r/Montessori

The passage on the school's website says a number of things about the elementry curriculum, including this:

I'm horrified. Are they going to talk about making women out of men with ribs, about covering with fig leaves, about the biological kingdoms coming in biblical order?

>The curriculum, for all 6 years, is built around the five great lessons given at the beginning of each year:

>Creation of earth

>Coming of plants and animals

>The arrival of humans

>The arrival of math and language

>Invention...

I can't. I mean, I'm not against religion but just like I don't want anchovies on my hot fudge sundae, nor do I want it in my daughter's classroom except when studying literature or cultural phenomena. It's not listed as a religious school and I feel worried that I'll miss this stuff hidden in a curriculum somewhere as I continue my school search.

How can you be both Montessori and Creationist?

This is my daughter's second year in Primary at a highly recommended Montessori school in the area and it's her second week of school. She has recently shown a big interest in reading and even though most of the reading works are reserved for the kindergarteners, I suggested she should ask her teacher for a lesson. Last week, my daughter told me she asked for a lesson (it's for the reading drawers work) and the teacher was open to the idea but was too busy to give a lesson because she had new students in class that she needed to focus on but would get to her next week. So, it's now Wednesday, and she said her teacher still hasn't given her a lesson. I don't want to be pushy towards the teacher since I know back to school can be overwhelming, but I'm a bit frustrated that she seems to be ignoring my daughter even though she wants to be challenged and requested a lesson. My daughter is a little shy to begin with so I am very proud of her for speaking up and asking for a lesson but I'm afraid she'll just stop asking because she is being rejected. Any thoughts or advice?

Hi, just following up on my 21 month old starting Montessori. We’re on week 2, and it’s been HARD. Still crying and lots of separation issues. I went up there today during their outside time & she was crying and pacing back and forth. No interaction with children NOTHING. Guides not comforting her at all. I really want her to at least finish this month out, but now I’m thinking I’ve started her too soon. I went on and picked her up today because it tore me to pieces. Wondering if I should just pull her. Would love some advice.

We toured two Montessori schools in South Florida today with our almost 2 year old, and something bad happened at both of them while we were there. Trying to figure out if this is a “2 year olds just aren’t developmentally ready for Montessori yet” thing, or a “these two specific schools have supervision problems” thing.

School 1:

The playground has zero shade and a stretch of elevated concrete right where the grass transitions back to the building. A boy fell while running from the grass to the concrete, busted his lip and forehead, blood all over his face, completely inconsolable—they had to call his mom. When I brought up the lack of shade, the staff member said they only do 30 minutes outside normally, and 15x2 minutes when the sun is “more direct.” It’s Florida. In August. I don’t know how more direct the sun can get.

School 2:

This place has 35 years of history and a director with decades of experience — genuinely seemed lovely otherwise. But a heavy exterior door closed on a little girl’s fingers because the director let go of it and didn’t understand/react to it when the girl started crying. I rushed back to hold the door and pushed it back. The director didn’t react until after I rushed back to the door and caught and pushed it. She let go of the door without looking back at all. The teachers were also all standing there. None of them either notice or at least react. No one made a move before I got to her and even I was not fast enough. It was a very traumatic experience for me, the door was extremely heavy outside door, I don’t know what would’ve happened. But what I noticed is that no one seemed to have an urgency to react until after it would have been far too late.

We visited yet another school briefly yesterday and the pattern that stood out:
The kids in the 3-6 year old rooms looked completely fine—happy, running up to hug the director, waving at us and at my daughter, playing nicely, totally settled. But several of the 2-year-olds did not look ready. One girl started calling out “mommy, mommy” to me and my mom and broke down crying. I think she thought it was time for parents to come back. The director comforted her well, to be fair, hugged her and asked her what she was working on and the kid seemed ready to move on.

So is this just what 2 is like in a Montessori environment (more independence-focused, adults intentionally stepping back) versus 3, when kids can actually handle that independence? Or did I just have really bad luck touring two schools on the same day? Would love to hear from anyone with actual Montessori toddler experience. I had already paid the registration fee for school 2 but I can defer it to next year.

Hi everyone. I’m currently pregnant and feeling very drawn to Montessori principles. I’m also a stickler for evidence and after two miscarriages before this pregnancy I’m adamant about making sure this is safe for my baby.
I was planning on having her sleep in a next to me bassinet for 6m (or later if she still fits in it), then transitioning to an adult sized single floor bed in her own baby proofed room.
Safe sleep guidelines recommend the baby is in the same room as you until 6m.

However, when I spoke with the midwife running our parenting course they said a floor beds would only be safe from 12m as she needs containment until then.This really threw me as all the Montessori beds spoke about doing it from 6m and the whole point is not to have rails all the way around.

Does anyone have any advice for how to do a floor bed safely so it meets the midwives’ and safe sleep guidance?
Perhaps a simple guard along part of the bed would solve the issue?

I'm touring preschools right now and finding almost nothing useful online. Every school's website is a marketing page, and the threads I can find on here are mostly from 2019 or just "we loved it!!" with no details. So I figured I'd write up each place I visit with the stuff I actually wanted to know before I drove out there. This is the first one.

