montessori

Has anyone ever sent their kids to a Montessori perschool? My MIL is suggesting that the one in Gisborne is better than the other preschools in the area, but i don't know much about it. i've looked on the internet but would be interested in hearing from some actual people who DONT work for that company

Well dont know the reason behind it but the one in whangarei closed down.

i did that and am going into the gisborne one when we get home. long waiting list though! I asked about the waiting list and they said we should put Jake down now for when he's three!

I've heard heaps of differing views about Montessori, a few from some ex-montessori teachers who have advised me not to send Hannah there.

1. My cousin, Lydia, attended a montessori preschool. Incredibly bright kid in a wealthy family with parents who spoil her to bits. She's very "well trained" and at montessori learns to set out all her play things, then plays with them (being used in their intended way) and then tidies and packs away everything. So learns responsibility and manners.

2. Ex-montessori teacher. Said it was very "Mummy and Daddy" type situation with spoilt rich kids. (She didn't really have anything good to say about the school... I think she went a bit over board and offered a very one-sided argument)

3. My friend is an ex-montessori reliever and nanny. She had good and bad things to say about montessori but is not going to send her own child there. She said that they way they teach the kids to play (which is very structured) is almost taking the fun away from the children. The whole concept of using the toys they play with only in their intended use means that their imaginations are limited. She also criticised montessori rules such as children having to ask to enter another child's space. While it is good that children learn to be respectful of others, once again it seems a bit serious for kids.

Her recommendation was a steiner preschool. Which still uses natural materials for play but encourages creativity rather than limiting it.

That's my little rant!!

I did some placements at a montessori when i did my nanny cert. and have also nannied for a little girl who went to montessori. I found it very interesting how the children learn lots of fine motor skills - eg they have a tiny porcelain teaset and lots of other things and fill them with coloured water so kids can learn to tip and pour and measure very carefully - they learn phonics and letters, to clean up after themselves. they have their own mat that they get out, get the toys, play with them and put them away. It's it pretty good educationally - as they get older you can choose to send them to enrichment classes where they can learn languages and simple geography and stuff like that, all very simple. HOWEVER. this is not the place for imagination. toys are played with in the correct way, in order for them to learn what the toy was intended to teach, there is no dress up corner, no imaginative play. outside time is rationed - they have little armbands that maybe 3 children at at ime get to have and that means they can go outside to play, when their time is up, they go inside and choose who they will give it to next - so if your kid isn't in with the "in" kids, sometimes they might not get a chance unless the teacher spots it. they do have outside play at the end of the session, but not a heap. It does not encourage playing together either very much - children are encouraged to do their "work" on their own mat, and are not allowed to step over another persons mat, they are only allowed to join one another if they ask first or the other child invites them. It does have it's pluses - the children i have seen settled in very well and were very bright - but i think full time would be a bit over the top - maybe half montessori and half playcentre might be the way to go - two different ends of the spectrum.

I was a Montessori kid! And Maya is enrolled to start next year after she turns 3. She will be going 3 full days a week, and at home with me on the other 2 days.

Our local Montessori doesn't have such a great rep, so I am sending her to one a little further away that has an excellent reputation.

My parents also offered to pay the fees, but when I checked it out Montessori will actually cost me less per day than daycare for the same number of hours. I will also still qualify for a partial childcare subsidy.

Just re: Kohanga Lizzle, I looked into it for Maya and decided against it. My reason for wanting to send her there is that I want her to grow up secure in her identity as a Maori woman and knowledgeable about her culture and Reo.

I was a bit worried about the whole total immersion thing, but then a friend's daughter is in total immersion Samoan kindy and thriving. That said, the grammatical structures of Maori vs. English are sooo different, and I was concerned that Maya would develop grammatical confusion (paranoia of a grammar-addict writer mother!)

The Kohanga also seem to be plagued with organisational and management issues (most, not all, some are excellent) and that affects the quality of the kids education. I kind of got the impression that learning Reo was paramount and that other activities such as painting, playdoh, outdoor play etc. were a little neglected.

I studied Maori and uni and am semi-fluent (can read and tranlsate, and speak conversational Maori)so I decided to teach Maya myself and then put her into Kapa Haka, and maybe Maori language classes when she is a bit older.

thanks for that everyone. God, so much to think about and he's only 1!!!! I'm sure there was a time when kids just went to school, not all these options!

jake's primary school that he'll go to has a Maori immersion programme, but we won't enrol him in that. Some family friends had huge problems with their kids not reading well because of the Reo focus.

Re grammar confusion Maya, I have a post-grad in second lanaguge teaching and the majority of kids don't have much of a problem differentiating between the two grammar sets, however this is if they speak one language in one place and naother in another place. If you mix the two there seems to be problems.
Jake actually is speaking the odd word of Japanese, but not much english. I think Japanese is actually easier for kids to learn because of the lack of consonant blends.....I'm thinking of doing my thesis on it later

anyway, enough blabbing. Am going to look into other options for kindy in gisborne and see what i come up with

oh no, don't think I'm an expert or anything. Apperntly some experts think it could cause confusion, but others disagree. I don't think it would be that big a problem, but it depends. A lot of japanese families speak english words in Japanese sentences and that confuses the kids a lot. Bad grammar and stuff.

But I have to admit we speak a mix at home, just a few Japanese things like "don't do that" "wait a minute" a some things. jake seems to understand both....well ignores both equally at times too.

About japanese and maori - it's very similar. Similar vowel structure and some words as you were saying. it seems to be a lot easier for the kiwis to pick it up than the other nationalities.

Thanks Lizzle, sounds like what you are doing with Jake is similar to what we do with Maya. I guess I am just paranoid because I don't want to affect her English, but at the same time I really want her to have a good grasp of Te Reo.

We have a few kids at playcentre who are bilingual. Their speech seems to be quite slow in coming but when they hit 3 1/2-4 they tend to speak both languages well.
I think that as long as they are encouraged to speak English it is fine. One little boy would only use sign langauge and little sounds instead of English but as soon as he started being looked after by someone who didn't speak Turkish (like him) his English just bloomed.