Mixed Emotions about Montessori

I have been invited to participate in a co-op preschool group with three other ladies. I am totally jazzed about more actively educating my darling little 2 1/2 year old. But, I have to say, I'm a little hesitant about the method of choice. I've heard a little about the Montessori method, but I obviously need to read up a little bit more. The idea is that each child is to be provided with an environment for many learning opportunities, of which they will explore and learn from individually or one-on-one with an adult. My main concern is: how will one adult effectively teach a GROUP of 4 toddlers one-on-one without some serious chaos? The way the "classroom" would be set up is with four stations or areas of learning: sensorial, language, mathematics, and everyday living. There are manipulatives at each station that are really cool and are supposed to teach a concept. The only thing I'm struggling with is that there will be four 2 1/2 - 3 year olds in the same room, wanting to do what ever someone else is doing that looks fun and then they will fight over the object. The other thing that might happen is that they will methodically make a huge mess by taking things out of the bins, piece by piece, then moving on to the next "bag of goodies" at another station, causing the stressed and frustrated leader with a huge mess to clean up in the end. Because we will rotate teaching the class, there will probably be only one teacher at a time. One of the other parents will have to volunteer watching the teacher's child because everyone else (except me) has a younger child at home as well. So how do we do one-on-one with so many different things going on at once, and so much explaining to do with each activity?

I think my doubts and fears are due to my experience with traditional teaching methods. Usually the most efficient and effective method is the straight-forward direct instruction. Model, demonstration, everyone try it all together. Yes, there are times when you do lab experiments or other fun things that are self-directed. Don't get me wrong, I was all about games and fun stuff when I taught in a classroom. I did utilize several different approaches to incorporate the different learning styles of the students. But I know when you have too many different things going on at once, you lose a lot of control and only the most disciplined kids are still learning and working, while the others are off seeing what they can get away with while the teacher is distracted helping other people. Basically, I think a group of preschool age kids lack the self-discipline for self-directed learning in a group setting. I hope I am proven wrong. I love the learning activities presented in this method, but I think they would best be carried out one-on-one, and therefore it would make more sense to do it at home with your child, not in a group.

I was a graduate of Joyschool, and I have fond memories from my days of Joyschool-hood. I looked online and the method and program is still accessible and actively used by some people. However, the cost of purchasing all the materials and the online membership seems like a little much. I think I will call my former Joyschool teacher, who just finished like her 20th year teaching joyschool (literally). I'll ask if she still has any lesson plans! I really am curious - have any of you taught using the Montessori method or attended a preschool that used it? Have any of you attended or taught joyschool?