All About Autism
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Coolkidsrock2:
My children attended Montessori pre-schools as well as other pre-schools. Montessori is indeed more \"free and easy\" and someone advised me then to switch them back to more traditional pre-schools to prepare them for primary school.
Don't you think you are changing too soon? Won't it upset your son even more if his environment and the teaching style keeps changing? My personal opinion is that all systems have their value and there is no perfect one. Consistency and stability are probably more important for kids, NT and especially ASD, than chasing after 'better' systems. I don't have personal experience of Montessori, but my impression is that they are rather 'free and easy', and if you are looking for something that specifically prepares for P1, then it may not be what you want. If you are determined to change again, pick carefully taking into account finances, travel time etc, and resolve to stick with it until your son goes to P1. My daughter attended 3 preschools in 3 countries, and I don't recommend frequent changes. She survived, but it was largely because I am a SAHM who took charge of things at home, and provided the consistency and stability that the kids needed. The preschools were add-ons rather than the core of my kids' education.slmkhoo:
[quote=\"helplessmum3\"]Mummies I'm thinking of changing my son to Montessori school ..
Is Montessori teaching prepare for mainstream primary one ?
Personally, based on my limited experience with my own DC who are of very different personalities, Montessori was good for my DS who is shy and timid. DD is different, she needs a firm hand and the \"free and easy\" style of Montessori resulted in her taking advantage of the teachers.
I had overheard conversations between parents where they mention their kids having adjustment problems in primary school when the style at the pre-school/kindergarten had been too free, either in terms of discipline or amount of homework.[/quote]
oh dear.. i m at the lost now.. my son is in normal preschool now. he can quene up for everything .. and do works and sit together the peers . eat together too.. and sit down during story telling time.... everything in preschool is together with the whole classs....
i duno that Montessori is free & easy :(... cuz i thought montessori is good for special needs if to learn & grab the study concepts..
but those what he is behaving well in normal preschool is what i wish to keeep ...
how how how....hiaz.... -
helplessmum3:
Have you visited the Montessori place you are considering? How are the classes conducted, what sort of expectations do they have of the children in terms of group discipline and behaviour? Would you be happy to see your son behave that way? If travel time is considerably shorter for you and your son and less stressful, it is definitely a plus point.oh dear.. i m at the lost now.. my son is in normal preschool now. he can quene up for everything .. and do works and sit together the peers . eat together too.. and sit down during story telling time.... everything in preschool is together with the whole classs....
i duno that Montessori is free & easy :(... cuz i thought montessori is good for special needs if to learn & grab the study concepts..
but those what he is behaving well in normal preschool is what i wish to keeep ...
how how how....hiaz.... -
slmkhoo:
i have seen the school but have not see the kids doing things yet... maybe i pay them a visit when class or lessons are conduct..
Have you visited the Montessori place you are considering? How are the classes conducted, what sort of expectations do they have of the children in terms of group discipline and behaviour? Would you be happy to see your son behave that way? If travel time is considerably shorter for you and your son and less stressful, it is definitely a plus point.helplessmum3:
oh dear.. i m at the lost now.. my son is in normal preschool now. he can quene up for everything .. and do works and sit together the peers . eat together too.. and sit down during story telling time.... everything in preschool is together with the whole classs....
i duno that Montessori is free & easy :(... cuz i thought montessori is good for special needs if to learn & grab the study concepts..
but those what he is behaving well in normal preschool is what i wish to keeep ...
how how how....hiaz....
ya. less stressful and i can save transportation cost & times.... in terms of journey.... -
I have always found Montessori very ironic when it comes to teaching special needs children.
On one hand, its teaching methodology is developed with the special needs children in mind with the use of concrete tools to facilitate visual coaching for such children. But on the other hand, the free and easy environment is a step back for ASD children, as they are less likely to learn in such an environment given that they need a structured environment and a firm hand to guide them in their daily routine. I am not sure whether this is the ‘evolved’ concept of Montessori since there seem to be a lot of modified Montessori concepts around nowadays.
While I was looking for a mainstream preschool for my doter, I visited this Montessori school. It was so free and easy that the young kids could handle glass material or climb up ladders while holding a stacked block structure at their free will without close supervision. I decided that it was not for us. -
Hi helplessmum,
Not only just look at their classroom & how kids are taught, but also :-
A) inquire about 1 tr to how many kids ratio ?
