[Hillard]

I asked before about home schooling. Now we have a new idea...a Montessori school. I've done a little research, and it has been highly recommended, but I still know very little about it. Curious if anyone here has any experience with them and if so, what do you think?

[Diego]

I attended one through kindergarten. I don't know how it is now, but they let you learn at your own pace. I'd consider sending mine there when I have them.

[Old Man Taylor]

My oldest granddaughter had a very good experience there. She only went for 1-2 years, but she was ahead of her class when she went back to public school.

[Deadhead]

One in right now one gone all the way through (K through 8th grade).

You may find the methods irritating and the people way off your political tolerance scale BUT they actually have a method that works and kids WANT to go to school every day and would rather be there than at home in the summer time. It may take them longer to get to public school benchmarks, which turns off a lot of parents, but by the time they are 8/9 they will be ahead of the other kids and will be into learning. I have one that is starting HS after going through and he is very excited about it and not intimidated by the prospect of entering the public school system b/C he has a plan for how to get into the college/field he at this time wants to go into.

Just be prepared to tolerate some things and stick with it. It was not easy for us/me as parents, but it is worth it.

[goatmanmitch]

My daughter went 2 or 3 years to one (pre-k and kindergarten) and she did very well but as others will say, she was definitely ahead of the other kids when she went into first grade at public school.

[mach flyer]

Both my son and daughter went through till kindergarten. As others have said very different politically, but both were way ahead when entering public school.
Also very expensive but I would not hesitate to do it all over again.

[Hillard]

The local Montessori school does k-12. My daughter is going into the 8th grade. We just found out that she has a disability that makes it difficult for her to learn with a lot of distractions around her. I thought she just needed her butt kicked but apparently this is very real. Obviously there is a much longer explanation to the disability but in a nutshell she has a hard time focusing...and it's not ADHD like we once thought. Anyway, the Montessori school has been recommended to us and she wants to go. She hates her public school. I appreciate the opinions already given and would love to hear more. If we decide this is a good idea I just need to figure out how to do it financially and figure out the transportation issues.

[Deadhead]

One of my son's classmates/friends had the same situation. He went through with my son, and by the time he was to go to HS, the environment and methods had negated the entire problem. Both of his parents are professional social workers, and they could not be happier with the result, knowing what would have happened to him in a typical classroom environment. They knew that he would have been put on drugs to make him easier to shove through the round hole. They also knew that was ultimately a bad idea as he needed to learn how to cope and function.

Undoubtedly all these individual places are different, but this is a success story to the degree I could not tell there was anything going on with the guy - other than his hair and general early teenness. LOL. Just to clarify - not all the children that go to these schools have learning issues, but the environment is more suited to the way each child learns in pace and method, so it sorts out a lot of difficulties for those that do along the way.

[Hillard]

The use of drugs has been mentioned and I'm really against. She has been diagnosed with Mixed Expressive Receptive Learning Disorder...sometimes called the ADHD "lookalike" which we had originally thought it was (without the hyper). She's has always passed her classes in public school but it has been a struggle. And I think she could finish her school years in public school but it has also caused some anxieties. I'm afraid the anxieties will continue to get worse if we don't do something different. It does sound like Montessori is the way to go, just have to figure out how to pay for it and get her to and from. Thanks for the responses.

[Deadhead]

[QUOTE=1050goat;4999609just have to figure out how to pay for it and get her to and from. Thanks for the responses.[/QUOTE]

It cost us more in gas than it did in tuition until we changed vehicles and wife took a part-time job near the school to cut down on the trips. Many have $ available to make it possible. Be sure to inquire about that.

Good luck, and I am sure given your concern all will work out well in the end.