All About Montessori

[jul04]

smurf


I made a mistake abt the school fees too.

It's actually slightly less than $800/mth, including the building fund, materials fees, gst etc. At first I thought it was more than $1k/mth coz still had to add in $200+ /mth for the miscellaneous stuff.

[jul04]

Reality vs Fantasy, Creativity, Imagination


Just wanna ask what's the importance of having fantasy play and creative play with imagination? Coz Montessori advocates reality-based learning rather than playing with swords and daggers and slaying dragons.

Does this mean that playing with masak masak pretending to cook and eat is 'wrong'? Is colouring trees orange and the sun purple to be stamped out? Is using a plastic container as a hat 'deviant'? :?

[smurf]

Think the fee is $721 per mth, but not sure how much if add up misc...Excluding sch bus...go for it if u can afford!


:celebrate:

Dun think the child would know who are the rich kids around la...at least not for pre sch...maybe in primary sch...

[jul04]

Yeah it's around there, with the building fund, miscellaneous fees in already. No school bus though Waiting for the bus service to get back to me on the rates.


Yup I've filled up the form. But I frogot to bring a cheque out today so can only post tomorrow. Silly me :x

[rainrain]

Hi buds, will like to check if there will be a difference if I just get a little pouch with zipper , a little blouse with big buttons and a small belt rather than getting the real montessori stuffs… I m just thinking the the kids will outgrow this materials very fast… What do u think?

[JWMommy]

My son has been in MMI JWE since N1. He is happy to go there everyday. This year he is in K1 and his teacher has been telling me that he is a slow learner in phonics. He is now still at his pink booklet. His teacher told me that she realised that he can learn better when she asked his classmate to guide him. Whenever she sit beside and guide him, he will keep quiet and in tears if she asked him to try. However, his teacher feedback that his maths and chinese is good.


I am now thinking whether he is suitable to be in MMI or switch to another CC. :stupid:

Please share your thoughts on this. Thanks.

[buds]

rainrain:

Hi buds, will like to check if there will be a difference if I just get a little pouch with zipper , a little blouse with big buttons and a small belt rather than getting the real montessori stuffs... I m just thinking the the kids will outgrow this materials very fast.. What do u think?

A typical dressing frame in our Montessori centres will look like this.
The one below is a Big Button Frame.

http://www.postimage.org/

Two flaps of cloth with big buttons & corresponding buttonholes,
fastened on a wooden frame. (35cm x 28cm x 2cm)

Montessori dressing frames are designed to help children practice
fastening various clothing fasteners so that they can dress themselves.
Such self-help exercises develop independence in young children and we
generally introduce it as early as we can. In our Montessori classes however
most will start at 18mths in view of the entry age requirements.

Generally the frames are made of wood and have fabric stretched around
them. The fabric fastens in the front of the frame with a given fastener. As
the fabric is fastened around the frames, the fabric will stay in place better
as compared to smaller pouch versions when the children work with them.

For example, one frame might have a zipper fastener while another might
have buttons or snaps. Dressing frames help teach children how to button
and unbutton. This exercise helps to develop the child's eye-hand
coordination, concentration other than cultivating independence.

My answer would be, yes you may get those types as well since it is for
home use. The idea of segregating the frames separately is also for
the isolation purpose of doing one activity at a time, putting them
back in the original place before getting another & also working
from easy to difficult... for example children ideally should
work with the big buttons frame first then proceed to the
smaller buttons for their small cutie fingers. The actual
dressing frames also do not move much as they're
fastened onto/around the frames as compared to
actual clothing and also the pouch-version one.

When the fabric moves, it makes it challenging for a young child to work
with it whilst just grasping the concept of buttoning and unbuttoning pe
se.. but yes.. can be done.. can be done. Supervise and also provide
the initial introduction first before inviting your child to do the activity.
Move on to actual clothes when your child has mastered indepently...
and it would delight them as well to get to work on mommy and daddy's
clothings as well. Hope this clarifies. Cheerios.

[Kabby]

buds:

kabalevsky:

ya enrichment kind. i think it's 2 hrs for weekday sessions, and 2.5hrs for sat one. not 3-4hrs.

And these are drop off programmes or parent and child programmes?

Parent & child sessions are usually either an hour which is too short in
my opinion or 1.5 hours which is fine for starters provided that is the
group taken in is small, bearing in mind that for each child enrolled
ya gotta count two (with parent) and a big group can be rather
claustrophobic for a small classroom.

been v busy so MIA for a while..:)
now catching up where i left off again, so many pages!

yes buds, the last i found out, these are parent-child. i think their drop off prog starts only at 2.5yrs.

[Kabby]

Buds! If you are having a trial please please keep me in the loop too!


Like Smurf, I can travel a bit too. :love:

I also want to see how it is supposed to be like.

Regarding the dressing frames, are there fixed ages when the kids start on these or you will introduce them even at 18mth as long as they seem ready?

I vaguely recall long ago, when we sent ds1 to presch for a while when he was 3yo (only few months then we went overseas), I sat in the 1st few days, and the MOnte directress would intro certain monte materials to ds1 class only, and the older kids do others.

This sch segregated them according to age (N1 - K2). I was just wondering, so in a mixed age group, it is possible for a 3 yr old to have the same skills as a 6 yr old and work on the same newly introduced activity, or would the 6yr old be more of helping out the younger ones, since he/she had already done/ learnt it before?

And Jules mentioned 3 yr mixed age group. So for 18mth entry level, that would be grouped just from 18mth to 3yrs then?

Thanks!

[temjin68]

Hi mummies… Need advise

My boy turning 4 has been in the cc since Playgroup, now he is on N2.
teachers always tell me, he can’t sit down, doesn’t participate in class. Cannot follow routine, very slow in doing things, snatch toys, knock over his classmate buildings, friends do not want to play with him, day dreaming

I hv send him for ADHD ass. But they said too young to tell.
The school suggest that he needs a change of environment.


I am thinking if he will be suitable for MMI or similar.
Any advise?