B) are the tr in that preschool all Montessori trained, or only the principal herself trained only, while the rest are not?
If only p is trained while tr not montesori trained and claim that they are trained in house, then no good. Because they are charging you expensive montesori Sch fees by calling themselves a montessori pre-school & yet their teachers are not even trained in Montessori in the first case. And I will also cast doubt on how effective the tr will be trained within the Sch itself. This means they are using your child as a guinea pig, to test out their Montessori program developed. You shd avoid this type of pre-school. No way using your child as a guinea pig to try out. The reason why the founder of such a pre-School willing to take in foreigners is because hiring an experienced, Montessori trained tr is expensive. But if p take in foreigners & train them so called "in-house" way - then is cheap. If yr child go to this type of pre-Sch, maybe the tr may have a cert / diploma in childhood education, and at most the pre-Sch buy lots of Montessori material to impress potential customers, (ie. the parents), but that’s it. A non- Montessori trained tr lack the relevant experience to teach children the Montessori way.
When u go to the pre-Sch & see Filipino tr around, be alert. Some of them are not Montessori trained at all. But they come to sg, to gain some experience. If they claim that they are Montessori trained, then u need to verify their statement. Ask them to show you their certificate, as evidence. Trained by who, which institute ? Is that institute recognized ?
Also ask - are all the teachers Montessori trained, or only 1 or 2 of them ?
How about that particular teacher specifically going to teach your child ? Is she already Montessori trained ?
B) who teach phonics, grammar vocab & who teach Maths?
Is it the same tr or different tr?
Some montessori pre-Sch assign 1 senior teacher to overlook & supervise 2 subjects (eng + Maths). She may get another assistant teacher to help her.
Other montesori pre-Sch may assign 2 different subject tr to report to the principal or founder. Ie. one subject- one teacher. I prefer this set up, bec then, diff tr can concentrate & focus on the subject domain. They are less tired to teach so many montesori kids.
I Do not like the first type of arrangement. Reason? My child current
Ly is in this type of arrangement. I find my child’s progress in Maths very slow, bec it happen that the senior tr controlling or managing both subjects - she tend to be stronger in English than in Maths. As a result, most kids in my child’s Montessori pre-Sch tend to progress faster in eng than Maths. This is my perceived opinion.
C) also ask -
How long has this pre-Sch been established ?
How many years already in existence ?
Do they have experience so far in handling special need kids?
Can they share more about their experience with you?
D) ask -
May I review sample of your k1, k2 Wkshts?
This is to gauge their academic standard of preparation for p1.
After reviewing, how do you feel ?
Do you think is of adequate standard, or low?
Pls review their Wkshts for the 3 subjects -
Eng, Maths, Chinese. Then you ascertain their standard.
E) ask -
For English -
May I know notmally, how long does it take a child on average to clear pink scheme, blue scheme & green scheme Montessori phonics, in your pre-school ?
Pink = elementary stage, blue = intermediate stage, green = advanced stage
If her answer is "well, it depends on yr child", then you probe further , "based on your years of handling & teaching so many kids so far, what will be a rough estimate ?" -
Does Montessori issue some kinda certification to the teachers??
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imeemee. wow. climb up ladder!! worry worry. i will stay there longer to observe… haiz…
phttph… whao, thanks for the great tips. i already printed out to bring along with me… thanks thanks sooo much!! -
phtthp ,
the school name is "Modern Montessori International" in short. MMI. -
My children are attending Montessori, I like the teacher there, especially the philipino teacher that will always share with me how she handle my special boy when he was in N2, and he like her a lot. When he got into K1, there was a local teacher that always shout at him who don't know how to manage him, result of my ASD son having nightmare and shouting in the middle of the night. And few months later that teacher no longer teaching there( Lucky). Now is handle by Malay teacher and Chinese teacher from China, both able to handle my ASD son! And the philipino teacher is still there to teach my NT son.
my purpose of sharing is, it is not the certificate and the nationality/ race that is important, pls pls also look into the teachers heart. Those who don't have cert might be able to stretch out good behavior support for ASD child. -
Braverymom, how u found out that teacher shouting at your son?
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