have you edited this video with the wrong audio track? seems too bright and echoey compared to other videos youve done?

I knew you'd rebel against being told not to say the "m" word eventually. 😉

I went to a Montessori school for the first 14 years of my life. It was deffinetly better than a traditional school

@@erisjola5857 sounds like it. Honestly, I think Montessori fits way better with my learning style.

You probably love Montessori because of the learning stuff, but I love it because it’s so fun. When I was little I moved around a lot, I went to some Montessori schools and some non Montessori schools. In Montessori schools, I learned better, memorized better, and had the most fun. It was typical for my friends and I to play game and do art and music that was heavily involved with math English and science. We used to play store, but we actually counted money and set accurate prices. We even baked in class. Once I moved to other types of schools, I started disliking certain classes. In Montessori I liked certain classes, but never disliked any

Thank you for saying this! Montessori can be great for many children but for those of us with ADHD it can mean never really finish learning anything because nobody forced you to so you just keep starting and abandoning projects all of the time and feeling you are no getting anywhere which can cause depression

This is very true. I went to a Montessori school from age 3-16 and though I loved it, many of my fellow students couldn’t handle the freedom. My friends with ADHD would have been screwed if it was not for my school having less than 15 pupils per year group. That way they could get some additional structure from teachers on an individual basis.

Thank you for posting this! I am a big fan of Montessori (really benefitted from learning in the Montessori style) and am often quick to tout its benefits, but it's really good to be reminded that there is no one size fits all solution and that just because it worked for me doesn't mean it should or will work for everyone. I know I forget that sometimes and appreciate the reminder, especially right after hearing all about the situations in which it can work :) So thank you!

I went to a highschool that was a 4 hours a day "learn at your own pace" style school using workbooks that if you got all your credits done early, you could graduate early (though generally you needed to have at least SOMETHING done by a certain deadline), and while things I was interested in, like physics and accounting, I could finish an entire years work in just a few months, other subjects like english or math, I was technically held back for, because I wasn't interested in them thus I didn't work on them. I was in 11th grade for like a 1.25 years because I just couldn't make myself write one essay. I think maybe a hybrid style might work with us with ADHD? Like encouraging what we show a tendency for, while also making sure we keep up with and have a schedule for things we need to know/do, but don't have that drive for.

It definitely depends on the child. For some, it works great. For others, it doesn't work so well. But regardless, I think that the basic philosophy of respect for the child is something that all parents(and adults who work with kids) should adopt.

Unfortunately, here in the U.S. it's mostly only for rich people. Ironic as Montessori started her teaching in what would be "the projects", the poorest children.

Imma invent time travel just so I could put my kid-self in Montessori, brb.

It’s the philosophy of ECE’s (early childhood educators) and daycares pretty much everywhere, but ECE’s are treated like babysitters while our education system collapses and fails its teachers and students!!! Many teachers try to teach this way, but they just aren’t supported by the education system and the government!!

@@ameefoster7203 montessori schools are expensive, but you can do Montessori at home, as Jessica does. If you're interested in learning more about it, I highly recommend the youtuber Hapa Family, who has a "Montessori at Home" series

@@ameefoster7203 Sadly true. My sister-in-law raises her children through the same method and the toys and equipment are ridiculously expensive. To answer OP, it is absolutely a great child rearing method, but it also has its own drawbacks. Montessori doesn't teach much about being team members and doesn't prepare children for the traditional world of work. That's not to say it's bad, but be aware there if there was ever a perfect way to raise children, we'd all be following the same philosophy.

Love that!

yeah, once my dad called my brother useless because he thought he couldn't understand yet (my dad's not rude- just a very jokey person) when he was a baby, and he started crying

Adding to this - the way that parents talk to their babies varies significantly between cultures, and ultimately, as long as your baby is exposed to language, they will learn it! So parentese - or child-directed speech, because parents aren’t the only ones who use it - is totally fine! It’s also fine to not use child-directed speech at all. This also goes for signed languages. I’m a children’s librarian with a linguistics degree and I see parents worry a lot about their child’s language acquisition, so I just wanted to pop in and reassure anyone that however they speak to their child is fine, their child will acquire language, and there’s no secret method they’re missing that would make their child a genius. As long as your baby hears and/or sees language, they will acquire it just fine :)

I wanted to comment this as well as someone who majored in speech pathology. A lot of parents get really panicked that "baby talk" is going to harm their child and it absolutely isn't. So if you choose to use parentese, it is perfectly fine and doesn't harm their mental or speech development!

