Montessori Associations and Training

Lately, a number of people have asked me about Montessori training. Besides "What is Montessori?", this is the most frerquent question I get, whether its from a curious friend, other teachers or even a blog reader (thanks, DK!). Now that I've gone through the training and know all about it, I often forget that it's a semi-mysterious process. So, I'm taking some time to talk about Montessori training for anyone who is interested. There is ALWAYS a need for more Montessori teachers!!

Montessori Associations
There are a number of associations that offer Montessori training. However, I would only reccomend becoming trained through AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) or AMS (American Montessori Society) training centers. The word "Montessori" is not patented and therefore ANYONE can throw the word Montessori into their school (for children) or training center (for adults). It's very unfortunate, and can lead to a lot of confusion. There may be other training programs that have worked for other people, but I am unfamiliar with them. AMI and AMS are two well-known, well-established and respected associations. Links to these websites are under Montessori Associations on the right hand side.

AMI and AMS

So, what's the difference? I can't quite answer this question, and it's one about which I still have some questions. The pedagogy appears to be the very similar (I've seen some small difference), though the training formats are different. Please, if you have further insight, leave it in the comments. I should also note that I am AMI trained, and therefore have more information about AMI. I chose to become AMI trained because of the reccomendation by my former teacher and because it was started by Maria herself.

AMI and AMS programs offer training in A to I (Assistants to Infancy/Toddler), Primary and Elementary training. While I was writing this post, I stumbled upon this post from Educating for Life that very nicely outlines what an AMI Primary and Elementary training course looks like. I am unfamiliar with the format for AMS, although I know that are internship programs. AMI training programs also offer the option to obtain your Masters in Edcuation through Loyola College.

Click here for info on AMI training centers

Click here for info on AMS training centers

Click here for LOCAL info on the Washington Montessori Institute/Loyola College

Where Can I Teach?

With an AMI diploma, you can teach at any AMI, AMS or unaffiliated Montessori school. You can also teach internationally, hence the "internationale". With an AMS diploma, you can teach at any AMS or unaffiliated school.

As for teaching in public Montessori, it starts to get a little bit confusing. In DC, you must be AMI trained. It was part of a stipulation when the programs were put in. However, other states/districts hire both AMI and AMS.


This is a neat little tool from Jola Montessori (Public School Montessorian) that lets you search for schools in your area. This is a bit broader than the one on the AMI or NAMTA website, because it includes Public, Charter and Independent Schools.

If anyone has any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them! Also, I'm hoping some of those AMS-ers out there, can fill in the holes that I don't know about.

Montessori Advocacy in the Recession

An article in the July 4 - 10 edition of The Economist, entitled "Private Schools in the Recession: Staying on Board" has intrigued me.

One would think that in today's economy, private schools are being hit hard. The Economist argues that quite the opposite is happening. In sum, the article points out that most elite (read: traditional, well established, with good reputations) private schools have been unscathed by the recession. Why? A couple of reasons. First, the recession has not hit the uber-weathly nearly as hard as others. Second, those who were struggling to send their children to private school find it so important (this is where reputation comes into play...) for their children's futures that other luxuries are discarded before education. For these reasons, private schools are still managing to dole out their yearly increases in tuition. And, people are still willing to pay.

Thus, the gap between private education and public education is deeply widening. Those who were once on the cusp of sending their children to private schools now find it impossible. As The Economist puts it, there is now a "hole" in the middle of the market. This is where it gets interesting. Wouldn't less expensive private schools would be able to get a chunk of the market? Not necessarily. Parents aren't willing to shell out the money unless the school has excellent facilities and prestige. If they can't afford it, they can supplement state education with tutoring if they are unhappy. There is one exception, though...

"When cheap private schools do succeed, it is often because they find parents who think state education is valueless: fans of Montessori or Steiner, or people who refuse to send their children to godless insitutions. "

I'm going to pause here for a moment to point out a few things. 1) I don't think state education is "godless", but I do find that quote humorous because it is often how others view "Montessori people". 2) I believe that the types of Montessori schools they are referring to are the smaller ones that lay low in church basements. There are many Montessori schools (particularly in cities) that are as expensive as their traditional peers.

OK - so what is my point in all of this? I think that there is a real moment present for Montessori education to make itself known. If Montessori was more well known or present in our society, I think that many parents who fit in that education "hole" would gravitate towards it. This would keep smaller, private Montessori schools in business and help gain momentum in Montessori education. If less expensive tuition is still not a viable option for parents, think about this... Couldn't this recession be used as tool to incite parents to demand for Montessori in public education? Families in many cities are flocking to charter schools to get away from poor public edcuation. But many of these charters are simply more of the same. Offer families a great "alternative" program WITHIN public education! Parents, go out there and ask, nay demand, for Montessori in any form!

And, now I'm getting off of my soapbox.

What's in the Box?

What's in the Box? What's in the Box? Gotta find out what's in that Box!

