Public high school teachers: Please share your thoughts on Montessori

September 11, 2018 11:13 PM

In your experience, how well do children transition into public high schools when their prior education has been in a Montessori setting through the 8th grade? I'm also interested in hearing from those who have personally had that experience.
posted by Sunnyshe to Education (3 answers total)

Previously.
posted by Fuego at 7:22 AM on September 12, 2018

Not high school but my daughter went on to middle school after montessori public school and didn't have any trouble other than having to learn the rules. (And getting used to sitting at a desk during class!)

I think it made her a self-starter. She's always pretty much taken care of her homework herself (she's in 8th grade now) and has As and Bs on most of her report cards.
posted by dawkins_7 at 8:54 AM on September 12, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I recently attended a panel of students who had gone to Montessori school and then transitioned to traditional high school in middle and high school. Most of them agreed that it had been a difficult transition because the culture of the classroom was so different - they didn't feel the students respected the teachers and that they were mean to each other. The schoolwork was not mentioned as being an issue by any of them. My observation was that those who had transitioned later seemed happier with their 'traditional' experience, perhaps because they had been able to go into smaller/specialized high schools as opposed to being launched into the full public middle school experience.
posted by bq at 10:53 AM on September 12, 2018 [4 favorites]