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Over the past 20 years, NAMC has grown as a world-class Montessori training and curriculum provider partly due to our ability to recognize and act on opportunities as they present themselves. This is an important skill for an organization like NAMC, but it is equally valuable for individuals like you. Consider, for example, your goals as a Montessori teacher. How do you want to grow professionally this year? Make a plan that clearly expresses what you want to achieve and consistently keep that goal in mind. You will be amazed how opportunities will come your way once you have defined what you want in life. As part of NAMC’s anniversary celebration, I have been asked to share 20 lessons that stand out in my experience of providing Montessori teacher training programs worldwide over the past 20 years. We are happy to share the next tip in our series that we are presenting over the next few weeks. I hope you find some of these ideas helpful in your own Montessori journey! — Dale Gausman, ...

I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me ... all I ask is that you respect me as a human being. — Jackie Robinson (1946 Montreal Royals, the first professional Black baseball player in the major leagues) February is Black History Month in Canada and the United States. This year marks Canada’s 20th anniversary of celebrating Black History Month. (In the United States, Black History Month has been officially recognized since 1976.) This year, another milestone has been reached as Ontario passed legislation on February 16, 2016 to “formally recognize February as Black History Month on an annual basis.” This makes Ontario the third Canadian province, along with Quebec and British Columbia, to officially recognize the achievements and contributions of people who have defined Canada’s Black history. Black History Month 2016 poster , courtesy of the Government of Canada Black History Month in the Montessori Classroom: An Important Part of Canada, The US, and the World In the Mon...

Keep trying. To understand the value of this lesson, all we have to do is look to the children in our Montessori classrooms. That’s exactly what they do every day. Through trial and error, they learn incrementally – always moving forward and building their knowledge. And the lessons they learn best are not the ones that they learned easily; they are the lessons they had to work at repeatedly in a hands-on, experiential way. As is often the case, the children are our teachers in this instance, showing us that through perseverance we can achieve success. As part of NAMC’s anniversary celebration, I have been asked to share 20 lessons that stand out in my experience of providing Montessori teacher training programs worldwide over the past 20 years. We are happy to share the next tip in our series that we are presenting over the next few weeks. I hope you find some of these ideas helpful in your own Montessori journey! — Dale Gausman, NAMC Program Director / Founder

Going on a job interview can be very stressful. In fact, changing to a different line of work ranks 18 out of 43 on the Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory. (Holmes & Rahe) Whether you are a new Montessori teacher going on your first Montessori interview or a seasoned veteran looking for a new opportunity, knowing what to expect in an interview will help reduce your stress ahead of time. In general, employers want to know about you. They want to what your strengths are (they will understand that you have weaknesses, too) and how you will fit with their Montessori family. They also want to know that you are articulate and able to communicate with both students and adults. Montessori Interview Preparation Tips Here are a few questions that you can expect to be asked at your job interview. Consider these questions and practice your answers ahead of time. Being prepared will help reduce your stress and will make the interview process go far more smoothly. General Questions 1. What are your pe...

The idea of making a mistake sometimes prevents us from trying something new or making a change. Often, we can reduce our worries by thinking about potential outcomes. What’s the worst thing that could happen if you made a mistake? Maybe it’s not that bad after all. And if it is bad, maybe there are things you can put in place to change or lessen that outcome. Mistakes aren’t always a bad thing, as long as you are prepared for them and for changing your plans on the fly. Depending on how you look at it, your mistake may actually turn out to be a better outcome than you had planned. That was certainly the case with penicillin, Post-It Notes, and the Slinky, which were all developed by mistake. As Montessorians, we regularly see evidence of how valuable making mistakes can be to the learning process. We see it every time a young child works with a Montessori material: how he knows through the control of error that he has made a mistake, and how proud he is when he is able to correct the ...

Of all things love is the most potent. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 269. Love… it’s a complicated emotion. We can love our child, our partner, or our pet. We can love pizza, the smell of rain, or cheering for our favorite football team. We can love a good book, a walk along the beach, or sleeping in on Saturday mornings. How then, do we teach a child to love? The Greeks thought love to be so multifaceted they actually had six terms for it: eros — passionate, romantic love philia — the love between friends, or between parent and child ludus — the affectionate, playful love often seen in children or those in a new relationship agape — love for humankind pragma — longstanding love, like that of long-married couples pilautia — love of self When we look at those six types of love, we see that agape comes closest to Montessori’s vision of cosmic education. Theologians have described agape in various ways. C.S. Lewis called it “the gift” and the highest form of Christian lov...

When I began NAMC 20 years ago, I had no way of knowing for sure whether my idea would be successful. I knew from my own experience that NAMC filled a need in Montessori training, but there was still a lot of uncertainty. Fortunately, I decided to take the risk. Taking risks can be intimidating but it is also exhilarating. It is only by taking chances that we can make discoveries or create new things. Think of the great philosophers, inventors, explorers. Think of Dr. Montessori, attending medical school, developing methodology and materials, working with children in San Lorenzo, and so much more. Each step involved risk. And it was because of her willingness to take such risks that we have the benefits of her achievements today. As part of NAMC’s anniversary celebration, I have been asked to share 20 lessons that stand out in my experience of providing Montessori teacher training programs worldwide over the past 20 years. We are happy to share the next tip in our series that we are pr...

Montessori education is designed to help all children reach their full potential at their own unique pace. This is equally true for children who have learning challenges and those who are considered gifted learners. I was reminded of this when I had a gifted student begin our elementary classroom. Ty, as we will call him, inspired me to provide new ways to enrich his learning and help him reach his full potential. Key to Ty’s success was the flexible and individual nature of the Montessori learning environment, strong communication with Ty’s parents, and Ty’s own eagerness to learn. Working with a Gifted Child in the Montessori Classroom: A Teacher's Experience There were many presentations Ty understood quickly, materials he instinctively knew how to use, and advanced extensions he mastered easily. Fortunately, we were able to challenge Ty because the Montessori environment gave him the freedom to grow and learn at his own pace. He was able to move quickly through activities and c...