Washington Montessori Institute

The Washington Montessori institute was the first AMI training center in the United States. Founded in the early 1960's, the standard of excellence the institute has always been known for continues today.  Janet McDonell and Carol Hicks direct the primary and elementary training respectively. It has been my pleasure to  meet the staff and current students at WMI, who work tirelessly to understand and apply the work of Dr. Montessori.

Today the institute is located in Columbia, Maryland, inside the state of the art graduate center of Loyola University. I am always impressed by the professionalism of the team at WMI as well as the passion of the students. When I attend events at the Washington Montessori Institute, I return optimistic about the next generation of Montessori teachers. The current group of trainees is an eclectic group of individuals who come from various locations around the United States and the world. They represent different academic backgrounds and it is this diversity that supplies the energy needed to drive the transforming process that is characteristic of Montessori teacher preparation.

On Saturday April 5th at 10:00 a.m., I'll be at the Institute helping to orient new candidates to Montessori training and the graduate program in Education at Loyola. An M.Ed. is the highest tertiary qualification available to Montessori practitioners and Loyola is honored to recognize the extensive work of AMI training as graduate level instruction towards a Masters of Education.

See you there!

Atlanta

Loyola University has two AMI training partners in Atlanta. The Montessori Institute of Atlanta trains Elementary teachers in a three summer format. I was in Atlanta while the trainer at "M.I.A.", J. McKeever, was at my former school in Canberra, Australia giving a music workshop to my "old" staff. I had lobbied for a music workshop for 3 years and it finally happened ... as soon as I left! Rumor has it that J.'s workshop was outstanding and I will have to thank her when I come back in the summer to visit the students in action.

J. McKeever

Joen Bettmann

I then proceeded to the International Montessori Training Institute, where I got to meet an enthusiastic group of Primary trainees that are excited about heading to Baltimore for the intensive summer session. I.M.T.I. trains primary teachers in an academic year format. I was also able to stay for an open house with prospective students for the fall. The Primary trainer, Joen Bettmann, provided a wonderful tour for an interested audience. Joen's led the participants through a guided journey which started by explaining walking on the line and ended with the finer points of cantilever bridges, all in a days work in a Montessori Primary classroom. The audience was overcome with emotion as they discovered the possibilities that Montessori offers the children at the 3-6 level.

My trip to Atlanta ended at the Georgia Dome, along side thousands of red shirted Georgia fans, screaming for their Bulldogs to overcome Ole Miss. Georgia fans are passionate in the pregame, subdued when they are behind and downright insufferable when they are winning. Lesson learned.

As soon as I got back to Baltimore I warned everyone I could about the cohort arriving from Atlanta this summer. The charm city is about to get even more charming.

Montessori Northwest

Andrea welcoming visitors to Montessori Northwest

I've always considered myself more of an East Coast guy. I have lived in Toronto, Montreal, Baltimore and spent quite a bit of time up an down the eastern seaboard; so it takes me a little time to adjust to things in places like Vancouver or Seattle.

With this in mind, I approached my visit to Portland with a certain amount of trepidation but that was all laid to rest when I received a tremendous greeting and personal limo service from Sally at Montessori Northwest. Not only was Sally a perfect host but also a fellow Aussie! I arrived at the center and it was humming with activity. A super vibe.

There is a strong cohort of Loyola students in Portland who are headed to Baltimore this summer to finish off their M.Ed. We spent time chatting about the experience, housing options, Orioles games, etc. etc.

The training center had an open house that evening and I was able to meet the next generation of Portland trainees and introduce them to the Loyola option. It is great to see upcoming teachers who are interested in training at the Elementary, Primary and Assistance to Infancy levels.

A big thank you to Jennifer Davidson, Andrea, Sally, Glenn and all of the trainers for a fantastic introduction to the center and the city.

Montessori Institute of San Diego

The first stop on my tour of Loyola's Partner Montessori Training Centers was in the beautiful city of San Diego. There was a method to my madness which became apparent as soon as I arrived at the airport and the thermometer read 75 degrees Fahrenheit!

I met Sharon and Dr. Silvia Dubovoy who could not have been more gracious. Sharon, the Executive Director of the Institute, showed me the M.I.S.D campus, located in the hills of La Jolla. What makes it so special is that the training center is embedded within a magnificent Montessori school, which I am sure serves as an inspiration to the trainees.

Greg MacDonald gave a lecture on Cosmic Education, the term Dr Montessori used to describe the burgeoning interest level of students ages 6 - 12. Children at this age want the world and more, they enjoy "big" work and their quest for discovery moves from the "what" to the "why". Greg handled the topic beautifully. Many people know me from my time in Australia and come away disappointed when my accent does not come close to Greg's native inflection. My Canadian roots run too deep.

I am looking forward to my next trip to La Jolla, and will need to incorporate an extra day in the future as the Torrey Pines golf club is just too close to be ignored.

Such an honor to be able to work this amazing group of teacher trainers and so proud that Loyola can offer their students a pathway to a graduate degree in education for their hard work.

...And it was only the first stop on the tour