Montessori vs home day care (paid)?

Question

My baby is 3 now and am thinking about starting her in Montessori very soon(next month). Since this is our first child, we are not sure if its too early or if taking her from the day care she is currently at is a mistake.

Lately she has not been very excited about going to the day care (oh btw the day care is a friend we pay to watch her while we are at work - she is good at caring for kids plus she has a baby of the same age range). Am afraid she has worn out her excitement and is now ready for a different environment.

I'd like to hear from other parents and experienced preschool teachers what advantages/disadvantages to expect.

Thanks

Answer 1

Oh.. if i only had enough space!  In a prepared Montessori environment, trained professional teachers can be on the look out for what they call 'the absorbent mind,  and sensitive periods' of interest that your child will go through.  In a Montessori environment, they will teach your child to serve his/her own snack, pour their own drink, to take care of their own needs.  Your child will be made aware of.. control of body.. meaning..if you pick up a tray of work with one hand and it spills.. your child will learn soon to use two hands.  This is done in a way without repremand.  It's merely done by example, and making the child use its own cognitive reasoning.  What a discovery that is to the child!  What a boost to the child's self esteem when the child discovers things from her own curiousity!

Awareness of self is most important.  Independance and the reward of doing for oneself is the most important task taken on in a Montessori environment.   Praise from within the child's own mind from their own actions is priceless.  They find satisfaction in their own doings, not dependence on someone else telling them they are doing it right or wrong.  This age is your child's most curious age.    A Montessori environment will challenge and enlighten your child's natural curiousity of their world.

Personally, I don't see any disadvantages.  I see early advancement at their own level.  I see new experiences being introduced when each level is accomplished.  Let the child discover the joy of learning thru wanting to learn all on their own.  The lack of excitement you see in your child, is simply... boredom.  She needs her environment to be secure, yet challenging.

Answer 2

Greetings!  There are pros and cons to what you are asking.

It really depends on what you are looking for and what you want your child to do.

Home Day Care:

Pros:

-Familiarity

-Your child trusts that person implicitly

-Inexpensive

-Relatively good social interactions

Cons:

-Often have little stimulation for the child (Often spends long amounts of time watching television)

-friend may not be appropriately trained in ECE

-home may or may not be licensed with the state so there is no legal means of checking home stability

Montessori:

Pros:

-Very high Cognitive development

-having contact with many more children

-staff not only ECE qualified by state, but also trained in Montessori equipment and educational outcomes

-Daily routines very well structured

Cons -

-VERY expensive (especially if it is a complete Montessori system)

-While there are more children in the program, Montessori focuses very firmly on cognitive skills and less on social skills needed to get along and cooperate with others

-Child creativity can be greatly stifled in a Montessori setting

IMHO, a child needs to be a child.  A child needs others to play with and explore their world together.  If a child understands basic routines and can follow simple directions, the cognitive materials quickly fall into place.

My suggestion would be to also look into a playschool where creativity is encouraged and scaffolded as opposed to rote movements.

I hope this helps.  Take care.

Answer 3

I spend a lot of my time answering these questions by arguing against obvious errors of so called "experts."  

Ista said, "It really depends on your preferences, home daycare tends to be a more relaxed situation that usually concentrates more on meeting their basic needs and less on education."

Montessori's main objective centers around meeting the basic needs of children.  Montessori takes what we know of child development and puts it into actual practice in an environment where the child's needs are met naturally.

What REALLY confused me was TeacherGrant's answer.

When talking about Home Day Care:

"Cons:

-Often have little stimulation for the child (Often spends long amounts of time watching television)"

I'm sure you have looked into what your friend does a little more closely.

"-home may or may not be licensed with the state so there is no legal means of checking home stability"

If it IS licensed by the state, it seems there would be an obvious means of checking home stability.

You also said "(oh btw the day care is a friend we pay to watch her while we are at work - she is good at caring for kids plus she has a baby of the same age range). "  That shows it is a friend.

Your friend does have some legal responsibility.  She cannot be negligent.  She cannot harm the child.  I am not sure exactly what he was getting at with this.

The Montessori cons he listed simply are not true, minus the cost.  Even that does not have to be true.

"-VERY expensive (especially if it is a complete Montessori system)"

Many are in the public schools now and you may want to see if there are any in your area.  Many also have tuition assistance, but that depends on the school itself.  Until public schools "get on the bandwagon" and open up more Montessori schools, the cost is just going to have to be a reality.  It's not cheap to run a private school, but most Montessori schools are competitive with other private schools.