Little Montessori

Infrastructure is genuinely good. Clean, open rooms, materials at kid height, no clutter. It reads as a real Montessori classroom and not a daycare that bought some wooden toys.

The thing that surprised me was the conversation itself. The head of school and the program director spent as much time asking about our family and how we're raising our kid as they did talking about the program. No other school has done that so far, and honestly it changed how I heard everything else they said. Could be a good sales instinct on their part. It didn't feel like one.

This is classic Montessori, not Montessori-flavored. Eton is the only other place around here I'd put in the same category.

Placement

Two classrooms are relevant if you have a toddler. Savannah is early preschool, LAM is the actual preschool class. They don't place by age alone. Your kid gets observed first, and they decide based on age, toileting readiness, social and emotional development, and some other factors. Mine is in a home based daycare now, and I liked that they wanted to see her themselves rather than take my word for where she's at.

Money and hours

• $150 enrollment fee. They offered to waive it for us.
• They also offered an observation period before any enrollment conversation, which I think is the single most useful thing a school can offer. Nobody else has.
• Regular hours are 8:45am to 3pm. Tuition ~$2,200/month.
• Extended hours are 7:30am to 5:45pm, ~$2,850/month. That's the one we need.
• On regular hours they want kids in between 8:45 and 9. Circle time runs 9:00 to 9:15 and they don't want anyone walking in during it. No drop off after 9 either way.
• Meals included, organic. Adds up compared to packing lunch five days a week.

We haven't enrolled yet, so I can't speak to what it's like day to day. This is just what the tour looked like.

Happy to answer questions if you're looking at this one. And if you've toured somewhere decent in the area, drop it below. I'll post more of these as I go.

My husband and I just received news that the Montessori school our 9-yo has been attending since she was 2 years old is unexpectedly closing. Our only real option is to send her to the local public elementary school. We had planned to transition her next year or the year after, but looks like we no longer have a say in that. Any advice on what we can do to make this transition successful? We have less than two weeks before the first day of school. I'm reeling. Any advice is welcome!

What materials that don't need a presentation do you have at the beginning of the year?

Daughter is heading into 3rd grade. We've been counting and dividing and she is doing pretty well with multiplication and division math facts. Her teachers did encourage us to help her recall them more automatically. I wanted to start on long division with her, but I really only know the traditional way. Will this mess her up for Montessori style learning? I looked it up and the method seems to do something similar but just more tactile.

It is SO hard not to say good job. I totally agree its not productive or effective. Like saying "be careful". But how did you rewire your brain? What made what to say instead finally click for you?

Does anyone have children’s book recommendations on gender identity for a three year old? He is very observant and has so many questions we aren’t sure how to appropriately answer.

Occasionally, I have seen/heard of trained Montessori guides who decide to homeschool. I am just curious about what led to these decisions. Did you think the Montessori curriculum had weaknesses? Are there other factors that led to your decisions?

Hello everyone. I'm a mom to a 2 year old who is in Montessori school, and we try to do Montessori at home as well. It is far from perfect, but it has overall worked well for our family.

One 'Montessori rule' we do not follow though is not having unreal creatures (or at least not until children are older). Our 2 year old loves Winnie the Pooh, and has several books that feature talking animals, dragons, mermaids, etc.

Am I in the minority that I don't follow this 'rule'? I wasn't worried about it until we were gifted a fairytale book recently and I realized that we were diverting from some basic Montessori principles. My husband loves fantasy, and I think overall it's harmless.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom about this? Does it make a positive or negative difference to include these 'unreal' creatures or not?

Thank you!

What age is it best to start kiddos?

I have a school nearby, like super nearby, that has programs starting at 15mo. But I would prefer to start my kid at preschool age. But would delaying his start delay his overall development in the Montessori school system? My county also pays for preschool, so that would take care of at least a year, if not two, of expensive schooling.

Would it be weird to send my kids nanny with him? I don’t really feel comfortable sending my kid out when he can’t advocate for himself and you just never know. I used to work in public schools as a therapist and they would always love a free extra pair of hands, but not sure if that applies to private/Montessori schools.

Trying to understand how to slowly apply the Hunt Gather Parent philosophy to parenting an infant / baby. Doucleff mentions at the start of the book that is possible but I’m unsure how.

I have a 3 mo old and it seems like everywhere I look all I read is “how many developmental activities they should be doing”, “x amount of face to face time, baby voice, singing, tummy time, kicking time, new textures etc etc.” While I love doing the above and understand it’s important, how much is too much “entertaining” (to use HGP language) and how little is too little development?

I feel guilty just sitting by my baby and existing and feel like I need to be doing something 100% of the time because I want him to develop well, but 1. It’s exhausting 2. Does that mean he’ll need attention and entertainment all the time if I’m constantly interacting with him?

Anyway, insights welcome.

