All About Montessori

[buds]

fristrom:

My child is in Montessori full day childcare (N2). Communication between teaching and parent is via:


- comms book: updated irregularly, on average twice a month, quite brief handwritten notes by her class teacher
-2 PTM a year: 15 min sessions each time

I am wondering whether this is normal.

My child is happy in school (or at least not unhappy) but it is unsettling as I have little clue as to what she is doing in school, and how she is progressing.

Not exactly normal by MY standards, hahahahaa! But this is something
we cannot compare as this is the practice within individual centres and
also the teacher's initiatives. A childcare environment is a very busy plc.
Tending to children's care and education at the same time and in some
centres, in high numbers of children in each class to like only 2 teachers.

PTM twice a year should be fine. Are there any newsletters from the
centre to update parents on the goings-on of the centre activities?
Do the children bring back their work from the centre on a weekly
or fortnightly basis? Upon registering in ANY centre, parents should
find out what will be covered until the end of the year for the child's
class level. For example, how will language be taught? At the end of
the year, will my child learn all the alphabets/letter names or does
the school also do Phonics... For Maths, will children be exposed to
0-10 or 0-20 for N1 (for example) and how will these concepts be
taught? Any written assignments from the centre or will they
practise what learn thru' play using mostly crafts for younger
children. How will parents be informed of what the centre is
doing with the children so that we can provide home revision
in line with the school's activities/lessons? How about excursions?
Twice a year or once for every school term - ie. 4 terms=4 excursions.

I encourage you to give the school a visit and get yourself updated on
the stuff that your child is doing and will be doing for the rest of the year.
You SHOULD know what your child is learning... and your desire for more
involvement in your child's development is a thumbs up in my eyes.
Hope you will get positive feedback from the school real soon.
Come back here and update us, will you...

Best Regards.

[fristrom]

Hi Buds,


Thanks for your feedback.

buds:

Not exactly normal by MY standards, hahahahaa! ...

I do appreciate the workload and that's why I would like to know what is \"normal\", or \"industrial standard\". Given that there is no \"industrial standard\", your list of questions are very useful in highlighting what we should/could be looking at. Thanks again.

With your long list of questions, unfortunately, most of the answers are NO. We did not even realise our child has been learning phonics until one day, teacher wrote in comms book that our daughter is not progressing well and asked us to reinforce at home. Then we found out that she has been on the first set of phonics for 4 months. All kids learn at different pace and our daughter is a very average kid. However, I somehow feel that it is excessive and we could have been alerted earlier.

Paying the school a visit is a good idea, and I hope it helps. Thanks again.

[buds]

You're welcome, fristrom! :love:


Wanna ask, in a set means.... of how many
letter sounds, fristrom? And for 4 mths too! :shock:
Yes, i agree that parents should be informed
if they're asked or expected to reinforce
with the children at home. :roll:

Hope to hear from you soon.

:celebrate:

[dubaimom]

Buds,


Thanks for your reply. :lol:

My boy has achieved the skills that you mentioned. What is the teacher ratio here for the mainstream KG vs the Montessori?

[fristrom]

Hi Buds,

buds:

Wanna ask, in a set means....

6 letters in that particular set

regards,
fristrom

[buds]

fristrom:

Hi Buds, 6 letters in that particular set

Hmmm... that's roughly about 2 or 3 sounds in 1-month, fristrom...
And your child is in N2 right? Assuming they're having Phonics
lesson daily, if your child manages to grasp the concept and
provide positive response and participation during lessons, i
suppose it should be fine. Did the teacher say she still cannot
recognise the letters or cannot say the sound of the letters....
I'll see what i can suggest from your reply..

[buds]

dubaimom:

Buds, Thanks for your reply. :lol:

It was my pleasure and you're welcome.

dubaimom:

My boy has achieved the skills that you mentioned. What is the teacher ratio here for the mainstream KG vs the Montessori?

If it's a Montessori childcare environment, the number of children in a
class would relatively be the same as per a mainstream kindergarten,
with the exception of maybe extra teachers at hand. ie. One Montessorian
and the other Early Childhood Teacher. Mebbe between 20 - 25 per class
to 2 teachers in a Montessori Childcare set up (depending on the centre &
its class size) as compared to 25 children to 1 Early Childhood Teacher in
a standard 3 or 4 hours mainstream kindergarten for K1 level.

You wouldn't believe it if i told you i ever had to take a class of 37 when i
was teaching mainstream kindergarten when i first started! :shock: But i
enjoyed it to bits... The satisfaction was indescribable.

[dubaimom]

:!: Can’t imagine the mayhem you had to handle. Hats off to you!


DO you know what should I be looking out for in terms of a certified Montessorian? I know some teachers / principals are AMI trained or certified.

Another question:
From what I gather, most schools use the Montessori methods and supplement with worksheets (usually at the request of parents). Does that mean that each individual has a specific work targetted at his level or its just a piece of work for the masses?

Sorry for the questions. I am unable to visit some schools and watch how they conduct their lessons. Schs r taking precautions for H1N1 and don’t allow visits until they get the green light from the Ministry.

Cheers…dubaimom

[shaynamommy]

Hey, Dubai mom, welcome back home. I have placed my 5yo dd in 2 different Montessori schools before and they are totally different. I started with the kindergarten and transferred her out to a montessori childcare due to my relocation. After 2 months, I transferred her back to the kindergarten again (despite the distance) mainly due to the reasons below. Based on what I hear and see, every Montessori pre-school is different here.


Here are some of the key things that matter to me as a parent:

1. Teacher to student ratio: 1 to 8 at the kindergarten while at childcare they had 2 teachers to a group of 24 students or so.

2. Syllabus - if you are intending to let your kids remain in mainstream education ie attend a local primary school, pure Montessori methods may not work. In the kindergarten that my dd is at now, they supplement the Montessori methods with the traditional teaching methods to better prepare them for P1. Hence, it is a more holistic approach - they tap on the encyclopaedic nature of Montessori method but do not deviate too much from the kiasu Singaporean curriculum. For eg. at K1, my dd is already doing worksheets for P1 assessments.

3. Progress of each child - make sure that the school allows each child to progress according to their ability and not their age.

4. Teachers - ask how long the teachers have been around. At my dd school, the teachers have been there since she started with them at 2 yo.

Good luck with your school hunt.

[dubaimom]

Hi Shaynamommy,


Thanks for the advice.

I'm planning to place my son in a Montessori kindy. Which kindy is your daughter in?


Cheers!