I went to a Montessori school for four years (K through 3rd grade).<p>It was horrible. I wasn't expected to do anything. Most days were spent bored to tears.<p>There was no oversight of the teachers; in fact the principal herself <i>was</i> the "teacher" for grades 1-3.<p>We were expected to keep a journal of our activities and show it to a teacher at the end of each day, who would sign it and let us go home. (The point was to encourage us to do things, rather than nothing.) There were two teachers on duty each day (the principal and her assistant) so I would simply lie; I wrote "did X at 9:34AM" "did Y at 10:53AM" etc then forged the assistant teacher's signature and showed it to the principal, who dutifully approved it (or vice-versa). Since there were about 60 kids and 2 teachers, there was no chance of them noticing.<p>A classmate intentionally smacked me in the head with the edge of a metal shovel and got off with a light warning, even after my parents came to explain the severity of the situation.<p>The activities that you could do in 1st grade were exactly the same as those you could do in 3rd grade. The next "transition" (room with different activities) was grade 4.<p>In my experience, the purpose of this particular Montessori school was to be a daycare, not to educate.<p>It was just awful. I'm not saying all Montessori schools are awful; I'm saying the one I was forced to endure was awful.
Google reminds us today that it is Maria Montessori's 142nd birthday. Having gone to a Montessori school for seven years of my life, I believe her philosophy should be more adapted. It encourages creativity rather than emphasizing only on attainment of knowledge, both of which I believe are essential in the world we live in.
Some friends of our's had a kid who transferred into a Montessori school after a couple years in regular school.<p>This extremely well behaved child (I wish my kid was as calm and well behaved) came home every day stressed out about how he was rated behaviorally - kids either get put in red (bad), green (normal), blue (very good) and the teacher never put him in blue. He never said anything about learning.<p>So they moved him to a Montessori school and when he came home, he excited about what he learned or did that day at school.<p>This anecdote led my wife and I to enroll our child in the same school, her first day was yesterday. I really hope my kid comes home excited about what she accomplished and learned as well.
I also find the school system of ancient Greece[1] quite interesting. They had a very high focus on physical fitness, which I believe is very important for mental clarity.<p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_ancient_Greece" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_ancient_Greece</a>
<i>In this first classroom, Montessori observed behaviors in these young children which formed the foundation of her educational method. She noted episodes of deep attention and concentration, multiple repetitions of activity, and a sensitivity to order in the environment. Given free choice of activity, the children showed more interest in practical activities and Montessori's materials than in toys provided for them, and were surprisingly unmotivated by sweets and other rewards. Over time, she saw a spontaneous self-discipline emerge.</i>
My 2 1/2 year old is in a Montessori toddler program in Salt Lake City and the school is fantastic. At that age, kids are encouraged to work independently and learn at their own pace. Their 'toys' are what they call 'works' and are designed for learning. He's happy to go to 'school' every day, and I feel great having him there. We were fortunate to find a very high quality Montessori school for him.
Like nearly everything in education, this is woo. We have almost no evidence for any intervention, even in mainstream approaches to schooling. We still largely hold to the absurd idea that if a school environment is intuitively appealing, it will be effective in providing a lasting benefit to the pupil. This is of course a baseless irrational belief.<p>Education does not need more opinionated "humanitarians". It needs randomised controlled trials, and lots of them.