Is there anything bad about Montessori schools?

Question

Hello, I'm researching about Montessori schools to see if theres anything bad about these types of schools. If you can get anything to me in about a half of a week, that would be great!!

You can email me at my hotmail account at [e-mail]

Thank you

Answer 1

Maria Montessori was down on fiction.

She argued that fiction was false, and therefore a mild form of psychosis.

So, in a strict Montessori school, there are no storybooks.

She believed in everything being guided, so she thought children's free drawings were horrid.

Montessori believed in rigidity in situations which do not call for rigidity.  Her set of fifteen steps for washing the table is a source of great mirth among opponents of the method.

Please, I'm only giving the bad points because that is what you requested.  Children who attend Montessori schools are usually very advanced by Piagetian standards.  I once had a Montessori preschool student.  The first song I taught him consisted of quarter-note G's, quarter-note E's, and eighth-note couplet G's.  The second song had eighth-note couplet E's thrown in.  He got the eighth-note couplet E's without any further explanation on my part.

Answer 2

Here's the deal with Montessori: They have their own set of equipment and they are designed to be used in a certain way leaving little opportunity for a child to be creative or to "investigate" other ways to use this equipment. For example: when I did so research for a college course this is what I witnessed at a Montessori school. They have a pink tower that starts with a large block and builds up to a small block. The idea is to teach graduation in size, however if a child chooses to lay the blocks in a straight line, or uses one of the blocks as a truck/car than they are told they are doing it wrong.

I've taught preschool for over 20 years and I have a problem with not allowing a child to explore materials and to learn other ways of using equipment. When you don't allow this than there is no imagination being used, there is no opportunity to learn problem solving, and social skills are tarnished.

Check into other centers that offer more open ended curriculums such as High Scope, Creative Curriculum, or Project Construct before you make your decision.

Good Luck,

Answer 3

i think they are fantastic and really wanted to enroll my son in them when he started school.

i just could not afford the tuiotion

Answer 4

I like the philosophy of Montessori but it doesn't really allow for child scaffolding. Vygotsky wrote about the importance of the teacher in helping the child to acquire the skills, however in Montessori it is thought that the child best learns when teaching themselves. That is why their equipment is self-correcting. Also the child must have the cognitive and social skills required to independently follow directions. I worked with a preschooler once who was asked to leave a Montessori school because she needed too much adult guidance.

So a negative aspect would be that it doesn't cater for every child. It only caters for motivated and disciplined  students.

Answer 5

The person stating the information about the pink tower was saying things that are generally not followed in the Montessori classroom.  Maria Montessori encouraged exploration of the materials.  What was discouraged was a point where the child found no use for the materials and was playing with them in certain ways because of boredom or when they become destructive.  There's a difference between being bored and trying to find a way to pass the time with the materials and using them differently.

I agree completely with the poster mentioning that many schools are not really Montessori schools.  

I also think there's a problem with schools where parents take their child to a Montessori school, then demand a more traditional form of education, something I do not fully understand.

For more information, take a look at my blog.

Answer 6

Different schools are good for different types of kids. While I think Montessori schools sound terrific, I know of some kids who haven't thrived there. Nothing wrong with the methodology; it's just not always a good match.

The only knock I've ever heard on Montessori schools was a suggestion (and I don't know for sure about this) that there's no guarantee that the Montessori methods will be fully followed at any particular school. I think people can call their school "Montessori" without having to go through a certification process, or anything like that. So one would want to check out a particular school carefully.