Hi there I'm f22 and I appoint as a new Montessori school teacher I never taught before to Montessori students. Please give me a lot of tips:

1. How to connect with children , maintain boundaries and make the environment student friendly ?

2. What to wear to Montessori school?? Specially colors..

3. What rules should I make clear in first class ?

4. How to not beat myself up in this ?

5. Any tips to prepare lectures?

6. How to engage students in studies and activities?

I recently toured two different Montessori programs/schools in our area that are 16 mos-6 years. My daughter is approaching 2 years old this fall. They both are really incredible programs, AMS accredited, low teacher turnover (one school has teachers that have been there for 10,15,20,30 years), and have really great reputations.

For those who are highly experienced as a Montessori educator or as a parent who started your child at 2 years old - did it/does it typically go well? I’m sure this is child-dependent, but there’s a lot of pressure/some valid research to keep your child home until 3 years old, but some people say starting Montessori at 2 is a great thing as set up for 3-6 primary years. My daughter is 21 months is mostly day trained for potty, can follow 2-step directions, has experienced group care (smaller size), enjoys and prefers participating in daily routines (dressing, using fork/spoon, handwashing, potty), can engage in an activity for 5-10 mins (sometimes longer) depending on the activity, and can speak in 2-4 word phrases/sentences currently. We try to follow a Montessori-philosophy at home and encourage her independence as much as possible. I’m a pediatric OT so I feel like the philosophies parallel quite nicely :)

My next question is about ratios- both of the programs said they have 2 full-time teachers and then one float that comes for part of the day. One program has a class size of 8, but may go up to 12. The other program has a class size of 12. Does a ratio this large really work for younger toddlers? Is it total chaos? Both classrooms have a lot of space, great outdoor space, and area for the children to learn and explore, but that number sounds so high to me.

I am new to this world so I appreciate any and all thoughts!

I'm having a little bit of confusion figuring out how to practically incorporate Montessori at home, particularly in the kitchen, with my 17-month-old.

She LOVES helping in the kitchen and is actually becoming pretty capable when things are set up for her. She cuts fruits and vegetables (with toddler-safe tools), helps make her own smoothies, pours her own drinks, sets her place at the table, etc. We have a learning tower, and once she's up there and everything is accessible, she can do quite a bit independently.

But that's also where I'm running into a problem.

We have a normal kitchen with a high dining table. She can get things from her little trolley/shelf at floor level, but she obviously can't take something from there, climb into her learning tower while carrying it, and then put it onto the table/counter. At 17 months, that just isn't realistic or safe.

So even though I've made her utensils and other things accessible to her, there's still this missing link where I have to transfer everything to the workspace for her. Once I do that, she's independent again.

I've seen Montessori setups where people create a whole child-height kitchen area—sometimes converting an IKEA play kitchen into a functional kitchenette, adding a little fridge, child-height counter, accessible dishes, etc. I can definitely create something like that, but I'm trying to understand how it actually integrates into normal family life.

For example, I could put a small table in the kitchen where she could prepare food completely independently. But we eat together as a family at our dining table, and she really enjoys that. I don't want to put her at a little table by herself while the rest of us are eating at the family table just for the sake of making the setup more "Montessori."

I also have a 4-month-old, so eventually I can imagine having a child-height table where the two of them can sit and do things together, but right now it would just be my toddler sitting separately.

For those of you who practice Montessori at home with very young toddlers, how do you handle this transition between child-height storage/workspaces and adult-height family spaces?

Do you have a separate child-height food prep area but still eat at the family table? Do you just accept that transferring things to the counter/table requires adult help at this age? Or have you found another setup that lets a young toddler genuinely get their own things, prepare something, and bring it to where the family eats?

I'm not necessarily trying to maximize independence at all costs. I'm trying to figure out what a practical Montessori setup looks like in a real shared family kitchen without creating a completely separate little world for her.

understand that Montessori schools use a different teaching philosophy. They focus on hands-on, child-led learning, independence, and allowing children to learn at their own pace, with teachers serving more as guides than traditional instructors. (Montessori Alliance)
However, based on my personal experience, my child's current daycare, which is a Montessori school, has not met my expectations. I personally have not seen the level of learning and educational progress that I saw at my child's previous daycare. At the previous daycare, my child learned many new words, skills, and concepts, and I noticed consistent growth. At the current Montessori daycare, I have not observed that same level of progress.
This is simply my experience as a parent, and it is the reason I am looking for a learning environment that better fits my child's needs.

Hello,

My son just started at a private Montessori school. We've had a rocky pre-start to the year with poor communication and what I consider unrealistic expectations. I am trying to keep an open mind and maintain a positive attitude. Hopefully, my son loves the school and my concerns will decrease.

Without getting into too much detail, one situation sort of rubbed me the wrong way. At his first day drop-off, the assistant asked if this was "NAME"; we said yes, but that he goes by his nickname. The assistant said they do not use nicknames and will use their full name. My child's name can be said in two languages with different pronunciations. He knows his name by its native-language pronunciation, not the English one. We are pretty put off that they will not call him by his nickname, as that is what we have always used and what he is familiar with. I feel like it diminishes his identity and prevents him from being himself.

Is this a normal expectation in Montessori? Am I overreacting? Should I let it go?