My wife works in a Montessori daycare that our son attends.
What's really telling is that there have been a few preschoolers who have been gently nudged out of the school for having needs the school couldn't (or didn't want to) deal with.
Still, I think there are two things Montessori gets right:
1. Giving kids a lot of structured self-direction.
2. Mixing kids of age ranges and having them instruct each other.
In my experience, everything other than that is crunchy granola window dressing.
My mother runs a Montessori school and takes in the “problem” children that other schools push out. (It only annoys her that parents look at standardized test results without considering growth year over year.)
Montessori is not a trademarked name, and so you get a lot of schools that call themselves Montessori with various levels of fidelity to the principles. Getting AMI accreditation is the best way to verify you’re legit.
Even so, I agree that many good Montessori schools cultivate a certain clientele. That teacher/student ratio and the materials aren’t cheap, and they have a reputation to uphold to keep rich people coming. As per the article, it’s unfortunate because Maria Montessori started her original program for disadvantaged children. We’ve decided for our own children that after a few years of Montessori they go to public school, to be around kids with a wide range of perspectives. Best way to make schools better is to be part of them.
What's really telling is that there have been a few preschoolers who have been gently nudged out of the school for having needs the school couldn't (or didn't want to) deal with.
Still, I think there are two things Montessori gets right:
1. Giving kids a lot of structured self-direction.
2. Mixing kids of age ranges and having them instruct each other.
In my experience, everything other than that is crunchy granola window dressing.