I toured my daughter’s new school and found all the answers I’ve been looking for. I know it is a long commute and costly, but wow! You should see it. It is Montessori based, so they all work at their own level. I was allowed to observe several classes and was truly impressed. There are 12 children and 2 teachers in each room. Each child was working at a station on their own level. They can advance as fast as they can. Everything is hands on. I didn’t see the SEE program at work (Sequential English Education) because those classes were on a field trip. SEE is their intensive phonics program. In addition to all the basic academics (reading, math, science, social studies, etc) they had an art room, a drama room, a music room and the library. They go once a week to each. I just feel such a sense of relief. I KNOW this is our answer. Thanks everyone for helping me through this part of our journey. I really value eveyone’s opinion.
Suzi
Couple things to look out for
My dd went to a Montessori for 2 years - pre-K and K. We were very happy with our decision to place her there. However, I wanted to share with you a couple potential issues to look out for. Make sure your teacher is really monitoring that your child ‘gets’ to every station. We found that our ‘sneaky’ little daughter figured out a way to spend all her time at the ‘fun’ stations - art, building blocks, math - the stations that were easiest for her. She avoided those stations that tended to be hard for her.
Last, if your dd does have a CAPD and tends to have a problem with background noise an open classroom can provide a new level of distraction. Make sure that the teachers are still providing accomodations that will minimize these issues (i.e. sitting close to teacher, repeating instructions, visual queues etc.)
Thanks!
The school is Montessori based but not totally child driven. She will have a contract and goals that must be met. The 2 teachers per classroom do direct the children part of the day and then there are times when the children can pick what they want.
She does have some auditory processing problems. Because they are an LD school, they make sure she is getting what she needs for that. I was so impressed at how quiet the classrooms were. Much much much quieter than her classroom at her public school.
I’ll be sure to watch for these two things though. Thanks!!
Suzi
I noticed that too...
When I was on my tour, Suzi, I noticed how quiet it was, too. I thought, “Oh No’ ” my class clown laugh a minute kid will hate this. Then he went on his 3 day visit and he said he loved the school “…and, Mom, it is so quiet!!” He liked it being quiet!! Who knew?
The director of the school, Joyce Pickering, has some articles somewhere on this ldonline sight that talks about incorporating Montessori methods into an LD classroom. The articles are also on the school’s web site www.shelton.org.
sounds like a good bet Suzi! My kids are doing so much better in their school. ( a small private school that specializes in ld/ADHD kids) I wouldn’t ever look back.