r2i forum

My daughter is 2.5 years and is it good option to put her in Montessori school or a Private school is better than this. We live in California. I would like to know the pros and cons of Montessori.
Appreciate your replies.

Pardon my ignorance. Isn't Montessori a private school?

Anything before KG is all private/day care

For 2.5 year old the Montessori is good. My son goes to Montessori and he seems to like it. Public schools don't admit kids that are below 4 so your choices are limited.

Pros of Montessori: Good alternative to daycare (nothing more). Good exposure to kids and improved public speaking.

Cons: A little pricy. Have way too many holidays so you will need backup daycare if both of you are working

Montessories have part time option and may work well if one of the parents is at home.

Some of my friends did not like Montessori method of teaching. To repharse the question. What are the pros and cons of Montessori method

Everything listed here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori

Apanati, here are my 2 cents, as I went through this with my own kids. One has to be really careful because anyone who opens a private school (in US at least) can put a sign and call it "Montessori school".

So (as always in US) you have to do your homework and check, because some are just nothing more than day care (i.e. the kids are looked after but not really taught anything) and others are truly Montessori, where there is some real learning/teaching going on.


The Montessori method also of learning/teaching is interesting and I believe, valuable (personal opinion...I have no firm evidence…you can read the books from Maria Montessori to have a better idea).

So, is it worthwhile to put kids through Montessori ? Response depends on the countries.
- In US, I think a true Montessori is worthwhile (and worth the incremental cost…we did it for our kids), because the only other alternative is day care, which is also expensive anyway (no official schooling for young kids in US).
- In other countries where official schooling starts much earlier (like in Europe or India), I don't know if it's worth it because of the much higher cost compared to regular school (i.e. cost benefit not obvious). But if money is not an issue, I would go for Montessori.

One more thing. The real Montessori schools tend to offer classes through Middle and even High school. There is one advantage: bright kids can get more advanced courses than in regular school..but a major downside of continuing through middle/high school is that kids are in an overly sheltered environment, usually with other rich kids, without a lot of exposure to the real world, and to its diversity.

Thank you all for your responses.
Asha

Don't waste money in Montessori when your kid is just 2.5. Its useful when your kid is a bit older maybe 3.5 or 4 when they can truely learn something. Save your $ and put them in your college funds. These schools are not cheap and are typically priced between $600 and $900 (or maybe over that) depending which school and which city. But yes, if you and your spouse both are working this is a better option compared to day care. My 2 cents.....:)