@@geealion however, mothers around the world across cultures and languages use motherese, suggesting this is more biological than cultural.

Maybe I misunderstood Jessica but I don't think she said anything against parentese but using different words instead of the regular ones. You can use your regular grammar and words while also speaking in a higher pitch and more exaggurated. I mean maybe I'm the exception but my dad hates baby talk because he thinks it made it harder on his management of dyslexia later. So he only talks in normal ways (so no moomoo for cow etc.) with children and of course also me back then.

Well I mean I don’t disagree but it only is beneficial because everyone around baby talks with them this way so they adjust. I was actually spoken to like a normal person and rarely had parentese talks and I was talking fluently before a year old. :) Everyone around me as of then was speaking to me like normal so I picked up on normal language really early on that’s why. I’m not special for this and most babies can do this if talked to like I was! :D

Amazing. I'm wondering if there are any Schools in the UK that use this teaching method? My Son is 4 and on the Spectrum. I'm considering home schooling due to him struggling in his mainstream school. Homeschooling may be on the cards if not.xx

I would love ideas on how to implement the philosophy with teens/young adults. We have two teen girls who came to us from foster care and I think this philosophy could help them feel more confident and independent.

​@@resplendentclarity2188 I don't know but I'm autistic myself and would have loved this method of school/home stuff. I believe it meets needs I've heard many others in the autistic community express, as well, so it sounds like you're looking in a very good direction to support your child:)

Also, (in the US at least, I know Jessica is in the UK) regular Kindergarten just isn't well suited to Kindergartners. Simply doing something different, even if that different philosophy isn't perfect, will get you better outcomes. That's why it's so important for people to explore different philosophies, to come up with multiple options that aren't so highly focused on standardized testing. I realize by high school, it might be impossible to get away from that obsession with testing. But, elementary schoolers shouldn't have to deal with instructors forced to worry about their students scores.

@@resplendentclarity2188 likely to be private, I was in a private Montessori nursery as a kid. Look for charter schools or check out Boy In A Band's video about alternative schooling

OMG!😱 I'm speechless.

That is really cool. I feel I struggle with being able to speak up to others, especially those who are in higher authority positions than I am. I am 19 and I am just learning how to deal with that kind of thing. And though it isn't much progress since I started, I feel I have grown a lot in how I deal with confrontation. So big props to that kid for standing up for himself and the mamanth! I think if I had been raised in a similar fashion it might change my confidence levels and how I deal with confrontation

I guess "extinct animals" would have been a more accurate name for that project. The teacher went with dinos for clarity. Tbh it's just annoying when people correct you on things like these. Like those people who feel the need to inform you that tomatoes aren't vegetables. Yeah I know Becky but did you understand what I meant? Yes? Then we're good

Good for them! Unfortunately, I suspect the teacher learned nothing. For me, this doesn't bode well for her teaching skills overall.

@@idek7438 Except, I have a big 'thing' about giving children incorrect information, and even more so in an educational setting (former teacher) - child is correct, a mammoth isn't a dinosaur, and if the teacher meant 'extinct animals' they should have said that. It also would have opened a discussion on the meaning of the word 'extinct' - there was no clarity to be had by using 'dinosaurs' as a short cut, it just comes across as a lack of knowledge.

@@kimtomlinson2963 dinosaur is, actually as much as I am kind of cringing at the teacher not correcting themselves or clarifying, is a term a lot of people use as synonymous with old or extinct or vintage themed.

Montessori toddler guide here! One of the many things I love about the Montessori method is how concentration is valued and protected. In my toddler classroom, we give our children purposeful practical life work that will really engage their concentration for long periods of time (preparing their own snack, scrubbing a table, filling a bird feeder, etc.) The concentration that is developed in our toddler environment helps prepare them for concentration on challenging academic work later in childhood. It’s not uncommon to see a Montessori child able to focus on something for long periods of time! It’s practiced and developed from the start. My toddlers (18 months- 3 years) will sometimes choose a work and work with it for 20-30 minutes!!

@@laurenwilliams4830 That is impressive. At age 5 I had issues adjusting to the station work style. But it was because I did not go to a Montessori Day Care. So I was like huh? They don’t make me focus 🧘‍♀️ at home lol. That is impressive. My 7 year old niece struggled past 7 - 14 minutes at the beginning of homeschool grade 1. (2020 Covid) But it did get extended as her teacher found what helped for her. It can be a really good thing with the right guidance. I agree.

