My wife and I went to a meeting at Chesterfield Montessori today. Afterwards we toured the school. It was a very nice place, flooded with natural light. It was remarkably quiet too even though no teachers hovered over their charges with ruler in hand. The campus is very nice with a pool, a tennis court, a garden, some nice play equipment, and a lot of green space. All in all it was definitely a place where I'd be comfortable sending my child.
They sent us a packet of information containing the usual brochures. They also included at my request a study that was published comparing the long term effects of Montessori education on a group of 10th graders, some of whom had graduated from Montessori after 6th grade. With controls in place to control for gender, SES, and minority status, the Montessori graduates performed markedly better in science and math and almost statistically better in overall GPA. They didn't show marked improvement in language.
There are a lot of things that I like about sending my children to Montessori schools. Among them is the idea of fluid transitions. When a child shows that they are ready to move up, the teachers will allow them to flow into the next classroom. This is especially appealing to me as I have been grumping about being a year in school behind some of his cousin who is three months older. I accept that no matter how the age range sliced in a traditional educational setting, someone gets left behind. It may be that he would be bigger and more emotionally and intellectually ready when his time would come, but if he has my experience, he may just be bored. Montessori would help that as he could move up a section when he is ready move up, and not just when September rolls around again.
Labels: Oliver, school
