Whats the BIG deal?

~~~~~Montessori Versus Regular Pre School ~~~~~

My son turned 3 a few months ago. We decided its time for him to go to a Pre school. He is so getting bored at home !!! He mostly spends time either watching TV or quarelling with his sister or looking for snacks / something to eat all the time...since there is nothing better to do!!

So when I started talking to friends around and thats when I heard the word "Montessori" . So naturally I started digging up and looking for Montessori schools and also taking tours to Montessoris and even regualr schools around my house.

The classrooms looked same everywhere. I felt there were more cut-outs and art displays in regular preschool class-rooms compared to Montessori ones. One of the Montessori s had uniforms too., which i found it to be neat. I also felt the regular class rooms had so much activity going on .. like kids giggling, shouting, playing etc. In a montessori class room kids were silent. Even though everybody was doing something...they are awfully quiet! Are they strict?! I did not really feel good to think about it.

The basic idea of a Montessori is : Kids can do whatever they want and teachers teach according to the each kid's learning pace. [ for more information - google and find out ] The regular school program is a teacher-driven structured one. Kids do / learn things according to the School / Teacher's agenda.

When I started compairing notes.. this is how/what I felt :

- I some how dont like the idea of letting kids do whatever they want! At home, anyway they dont listen to us and pretty much get things done however they want it and if its the same thing even at school...then whats the difference? I have seen a few moms complaint that their kids who go to Montessori dont write/read as good as kids who go to the regular preschools / day cares.

- Down the road, all kids montessori / non-montessori have to go to a regular high school. If kids are let on their own .. may be they would have a tougher time getting used to a structured teacher-driven programs at a regular school.

- Kids in Montessori are encouraged to do things together with their freinds etc. In the classrooms, I have seen small groups of kids doing things and also seen some kids who are quiet and lonely.... on their own. Now I dont want that to happen with my son. I dont like him to be left out, considering he is a little shy type.

- Also, many Montessori schools require a time commitment from the parents, along with numerous fundraisers and donations to the school. Atleast one of the parent has to volunteer at least 15 hours a week at the school. If they cannot, they would have to pay some $$$ to compensate! Plus they are always selling things to "raise" money for the school.

- Lastly, Montessori is expensive.

We now decided he would go to a regular preschool for a few reasons I mentioned above and the fact that Montessori is a little far away from where we live. On a daily basis, in a practical sense ...this might get too tedious for us. If I would have really liked it, may be I would have made an extra effort.

Sometimes I think - may be Montessori is a good idea for older kids who are mature enough to know things and are pretty much on their own. I feel initally kids can start off in a regular pre school program and once they get used to friends, teachers, class-room, writing/reading kinda environement , then may be switching to a Montessori is so not so bad afterall!

I also heard if its a private school then its as good as Montessori.

Also , my childhood education, my husband's and my cousins, freinds ..where we come from .. had this teacher-driven strcutured program and we all did well in school that time and are in good positions now, career-wise. Most of us hold Masters degrees as well. So it would be totally unfair to say regular schools are no good.

I feel it all depends on the child. Considering, every child is different .. how they learn and perform is different. Am sure there are kids who do welll in montessori/regular school and the ones who dont .. and then there is good and bad everywhere. It would be like blaming the school when a child fails! Thats unfair!

Bottom-line, What really makes a child succeed? The answer - Parents and the kind of encouragement and help they get at home!! If the child gets all the necessary support that includes love etc.. from his family .. am sure he can do better at anything.