I wonder if I could teach myself Montessori for my own sake as a malfunctioning adult, lol.

I was the oposite as a kid - I once spent ten hours straight painting paper plates when I was under the age of 6, and this was not at all an anomaly (autistic/adhd). I hated regular school and would have loved montessori for the opposite reason - the unnatural and abrupt transitions from one subject to the next really felt distressing, draining, and too sudden. I did go to a montessory-like school when I was around 5 and it's the only educational institution that didn't traumatize me in some way, and where I felt consistently safe, supported, and respected

My parents didn't raise me according to a specific method nor did i go to a certain method school but I always naturally focussed for hours on things I was obsessed with. I could play hours with one balloon as a baby or spend hours reading books and watching documentaries as a seven year old. I hated constant changing of topics. In my experience people who have bad focus as a kid all got better with age but are still worse at focussing than people who already have lengthy focus spans as a kid. Neither is worse. They can produce things in 30min and at the 30min mark i am still easing into a topic. But then studying was easier for me. But i do agree that for lifelong practical skills regular practice is better than cramming a lot of info in one sitting.

I was also a Montessori kid, and I'm fascinated that your teachers didn't include numbers! I very distinctly remember the concepts going hand in hand with the practical (numbers) aspects, especially as we got older. Other people also talk about their Montessori experience that their work was never checked, so they just never did a subject for a year etc, and all I can think is they just had bad Montessori teachers! 😂

I feel you and I’m so sorry. Mental illness can be devastating. I’m both mentally and physically ill, my physical illness is similar to Jessica, I use a wheelchiar too. I’m so sorry about you having to learn to parent yourself. I feel for you because it’s what I have to do too. Not only I wasn’t taught anything but I was also abused physically frim the beginning of my childhood to my teenage years. Now I’m 28 and I started to realize from an early age that this is because my parents were raised in an orphanage and its not their fault but still im a traumatized and severe mentally ill adult bc of it and its not my fault either

that's really great tho!:)

@@paadoxal I always thought so! Although math while grocery shopping made it easier for my mom to get other info out of me! 😝

Scishow tangents has a similar quote: The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lighted.

Beautiful quotes. Thanks for sharing

@@comprends2138 Possibly, but 350 years after Socrates.

@@comprends2138 Well, I had a good search and you might be right. "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire", was definitely written by Plutarch. I don't think it sounds as good as the paraphrased quote attributed to Socrates, but thanks. Good to know.

This is the comment I was looking for! I kind of feel like this entire video is a big look down on people who won't be able to educate their children in this way for this exact reason. It's basically impossible in the UK unless you are from a privileged background

Did you know that almost all early years education is private? But there is funding available for most 2 and 3 year olds that can be used at most settings (including montessori)? I agree there is a huge intersection between privilege and access to education but there doesn't need to be. The philosophy itself is accessible. I've applied it to settings with severely limited resources! I've also worked with children from a range of class/socio-economic background using the Montessori approach. It's important to acknowledge the accessibility but I also don't want people to be put off from exploring different approaches!

That’s funny to read your comment, because the whole time I was watching this video, I was thinking, “wow, that sounds like me with my cats!”

I agree but I think that's good that we give such respect to dogs and cats and other pets people may own because those they differ from humans in intelligence they are still smart and still have the right to be respected.

I train humans to train their dogs, and my quickest and most engaged students (the humans) are all teachers of human children. This is not a coincidence. Mammals pretty much all learn the same way. My teachers mostly just need to learn how to read the little subtle stuff from their dog and a little tightening up on timing and reward placement, but the foundations of reward and communication are already there, and they understand the importance of managing the environment.

We're all animals after all.

I think it’s so sad that western society has devolved to such a point that people think it’s okay to compare raising a dog to raising a child.

I love the way this video went through the information. I had never hear of Montessori before and honestly I feel I have a good understanding now after watching this video. I also liked seeing or having her explain examples of how it is implemented into their family since I think it will help others

Check out Hapa Family. She's also Montessori and licensed to teach 0-3. Very practical with examples.

I agree 100%. The practicality is often missing in online resources.

It's a difficult realization to make but very important to realise before you have a child.

