My son's class today learned there are 9 planets in the Solar System

telecaster

My 4 year old goes to Montessori 5 days per week. He had been attending a pre-school group 3 days a week the previous year and was due to do his 5 days per week there this year.

However his teachers said he was ready to do more learning than play, and they - to their great credit - recommended that he would flourish more in a Montessori environment. And so we switched him to the local Montessori.

The Montessori clearly has a sniff of itself: badged uniforms, fees above the state subsidised scheme, a rather patronising tone to parents etc.

We received 2 letters in the post from the Montessori ahead of the term starting. These were guidelines about how the school is run, procedural information, lunch details etc. Both of these official-styled correspondences were riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. I counted 25 errors in one page which had no more than 6 paragraphs. It looked as if some of the more advanced kids at the school had composed the letter as a project.

My concern that there doltards at the helm was growing.

Today my son came home and told me he'd learned all about the solar system at school. He told me there were 9 planets. I told him there was 8, and counted them out to him. He told me I missed Pluto.

I don't expect absolutely everyone to know that Pluto was reclassified some years back and is no longer considered a planet. I do expect a professional educator to know it though.

I don't want to humiliate or embarass the Montessori owner/teacher, but I'm concerned my kid is going to be less wise after the year's experience than before it.

What would you do in my position?

I'd post in the Parenting or preschool forums

cyrusdvirus

Start a petition to get Pluto reclassified as a Planet.

That way your sons faith in teachers knowledge will not be rocked.

telecaster

bluewolf wrote: »

I'd post in the Parenting or preschool forums

nope, I wanted the AH opinion

Il Trap

Talk to Joe...

Boombastic

you would think someone in that position would know. I would complain in writing to the management and ask them to clarify why they are teaching outdated info, after all you're paying

kneemos

Won't be the last falsehood your child gets thaught.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

You should have said to your kid:

"Pffffft, Pluto is a dog ya thicko"

You should go down and complain to the owner.

JohnMarston

Its not a big thing tbh, just leave it.

I was taught things in primary school that were lies or half-truths by the time i got to secondary school

guinang

Thinly veiled 'my child is so intelligent'.

Snowie

benwavner wrote: »

You should have said to your kid:

"Pffffft, Pluto is a dog ya thicko"

You should go down and complain to the owner.

or better still write him a letter :eek:

Lumbo

I'd chill the **** out

telecaster

JohnMarston wrote: »

Its not a big thing tbh, just leave it.

I know, thats why the scientists reclassified it

Rigol

No mommy Pluto is not a planet, it was re-classified 3 years ago by Prof gringinwaldensfeld of harvard university astronomy department in a paper titled 'daddy why are there stars'.

what are you expecting of a 4/5/6 year old?

No mommy a spider isnt an insect its an arachnid, no mommy the sea isn't blue thats just the atmosphere reflecting on the surface, in fact water has no colour.

crazygeryy

JohnMarston wrote: »

Its not a big thing tbh, just leave it.

I was taught things in primary school that were lies or half-truths by the time i got to secondary school

and now your a politician?

Biggins

guinang wrote: »

Thinly veiled...

I wish that phrase like "Yore Ma" could be banned!

My name is URL

Maybe just bring it up with them? I know it's a bizarre idea but it just might have a better impact than moaning about it on the internet

g'em

Go to the Teacher and tell them to shove Pluto to the back of Uranus where it belongs.

kylith

They're probably being taught that because that's what's in the book. It's also possible that the teacher has no idea that Pluto lost it's planetary status.

I'd be inclined to have a go at them over the letter rather than Pluto; the kids can relearn the solar system later, spelling and grammar is magnitudes more important, and if the school can't send out something properly written then I'd doubt their ability to teach it.

seven_eleven

Screw reclassification. To me, pluto will always be a planet. Good old pluto, forever in our hearts ;_; nevar forget etc

wendell borton

i'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before i reconise missouri pluto!

AnonoBoy

What about the other planet that The Man doesn't tell you about?

It's always behind Saturn so we can never see it but it's called Conspiro I think and it's probably where they keep all the dinosaurs and aliens and where they take you to probe your anus and whatnot.

JohnMarston

crazygeryy wrote: »

and now your a politician?

now i'm less naive

westendgirlie

Ah, you have to send the letter back to them. Use a red pen and circle all the errors. Don't forget to write "could do better" at the bottom.

Rigol

Asian parent?

Angron

Screw everyone, as far as I'm concerned Pluto is still a planet to me!

maddragon

I'ld leave my job, find a fat friend and set up my own Montessori and call it Daddy Day Care.

My name is URL

http://theweek.com/article/index/217655/pluto-a-planet-once-again

Sir Pompous Righteousness

Don't forget poor Ceres. We should make a petition to make Ceres a planet too, it's closer to Earth than Pluto as well. It's not size that matters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_(dwarf_planet)

JJJJNR

Blah pluto is still a planet, a dwarf planet but planet nonetheless.

Where To

Some of them moons of Jupiter will be reclassified as planets soon.

You should be proud your child is going to such a forward thinking school.