"-While there are more children in the program, Montessori focuses very firmly on cognitive skills and less on social skills needed to get along and cooperate with others"

????????????

This is the most untrue statement I have EVER read.  It is like saying that a person that owns a pond focuses solely on ducks and has absolutely no fish in it.  Because one thing is a focus, that automatically means that the other thing is not?

Look up ANY study on the long term and short term effects on Montessori and you will see that social interaction is one of the key benefits to a Montessori environment.

Take a look at this recent article:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/fu...

"Children were given five stories about social problems, such as another child hoarding a swing, and were asked how they would solve each problem (9). Montessori children were significantly more likely (43% versus 18% of responses) to use a higher level of reasoning by referring to justice or fairness to convince the other child to relinquish the object. Observations at the playground during recess indicated Montessori children were significantly more likely to be involved in positive shared peer play and significantly less likely to be involved in rough play that was ambiguous in intent (such as wrestling without smiling).

The False Belief task was administered to examine children's understanding of the mind (10). Recognition that people represent the world in subjective as well as objective ways is a landmark achievement in social cognition (11). Social negotiation and discussion about mental states leads to this advance in children (12). Whereas 80% (significantly more than chance) of the Montessori 5-year-olds passed, the control children were at chance, with 50% passing."

"-Child creativity can be greatly stifled in a Montessori setting"

It *CAN* be.  Monkeys *CAN* also be added to a Montessori envrionment.  Doesn't mean it's likely to happen.

Again, let's look at the research:

"Students in the Montessori program wrote more sophisticated and creative stories and showed a more developed sense of community and social skills."

Study after study have disproven what is being said as negatives in that list.  It is simply NOT true.

I'm not saying you have to send your child to a Montessori environment.  I am saying Montessori environments have proven themselves countless times to what a fantastic environment they are.

If you want to know more about Montessori, I suggest you start with this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM1Gu9KXV...

After that, go observe a Montessori classroom.  Decide if it's right for your family and your child.  Do not, however, think it stifles creativity, focuses on "rote movements" (????), or any of the other cons that TeacherGrant mentioned.  They simply aren't true and it is obvious he does not have any experience even observing a Montessori classroom.  

Matt

Answer 4

sometimes kids lose their excitement for awhile...just like adults do. i would talk with her provider and suggest somethings your child is in to...maybe she can include that in her day...kids are funny, one minute they want this and the next they want that...as far as your child being taught, is she is not getting healthy challenges at her providers...again, print off material for your child to do...send crafts ect...

Answer 5

I used to teach preschool. Montessori will be a great learning experience for your daughter, she isn't too young and can benefit greatly from theMontessori teachings.

It really depends on your preferences, home daycare tends to be a more relaxed situation that usually concentrates more on meeting their basic needs and less on education.

Montessori has a unique way of teaching young children, I'd research the methods and beliefs of Montessori if I were you and decide if it is the environment you want for your daughter.

Answer 6

The montessori philosophy is great.  Just be careful choosing a quality montessori program.  A lot of programs call themselves a montessori but aren't really practicing the philosophy as it is meant to be practiced.

I worked at a montessori where the teachers were really strict and yelled at the children as young as 12 months.  One teacher I noticed even handled them in a very hostile manner and when I commented on this I was told that this is the "montessori way" and that the children listen.  Of course they listen when they are scared of the teachers.  

Don't be fooled by a well trained child coming home to you.  Question how exactly they get the children to behave in such a "trained" way.  A lot of parents are just glad their kids learn to be well mannered that they don't question the way it was done.  Scaring a child into behaving the way you want them to is not appropriate.

Montessori programs should be structured but allow choices for the children.  They should not be scolded for doing something the wrong way but should be shown how to  do it properly or reminded.

Answer 7

Montessori schools can be fabulous learning environments but you have to visit the shool first.  Montessori is not a franchise so anyone can open a school and call it Montessori.

Ask to see these Montessori materials:

pink tower

map cabinet

100 board

the bead cabinet - contains 10 short chain, 10 long chains, squares and cubes for all chains.

Chances are that if they can't produce these materials it's not really a Montessori school.

If you are in a big city you can probably find schools that are accredited by AMS (American Montessori Society).  Because of the fees involved in this accredidation some really good schools are not accredited.  That is to say that all AMS accredited schools are good and some non-accredited schools are also good.