Looking at the Options for School

I'm actually researching the possibility of  moving Missy to an alternative school. The one I am looking at is very hands on. They call it a Montessori school, but maybe, from what I am gathering, with a bit of different twist? They use Academics Associates certified teachers. This reading program has been proven to be effective with children with dyslexia and dysgraphia, etc...  I'm going to spend the morning observing the school tomorrow.

Missy is doing okay in the public school. She IS learning. She is reading and she is coming around on math to a degree. In fact, her brother's current homework page is on finding the AREA of certain objects. He has no clue what he is doing~period. (It drives me crazy that he has to do these worksheets for concepts he honestly has not the slightest grasp of!!) BUT I showed him how and he is mechanically doing the work, though it means nothing to him. He just did three out of six problems incorrect and Missy corrected TWO of them for him because she knows the ten times tables and she was able to recognize that it was a simple multiplication calculation. SO, I do not discount that she is learning.

That said, I feel she is missing some basic foundational building blocks that we won't ever have a chance to put in place if we keep pushing her from grade to grade. Someday I fear her weak foundation will not be able to support progress. Alas if she's more concerned with "fitting in" then learning it's only going to get worse. She spends a fair amount of energy trying not to look different from the kids in her class. If she is just accomplishing things at a second grade level now, how does sending her on to 4th grade next year help her be successful?

From what I am learning of the school it's the closest thing to the way I homeschooled the girls. My one concern is that Montessori is generally known to be child-driven. The child chooses what they decide to learn. Um... yeah. lol. Right. This child??!!  She'd take the easy way out every time, So I asked some pointed questions, and it sounds like there are actually requirements. The example I was given sounded doable.

If we were to send Missy next fall I would need to figure out a way to make some money because it isn't free!!! And if it worked well for Missy, then I would consider it for James the next year as well as I am not interested in sending them to middle school. I am sure that leaving him with his current teacher for another year is the best plan for next fall. She is an amazing teacher. I bet that his second year with her will be his best year yet.

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Pieter is having a great week and there hasn't been any more talk of throwing him out of his daycare. Phew. I had to be pretty firm with him Sunday and keep him separate from the other children because he was looking for trouble. Since then everything has gone much smoother. He learns.