It's a bit harsh to admit but patience is a skill developed when there is the incentive to do it. I don't have the patience to deal with pther children but I learned it for my own because I am invested in their development. 🤷‍♀️😅

I think this world shows that everyone can be a parent, just not necessarily a good one. Glad you recognize that you may not have that patience. For me, I don’t want to. Why volunteer to do that? I don’t have to have kids.

Couldn't agree more. I'm pretty set on never becoming a parent to a human, and this is one of the main reasons I know I can't do it. The amount of patience needed is not something I'm interested in.

I'd argue that believing physical punishment is acceptable is an outcome of not respecting the boundaries of other people, especially children! Maybe I'm wrong, but surely if you respect another person's independence and boundaries, you don't then hit them.

What a horrible thing to say to a child! :-(((( it angers me to think of how many teachers bring those biases into the classroom‚ where they can do immeasurable harm…

I have been to three different public schools in North America and I feel like if I didn't have to sit in a desk all day when I was younger, I would have been able to learn most easier.

I had the exact same experience ! our school also focused a lot on leadership and teamwork, which has served me so well in secondary school. I had the confidence and responsability to start and run an lgbt+ club, which is still going strong! and I'm not scared of public speaking or suggesting ideas in class, which is entirely down to the amazing teacher I had for my last 3 years of primary (when I was 10 to 12)

True, you don't see many sixteen year olds speaking in baby talk. It's age appropriate and child will clearly let you know what stage they are at. Lots of kids go back to baby talk around the age of six and I've seen many parents pulling their hair out over it (myself included at the time) but I realise now it was a stage she needed to go through, process and move on from.

I got really mad while they fed me too haha. I hated how they cleaned my face with the spoon when it fell out of my mouth because it was too much, ugh.

I'm the same way. When I was being homeschooled, I'd arrive at the university my parents worked at with a topic in mind to research, and I'd typically spend all morning researching it - or things I stumbled across tangentially while researching it. I'd take a break for lunch, infodump to my parents about what I'd learned, and go right back to my research for the afternoon. Much more suitable for me than a day full of classes on many different subjects.

@@ettinakitten5047 In college i had to go onto campus to catch up with work sometimes. I would arrive 8.30am work straight through until lunch, have a 10 min break to eat and then go right back to work. Sometimes i managed to finish whole assignments in a day because i was in such a good flow. I miss those days of concentration.

Thanks for this comment! As a linguist and a former Montessori kid myself, that was probably the only thing in the video that made me slightly grumpy. While I think her intention was to point out that speaking to a baby the same way you would an adult stems from the Montessori philosophy of respecting the child, and I don't think she intended it to sound like baby talk is bad or harmful, I think it's possible some people will hear it that way. There's no harm in baby talk/parentese, nor is there in talking to your child the way Jessica described. The most important thing is to talk to them, period!

It’s Cantonese :D

I super support the teaching kids many language in their early ages. As someone from a inherently bilingual country, (my country also has many dialects, but I grew up only adjacent to some so I didn't learn any), I find it easier to correlate and latch on to many point of reference when it comes to learning other language system like Korean or Russian. Also, code-switching is interestingly fun and makes you more cognizant of people. I believe Jessica and Claudia already incorporate a bit of sign language when around Rupert.

Yes! I had to turn on the captions

I also had this impression, but then I guess I got used to it

@@TherealHRHMarissa Good thing I always have it on, especially for channels that provide it officially.

It is I had to turn my volume up

@@NataliaNNS the baby crying I’m the beginning made trickier to hear. After that it got better.

Is there a Montessori highschool you could move her to?

@@minksrule2196 I live near Flint, MI USA so I doubt it. She is doing A LOT better this year than last though.

I totally agree. Children most of the time want to be adults but they aren't at the stage in life. They need guidance which is why parents have to help them, but I think a lot of the time it becomes a war on control when really that shouldn't be the case. Treating children as if they are adults by the way we talk to them and respect their boundaries would help restrict how much rebellion a child feels they need to have because they feel unheard. This way the child is heard and respected and will grow to hear and respect others I feel

@@annmariebarreiroart yep. I don’t think I ever had one of my parents say ‘because I said so’ to me growing up. My mother especially had a knack for giving a short, developmentally appropriate explanation for a rule if asked. That developed a level of trust and knowledge of the underlying principles (keeping myself and other people and things safe, etc.) that meant that eventually explanation wasn’t really needed. It never felt arbitrary.