Here's a hint:

I've found new packaging for my 1,000 chain tickets! Look at how fabulously they fit inside too! I've labeled the tops of the lids.

All thanks to the Container Store. Click on the link, and print a 50% off coupon, valid until July 12th. Excellent accidental timing on my part! First of all, I had no idea that the container store sold those little rectangular boxes. I thought Montessori Services was the only place to get them. I almost had a heart attack when I saw an entire wall of those boxes in all kinds of colors and sizes!

With coupons, the whole shabang cost about $7.00. Now, I could have made envelopes for the tickets out of cardstock or paper, which I've done in the past and is definitely cheaper. But, they've never failed to rip or to allow tickets to get mixed up. Plus, this looks so much nicer. I might even try to get a friend to decorate the box!

Only a Montessorian...

...would pick this up off the sidewalk and think, "I could do something cool with this for my classroom!"

I know, it's really gross looking. It's dusty, covered in spiderwebs, and semi-warped. Lord knows where this came from. But can't you just see the possibilities? I'll have to clean it up and paint it for sure. The previous ownder was kind enough to leave some sandpaper in there. Very convenient. For some reason, I'm thinking this could hold advanced geography papers - Map of the Oceans and then the labels along the side, etc. I'm still not sure. I certainly can't paint it until I decide. Does anyone have any stellar ideas?

Language: Vocabulary Enrichment - Social

I've finally made some headway on my Language project for this summer. I've completed all of the cards and pouches for my Social Environment Vocabulary Cards! (The pouches for the 3 part cards are not yet complete, so I'll post that on another day.) To be honest, most of these cards were already made, just one set was incomplete, but not all of them had pouches.

So, for those of you who are unfamiliar with what in the world I'm talking about, vocabulary cards are used in the Montessori classroom to enrich the spoken vocabulary of the child. Cards of the social environment should reflect items that child encounters but may not know its proper name.( For lack of orginizational space, I also store my "cultural" cards in this box, which further englighten the child to an aspect of his culture or one that is unfamiliar. )

These cards are then used again with Classification Cards, or as many people call them, 3 part cards. 3 Part Cards are to be used when the child is reading relatively fluently, and certainly after labeling of the environment and sensorial materials has been shown. In this work, children match the labels to the cards with which they should be very familiar at this point.

Below are all of my Social Environment cards along with their pouches. I'm also going to post where I got them, which will be helpful when we get to the Scientific cards. Most of these are from the same place...

Classroom Environment - AMI Training Center Masters, Transportation - AMI Training Center Masters. (Isn't that little button cute? It's a dump truck)

Kitchen Items - AMI Training Center Masters, Tools - AMI Training Center Masters

Things on the Street - AMI Training Center Masters (It's hard to tell, but that fabric is a picture of hillside dwellings with roads, and little people/cars walking on them), Instruments - AMI Training Center Masters.

Buildings - AMI Training Center Masters, African Art - Knowledge Cards from the Smithsonian.

Walking Hazards

I cannot believe what I did yesterday. It was straight out of YouTube.

I'm walking with a group of friends in the evening; it's relatively dark out. I'm playing around with my newly upgraded (!!) iPhone. So, we're talking and walking and I'm engrossed in the phone... until I slam right into a pole.

"You just hit that so hard! Are you OK?!"

I was. I had to get a popsicle to ice my forehead, but overall my ego hurt more than my head :) Happy 4th of July, everyone. Hope you enjoy a pole-free, fireworks-full, fun-filled weekend!

Where the Wild Things Grow

I spent most of yesterday evening and this morning tending to my school garden. I nearly fell over when I arrived yesterday and saw a WILD forest of flowers. It was beautiful, but crazy. If I haven't mentioned, this garden was designed to be a butterfly habitat (also attracting ladybugs and hummingbirds) and thus only have native flowers that would fit the bill.

Here is a picture of one of the "wings" (the flowers beds are four ellipses that are supposed to look like a buttefly from above) before I got my hands on it. The picture doesn't even do justice to how crazy it looks. The tallest flower plant a little over 5'0'', most of them in the 3'' range. There was also some nasty vine weed with prickers ALL intertwined in there that took me forever to get out. My arms are still itchy.

Can you guess what this is?

I know, it's a terrible picture, but these are baby ladybugs! They are about the size of the head of a pin, and crawling on a leaker hose if you're wondering what that is. The garden really is a habitat! Between finding this and seeing an actual butterfly feed from one of the flowers, it was hard to contain myself. I'm sure I looked like a crazy lady jumping up and down by myself in the garden.

So, on one hand, the garden is doing really great. Too great, even. On the other hand, people keep asking me why it looks so crazy, and if I would like someone to come in with a weedwacker. Nooo! It is tough, though. I'm getting confused on what's what. After a while, realized that I was pulling out weeds, but also things that look liked weeds, but I had actually planted. Things like milkWEED. Whoops. I think I'm in a little over my head. I'm going to try and contact a DC gardening group to try and help me out. Any locals have any suggestions?