I visited an upscale Montessori School yesterday located in Dallas, Texas. My daughter has always attended tradional private schools. I found their teaching methods to be very engaging in many ways. They fully believe in teaching the written concept of math and then use hands-on manipulitives to fully engage the students awareness of how mathmatics works. This way they see it not only in written form but, they see the actual shapes and forms in their head. They say that this is very valuable because later in life if they pursue engineering, biology, the medical field , etc. it will be a life long tool.

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Also, when teaching subjects such as government, social studies and science, the students first learn the written text findings and then go on field trips to government offices, outdoor learning centers, etc. They back up all class room work with actual real life experiences. At the Montessori School the children are grouped together in one large room with three grade levels. For example, 4th, 5th and 6th grades stay together for three years. They have apprximately 28 children inside each class room with three full time teachers. The class breaks up into smaller groups of 5 to 6 children through out the day to meet with a given teacher about a particular subject. If your child is excelling in science for example, he may move up one grade level in that subject. But if your child is falling behind in math then he may stay at his grade level or, move down one grade until he fully understands the math problem. Anyway, the Montessori teachers say that there is "no rush" to finish the text book by the end of a given year because they have three years with the same students to fully teach "all subjects". This way the students are "more relaxed" and so is the teaching staff. I will have to say......it was "the calmest and happiest" setting in a class room that I have ever observed. Each class room has it's own outside patio and outdoor teaching area in a lovely setting with lots of trees.
I would like to hear back from other teachers in both the tradional school setting, as well as the Montessori setting to hear your thoughts. I also would like to have parents post their comments about their experiences with Montessori Schools. Please post your comments on this blog. I will be happy to answer back. Thank you! Barbara