My kid was in a montessori preschool for most of 4 years old and it was a big disaster for him as well due to his ADHD (which we suspected at the time but was not yet confirmed).
He was kicked out of the school before the year was up and the next fall we put in him in a French immersion school for Pre-K (mostly out of necessity as we could not find any other full-time care option near us with availability). He still had some minor behavioral issues but overall it was a massive improvement, I think due to the increased and more rigid structure compared to the Montessori system.
We ended up opting for the French immersion school again for kindergarten over free public school just because he was doing well there and we didn't want to "rock the boat" any further. He's definitely not the best student in the class but I'm just happy that he likes it and is participating for the most part.
I don't think the Montessori system is bad or anything as I noticed the more organized and independently-minded kids in the class seemed to be really thriving - as you mentioned above. Just not for everyone
When I was 4 years old I was trying to be be alive and just goofing and playing around. I went to school when I was 7 (no preschool) and spent the next 16 years in various institutions fortunately graduating quickly from the uni, it was definitely enough school for me. It baffles me that there is something other than kindergarten with no expectations than decent behaviour towards others for that young kids. Kicking 4-years out of "school" sounds "losing all hope for humanity" bad in every way.
We ended up opting for the French immersion school again for kindergarten over free public school just because he was doing well there and we didn't want to "rock the boat" any further. He's definitely not the best student in the class but I'm just happy that he likes it and is participating for the most part.
I don't think the Montessori system is bad or anything as I noticed the more organized and independently-minded kids in the class seemed to be really thriving - as you mentioned above. Just not for everyone