April 26, 2008 4:15 PM
How to choose a Montessori school
Barbara,
My family will be moving to the San Antonio area within the next year so I have begun looking at my options for schooling. I have been looking at several Montessori preschools in the area, and one question keeps popping into my head. What should I be looking for in a Montessori preschool? Also how do I tell a difference (if there is one) between all of them? Are there certain things I should see etc? I appreciate any advice you can give!
First of all, there is no trademark on the name Montessori - which means anyone can open a school and call it Montessori. So the first thing to determine is the background of the teachers. If a school is AMI certified, that means that it will only hire teachers who have been trained by the Association Montessori Internationale, which is the original training which has passed down directly from Maria Montessori.
There have been groups that splintered off from AMI for various reasons (does this sound familiar?). I do not know much about them as I took my training at the AMI institute in Washington DC. There were only six centers in the US in the 70s - maybe there are more now, but AMI is international.
An AMI certified teacher can get a job in any Montessori school, but AMI schools will not hire teachers with other training. That's because the AMI training is most rigorous. You must have a college degree (although they made an exception for me and let me in a year early - I later went on to complete my degree). The course is nine months and we went 8am to 5pm every day.
I'm just sharing this for information/clarification. I certainly do believe that other Montessorians can create a wonderful prepared environment and run a great school. It's just that there's not the same oversight as AMI has - or at least that's the way it used to be. If it's different now, by all means - anyone - speak up and share in the comments.
I observed and student taught in various Montessori classrooms. I taught myself. And I've had children in Montessori school. I do believe that the Montessori philosophy is the best preparation for a lifetime love of learning a child can have - whether it is carried out in a classroom or woven into daily home life with a parent. Although the teaching apparatus is brilliant, I think the most important factor is the teacher's understanding - on a spiritual level - of the potentials God has built into our children. We all know that people can enter a profession and go through the motions without being truly engaged in their spirits. So each teacher brings something very personal and individual to a classroom - just like every mother pbrings something personal and individual to her family.
Were you expecting such a complex answer? Neither was I :)
Here's the bottom line for me: Maria Montessori thought the most important thing for a child to maintain his God-given love of learning is a prepared environment. The teacher is part of that prepared environment. She has prepared herself and she has used everything she knows about the needs of the child to prepare the best environment she can. She sees herself as a servant , there to learn all she can about the child through observation and to meet his needs by introducing him to the right educational materials at the right time.
My experience is that I have been able to evaluate a classroom (Montessori or otherwise) just by looking around, even if the teacher isn't there. The environment the teacher prepared says so much about her love for children, her creativity and her servant attitude (is everything clean and well-kept?)
When you are looking at Montessori schools, you will make an appointment and then sit quietly somewhere where you will not be noticed to observe the class. So you will see how the teacher moves about the classroom. I don't know how other Montessori programs are, but I do know in AMI what was very important was graceful, quiet movement. What sets Montessori apart is that it is not teacher-focused like American education. With the exception of Circle Time when there is singing and group instruction. In a Montessori classroom, at least 75 percent of the time should be devoted to individual work, with the children working independently and the teacher moving from child to child helping where necessary.
This is why the adult:child ratio is not important in Montessori. A well-trained teacher with one assistant following the Montessori principles should be able to have a class of 25 preschoolers and have a quiet serene atmosphere. She should even be able to sit down and observe the children all working without needing her help. I know it can be done because I did it myself for years.
If it sounds unbelievable, that's what made my training worth the time, energy and expense. I know it can be done.
Anyway, my suggestion is to visit a few schools/classrooms before making a decision. Pray. Use your intuition - which I believe is the Holy Spirit nudging us in the right direction.
And if you are an SAHM or WAHM reading this and thinking it sounds good, you might want to check out my book Mommy, Teach Me! where I have tried to distill the essential Montessori principles into a reader-friendly, mommy-doable format. I wanted to teach moms to help their children find the joy of learning and never lose it. To never think of school - wherever they ended up - as a chore.
Posted in Montessori, Mothering, Preschoolers, Toddlers | Permalink
Comments
Our school in Houston is an AMS Montessori - I am not sure if that is more common in TX than AMI or not. One of the things our school has stressed when selecting a Montessori is to make sure the teachers are all certified; I think in AMS schools the school may be certified but each individual teacher doesn't always have to be (although at a good school they all will be).
Hope that helps!
Posted by: Tari | April 26, 2008 9:52 PM
Barbara,
We homeschool in a "Montessori-esque" environment, but I'm self taught through books, etc.
My burning question, is how do you normalize a child? Our classroom is not peaceful. The children aren't disordered, (usually) but they are noisy. My boys especially have a lot of sound effects with their works.
Posted by: Milehimama | April 26, 2008 10:32 PM
