Ask HN: Anyone go through Montessori education until age 12 (end of grade 6)?
Montessori was bad for me. At least the Montessori I was placed in.<p>I need to find out where it was (and how old I was - I would guess 5 or 6), but the situation is that I was not ready (or perhaps not the right type of kid) for Montessori.<p>I was painfully shy, and I&#x27;d avoid attention.<p>The teachers (there were 2 I believe) must have been happy to ignore me. How else do you spend an entire year not paying attention to a student? Perhaps they were overworked.<p>I&#x27;d spend a lot of time in the bathroom, or ... I&#x27;m not even sure what. Playing with something, but generally not learning.<p>The strong theme of these comments here are how Montessori really allowed some to thrive, but I cannot imagine that - it was very much not my experience. Perhaps that was me, or perhaps it was that particular school. Likely both.<p>I have a distinct memory of another student (a friend) learning the alphabet. A teacher was spending time with him, letting him draw the letters out. For whatever reason, I wanted to be included in that. Even at that young age, I suspect I knew that something was off. I wanted that attention as well.<p>I expressed interest in doing what my friend was doing (I&#x27;m not sure what - writing out the alphabet perhaps), but was told no. I don&#x27;t remember why, this was some 30+ years ago now - but I recall that rejection.<p>I eventually went to public school, but was very nearly held back. I didn&#x27;t know anything!<p>My mother interceded and I was allowed to stay in that grade (which is good, I&#x27;m still on the older side for my grade - holding me back could have been even more awkward).<p>She helped me learn what I needed to know at home - I imagine it was quite the effort.<p>I still wonder why I was put in that position to begin with! You think they would know that I wasn&#x27;t learning anything, but I&#x27;ll bet it was easy to hide.<p>Kids born in the 80&#x27;s and 90&#x27;s tended to have parents who were very hands-off it seems (certainly my case, and anecdotally, that seems to the trend of those times). I&#x27;ve asked what was going on before, but answering specifics from decisions from 30 years ago is a tough question for a parent in their 70&#x27;s now. They were probably struggling with money at the time and had their own worries.<p>I&#x27;m not sure I&#x27;ll send my kids to Montessori, although I suspect they would thrive where I did not. Parents now a days (me!) are much more involved in their kids lives (for better or worse) and I imagine between internet reviews and us being top of it, my own issue wouldn&#x27;t be repeated for my kids.