@@archervine8064 how wonderful! My mother was/is the example of what not to do. "Because I said so!" was her default sentence. As a result, I grew up with A LOT of "when I'm a parent " vows. I'm an expat (nothing like putting an ocean between you and your parents) and I always treat my 2.5 year old as someone new to the country of Humans who just needs useful explanations and time to get up to speed on the language, culture and how things work.

@@sarahrosen4985 ‘new to the country of Humans’ - I love that! IMHO the only disadvantage I have noticed is that one thing that particularly annoys me is when something ‘must’ be done a certain way even though it doesn’t make sense to me and a better process seems obvious. I also, in school, complained to my mother when homework was too easy or repetitive. She would respond with ‘you still need to show your teacher you can do this well, and even great athletes, musicians, etc practice fundamentals’. Couldn’t really argue with that, and in retrospect I am glad she didn’t let me off the hook or I would have really struggled later on when things got more difficult and I needed study skills.

It's interesting, Montessori didn't talk much about care (or creativity)... Two very important things!! When I did my training in the approach, we had a module on contemporary early childhood practice which covered them in more detail. It's so important to be open to new ideas!

I'm sorry, I'm saying this coming from very negative experiences in normal education, but I feel like I must share these thoughts. How is having your child in normal education for A WOLE DAY, followed by maybe an hour of other experiences, a balance? And what's the best of both worlds, when one world has no good points in comparison? Honestly, I cannot see one thing that's done right from the view of the child in normal education. There's no advantage in my opinion, except for maybe location, as Montessori schools aren't omnipresent as other schools. Unfortunately, a large number of abusive situations in my childhood have sparked an unusually complete memory of that time in my life. Also unfortunately, but maybe luckily for my future children, I cannot forget even the smallest incident, where for instance the teacher yelled at me for not completing an exercise on time, one being very obviously disappointed in me for failing a test, putting me on the spot to be ridiculed by my peers. Now you may think that my school was just exceptionally bad, but I think there does happen a lot in there that doesn't reach the parents. I for one never told my parents about any negative feelings, no matter how serious they were, now beating myself up about it, but I simply thought that teachers weren't to be questioned or complained about. At that age they are very impressive and powerful adults that are always right. I see this still, when talking to young nieces and nephews, this almost reverence for their teacher. I see it even in the behavior of friends who are teachers, there's so little respect for children, empathy for how children think and feel. And no screening future teachers for possible abusive behavior. So I simply cannot ever fail to explain why schools must be very carefully selected, and how they do leave a lasting impression in the behavior of children, even if the kids forget all about where they got it from. Because you have forgotten too, how you felt. Almost everyone does. And though they are definitely the lucky ones for it, it means that they don't understand a child's mind anymore and therefore often cause conflict, confusion and less than desirable results. Not only in terms of future education, but also emotionally.

@@MrsJolene- I've worked in primary schools and they are adopting some aspects of child-led learning so they have changed since I was at school. I understand that my kids aren't going to get on with every teacher they have but I will do my best to advocate for my children if they need it. And there are also teachers that they will get on with and really learn from Outside of school my children help with things around the house as well as me and their dad and fairy godmother doing things with them that explore their interests. Overall I feel they're getting a holistic learning experience. This will give them a sense of identity and confidence in who they are and what they like. I don't talk down to my children and treat them with respect as equals. This way they know how they should expect to be treated so will notice if they aren't treated with respect. So many of the teachers I have worked with, especially in primary school want the best for the children in their care and are happy to have meetings with parents to resolve issues. I think the headteacher is important in setting the tone of the school and I would be happy to move schools if needed. Raising babies and toddlers is key to setting the tone for when they are children and that can help them be resilient and trust that their parent will have their back and be on their side if there are any issues. I just feel that mainstream schools offer a more realistic expectation for adulthood

I remember skimming ahead my school books (especially science, history, and English/Filipino literary) and couldn't wait for the teacher to tackle it, but I'd always get disappointed that the teacher either skipped some or ran out of the school year to go through all of the topics.

I grew up without study habits or structure (my parents didn't have one either even though both of them graduated college) and my high school albeit academic-based still managed to make me (and people like me) be in the class's top 10 without even seriously studying, so I was culture-shocked going to university. I wish I had a bit of a structure because not having one means being more susceptible to comparing my progress to others', which my half brain knows is unfair to do.

