to end with, "I never will regret being in Montessori. It allowed me to use my energy towards my education as opposed to being punished for it."

Answer 2

My daughter transitioned to public school after finishing 6th grade. She was used to working collaboratively with other students and helping those who needed help. This was viewed as cheating in her new school. So there was some adjustment to be made.

BUT, she was an independent learner with initiative and a thirst for learning. All through her middle school and high school years her teachers recognized and appreciated these qualities.

If you want to hear what she says in her own words (she is now a Montessori teacher) you can visit her blog at berkshiremontessori.org. Just today she reflected on this issue.

My advice is that the longer a child stays in Montessori the better prepared she will be to make the transition to traditional school. Why cut the experience short if you don't need to.

Aleta

Answer 3

Are you raising your child to fit in well in a traditional school, or do you want her to get the best education possible? If you think a Montessori school is what's best for your child put her in it. As a independent and eager learner she will probably do well in a Montessori school. By the time she needs to make the transition she will be old enough to figure out how to survive in traditional school.

Answer 4

I always have trouble with this question.  It's not that I can't answer it--I was a Montessori student since birth and went into the school system.  I have been a Montessori teacher for years and seen students go into the systems and seen a wide range of answers to give a fantastic answer to this question.

The reason I have trouble answering it is the fact that we're asking about something that, as a Montessori student and teacher, I am not fully concerned about.  Let me explain.

"Preparing someone for the public school system" can mean many things.  Are we talking about the child's ability to take tests?  Are we talking about their ability to just sit quietly in class?  If we think about those things, there might be a culture shock.  At the same time, I learned that I had to take more control for my own education.  That is something the students in my class that did not go to Montessori necessarily understood.

I still came up with creative ways to learn.  I realized that if a subject was boring me, I was going to have to connect it to other things and research those things or present them in a unique way and bring them to life.  That is a more important tool than simply working on "following the rules" of public school and being sure to keep your head down and mouth quiet.

I adjusted well.  It was a hard adjustment.  I was shocked that not everyone treated each other with the same amount of respect.  The idea of cliques within a classroom group never really crossed my mind until I left Montessori.  (I did have closer friends than others, but we were never separate really between "cool kids" and "uncool kids.")  So there was some adjustment period, but I did fine.

I think the bigger issue is how Montessori students succeed in life.  That's really the main concern that most parents seem to have when they ask this question.  It is not simply about school and testing - it is how schools prepare the students for life.

I can honestly say I could not feel more prepared for life.  The Montessori environment has given me the tools to handle any situation.  It has taught me how to investigate things and SEEK answers.

If you want the straight answers as far as testing, etc. Montessori schools tend to do better at the testing than non-Montessori schools.  That's an over generalization, of course.  If you want to know about grades, I did OK in school.  Above average grades.  I was more concerned with learning than I was with grades, so I was more a conceptual thinker who integreted ideas.  A+ on a history paper where I would get a B- on a purely fact based quiz on a scantron sheet.  I never spent a lot of time memorizing.  I spent most of my time connecting ideas and thinking of more thought provoking ideas.  

Either way, I made it through.  I took my education very differently than most of my peers and I recognized I did-just never exactly how until I started getting asked this question a lot.

I hope that helped in your answer.  

Matt

Answer 5

Well it depends, if she see's public schools only through the eyes of movies then she might change drastically as soon as going to regular public schools thinking that the people are reallly different and that she needs to conform with them. But there are always those children who are fairly sure of public schools and have friends that go to public schols and dismiss all the movie dramas as silly nonsense, they usually transition well.