Marcusm

kylith wrote: »

I'd be inclined to have a go at them over the letter rather than Pluto; the kids can relearn the solar system later, spelling and grammar is magnitudes more important, and if the school can't send out something properly written then I'd doubt their ability to teach it.

I'd definitely point out the errors (in as snarky a manner as possible) but I wouldn't generally expect a Montessori to be teaching spelling and grammar to a 4 year old. You'd have to go Froebel for that!

Call Me Jimmy

How ye could even give a **** I don't understand

Valetta

How did he get on with differential calculus?

I presume there were no problems there.

DesperateDan

I would almost guarantee you every primary school and secondary school in the country still teaches children that Pluto is a planet. Sorry but you should find more important things to waste your time on

cowzerp

Should be fun when they start teaching religious FACTS!!

alphabeat

'A planet once again
A planet once again
they dropped it to 8 but its back up to nine
Its a planet once agaaaiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnn '

Dravokivich

You should do what they did in the secretary and mark all the spelling mistakes in red pen, then spank the arse off of'em.

say_who_now?

Send the boy into space to check for himself!

sebastianlieken

guinang wrote: »

Thinly veiled 'my child is so intelligent'.

Well he obviously isn't, he thinks there are nine planets! There's a grim future on his horizon. "would you like fries with that?".. ha, nine planets. :rolleyes:

anncoates

Make a huge deal about it here, to the creche and to your four year old thus kick-starting the overbearing, competitive, middle-class goal emphasizing that will alienate your kid into mangling his grammar; becoming a drug-dealer and getting horrid, common girls from community schools up the duff just to irritate you.

ch750536

telecaster wrote: »

My 4 year old goes to Montessori 5 days per week. He had been attending attended a pre-school group 3 days a week the previous year and was due to do his 5 days per week there this year.

However, his teachers said he was ready to do more learning than play, and they, - to their great credit, - recommended that he would flourish more in a Montessori environment. And So we switched him to the local Montessori.

The Montessori clearly has a sniff of itself:.Badged uniforms, fees above the state subsidised scheme, a rather patronising tone to parents etc.

We received 2 letters in the post from the Montessori ahead of the term starting. These were guidelines about how the school is run, procedural information, lunch details etc. Both of these official-styled correspondences were riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. I counted 25 errors in on one page which had no more than 6 paragraphs. It looked as if though some of the more advanced kids at the school had composed the letter as a project.

My concern that there they are doltards at the helm was growing.

Today my son came home and told me he'd learned learnt all about the solar system at school. He told me there were are 9 planets. I told him there is 8, and counted them out to him. He told me I missed Pluto.

I don't expect absolutely everyone to know that Pluto was reclassified some years back and is no longer considered a planet. I do expect a professional educator to know it though.

I don't want to humiliate or embarass the Montessori owner/teacher, but I'm concerned my kid is going to be less wise after the year's years experience than before it.

What would you do in my position?

You speak betterer english!

JohnMarston

Whats the point in demoting a planet anyway? Arrogance on our part tbh

CH3OH

telecaster wrote: »

I don't want to humiliate or embarass the Montessori owner/teacher
What would you do in my position?

If you want to embarrass him/her over their spelling, it is important to have the spelling of the word correct;)

mitosis

OP, does your child believe in Santa, Mother Goose, the Tooth Fairy?

Let him believe in Pluto too.

Max Power1

Snowie wrote: »

or better still write him a letter :eek:

Or get the child to write the letter.... the owner may understand it then

kylith

Marcusm wrote: »

I'd definitely point out the errors (in as snarky a manner as possible) but I wouldn't generally expect a Montessori to be teaching spelling and grammar to a 4 year old. You'd have to go Froebel for that!

Mark each error in red pen and grade it

I mightn't expect them to teach any spelling beyond 'cat', but I would expect them to lead by example. Kids pick up on things they see around the place, signs, etc. There's rarely an excuse for bad grammar or spelling.

telecaster

CH3OH wrote: »

If you want to embarrass him/her over their spelling, it is important to have the spelling of the word correct;)

I'd like to thank you for sticking your 'r' in

Capt'n Midnight

westendgirlie wrote: »

Ah, you have to send the letter back to them. Use a red pen and circle all the errors. Don't forget to write "could do better" at the bottom.

+1

If you are going to send a letter you should plan it.

CianRyan

Go down with these letters and your knowledge of the solar system, ask them why they're so stuck up and why their rates are so high. Go on to ask why it is that they struggle to write a piece of text and are clearly ill-informed and spreading this misinformation to your children.
They may only be 4 years old but at this age they're taking their teacher's words as gospel, when they come home to find they were told something that isn't true this could be difficult for them.

Personally I wouldn't send my child to a Montessori. They're children, let them play and grow their social skills. That's the purpose of play school.

DavyD_83

Feck that, Pluto's still a planet in my book.

It's in the same category as Opal Fruits don't exist anymore. (stupid starburst! - They're Opal Fruits Damit!)

If i just ignore the facts i'm happier
Sometimes the truth is just less interesting