The book was the Absorbent Mind

If that is true, it is quite disappointing but I would gently point out that it was a common view up until WWII, still hasn’t totally died out, and was seen as a ‘liberal’ idea. Not saying it is in any way ok or should be brushed aside. Just that context needs to be remembered.

As with most parenting philosophies, there are awesome parts and bad parts. Montessori is not a panacea for parenting, it has to actually work for both the parent and the kid and not all kids are going to do well with Montessori style education. And not all schools that slap Montessori on are either really that or good. Also, not saying "doggie" doesn't make you a better parent. Pointing out that you don't say doggie to a video of many viewers makes you a judgmental parent. All you had to do was say "Montessori promotes using the full words for things," and leave it there.

Considering that eugenics is still happening in first world country with children with down syndrome, that even England allows abortion of a baby with down syndrome till the 7th month versus 6th month with a child without a diagnosios of down syndrome and in Iceland only 3 babies with down syndrome were born last year, I would say while it would be somewhat problematic for Maria Monterserri to be pro eugenics, she is still not affecting policy in the current day but plenty of otherwise seemingly level headed people seem to have no issue of practicing eugenics on disabled babies these days.

Wow! My dream is to one day work in a democratic school:) Did you enjoy your experience?

Parenting style is important for sure but also each child is different.

That definitely sounds like the opposite of Montessori. From what I've heard, that's generally not the case in most schools, but there are always going to be bad schools and bad teachers in any country.

Yeah, I feel like a lot of these non-mainstream schools turn out either incredible or incredibly bad. I went to an amazing Steiner school in Finland but I've also heard of some pretty bad experiences people in other Steiner schools have had. Doesn't mean the principles are bad, just that some people just apply them in a bad way

@@noellova yeah ik some great stiener schools. But the one in my area got shut down bc of safeguarding issued

@@noellova Okay great to hear that there are some good ones here too

I feel like the Montessori schools that you hear about that "don't work" or do something that sounds quite strange like this are honestly not using the Montessori method the way that Maria originally created it. Montessori often gets a bad rep for reasons that usually end up being untrue. Like this for example. I am a Montessori teacher, trained by someone who was trained by someone who worked with Maria Montessori herself (so 4th hand/generation I suppose), and this is definitely something that would never be encouraged. Children are supposed to have freedom and responsibilities, and how are they supposed to feel responsible and independent when they aren't even allowed to decide when they have to use the washroom? Every rumor I have heard that sounds wrong is pretty much entirely untrue and I'm not sure why some schools warp the method into something that disagrees completely with what Maria originally believed and created. I bet if she was here today she would shake her head at a lot of us lol. It's not supposed to be a strict method that forces children to do anything, it's supposed to give children the means to have their own self-discipline which allows them to have freedom of choice and decision making, not because they are forced to, but because they want to, and for the greater good of the people around them.

The whole American education system was based on teaching people to become factory workers as well :/

This doesn't sound like it's trying to make you a factory worker as much, it doesn't make you conform to a schedule, with certain tasks at certain hours, and make you learn the same as everyone else like you would need at a factory

@@ashtaylor4107 I'm really sorry, I've read it in a French paper a few years back, and I wouldn't be able to find it again... It was opposing the method of Célestin Freinet, whom was defending a form of learning by experimentation. He argued that Montessori's method was too oriented towards "hard sciences", and refreined the child self development. I have no doubt that Mrs Montessori had good intentions, and that her method can be beneficial to some. I just think that it is a method to take with a grain of salt. As all methods, really. Thank you for your input !

Agree, and unfortunately, not all Montessori schools apply the method in a way that benefits children. I have a few friends who denounce montessori because the method was used to exercise control and enforce compliance.

Anything, in the hands of the nefarious, can be used to someone's detriment. The one thing I always remember about Montessori: it was the only educational method outlawed by the Nazis because it taught independent thought.

I grew up in a Montessori school and switched to public school after 7th grade and there was a bit of a shock, yes. At first I was incredibly excited to be going to a "normal" school, but the switch to high school in grade 9 was not great. I stopped going for a few months in grade 10 due to depression, and had to switch to an alternative school in my district that worked much better for me to be able to finish high school. The alternative school was hosted on a college campus, we had a great deal more freedom, could take college courses, and were by and large treated like responsible adults. It made all the difference in the world. I felt so little of that at my first public high school.

@@PaperTiger so glad you found somewhere that worked out for you in the end. 🤗