This workshop will also explore local food systems such as local organic farms, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Farmer’s markets. Find ways that food and gardening can create connections with nature, promote diversity and cultivate community.

Without a true understanding of what motivates a child’s behavior it is difficult, if not impossible to develop an environment that promotes peace, cooperation and responsibility. Dr. Montessori explained, “He does nothing without reason, some motive.” (Secret of Childhood, 1972). However, when searching for answers to the question, “Why do they do that?”, we often come up empty handed. If we ask the child they will likely respond with, “I don’t know”. And they are probably telling the truth! In this interactive session we will uncover, together, the roots of misbehavior and explore practical ways to support children’s social success in the Montessori Classroom. In this session participants will:

– Identify the motivations and mistaken beliefs behind children’s misbehavior.
– Discover how adults unintentionally invite misbehavior.
– Explore effective, long-term responses to misbehavior that help children develop a sense of belonging and significance in their community.

How can lessons in civics, economics, ecology, etc., for children of all ages, help define what it means to be an active participant in society? How can these lessons help concretize the abstract to impact the children’s understanding and experience of their cosmic tasks in the world?

We will look at developing cross-curricular, shelf-ready materials and activities to help children of all ages to develop the necessary skills to see themselves as change-makers both in their own communities and in society at large.

The acquisition of all three skills is phenomenally enhanced by using readily available film and video resources – and we’ll show you how.

This participatory workshop will cover how our partnership between a school and a film festival works and how you might apply some of our lessons learned. We’ll look at how film resources are uniquely valuable for building global awareness, and we’ll touch on the critical media literacy skills students need to understand what they’re seeing – and creating – in the wider world. Plus we’ll invite you to share your thoughts and experiences to benefit us all.

These are skills your students need – and want. After this, visual media might just become one of the most fun and rewarding areas of the curriculum for teachers, students, and their families.

Participants in this highly engaging and interactive session will learn about the evidence-based mentoring practices that were implemented in a year-long research study. In this study, 16 Montessori preschool/elementary teachers engaged in regular group mentoring sessions (weekly or monthly) from August, 2023 through June, 2024. We researchers used validated tools to learn about the teachers’ experiences of burn-out, their beliefs of self-efficacy, their reflections on their Montessori practice, and their perceptions of the mentoring program. We compared their responses to those of 36 teachers who did not attend mentoring sessions. We will discuss what the data tells us about which mentoring practices work, which don’t, and how administration may inadvertently be contributing to teacher burnout. Participants will be invited to dialogue with the group and their peers about what these findings mean for them and what other ideas the researchers should investigate.

Questions to Consider:

Are you leader at a small (one/two room school, independent, public district or charter?

Have you always wanted to engaged with School Accreditation, but unsure if it is right for you and your school community?

Do you have difficulty with fidelity of the Montessori experience from classroom to classroom?

Do your parents want non-Montessori learning in the classrooms?

Do you have difficulty unlocking the Admission and Re-enrollment Process?
OR
Are you a school that is teaching high fidelty Montessori at every level?

Are you a leader who is kind, compassionate, thoughtful and effective?

Are you a school that could be a model for other schools to learn from in the areas of leadership, curriculum, parent partnerships and whole child education?
OR
Are you a leader looking at retirement on the horizon and worried about the future of your school?

THEN this is the right workshop for you! We will construct an understanding of the why, how, and what of accreditation to ensure the sustainability of your school. Together we will learn how to engage and implement the process of school accreditation in a manageable way that will enable you to solve problems and plan for the future of your school.

YOU will leave this workshop having learned about the process, had some fun constructing your own knowledge, making new friends and having a NEW and DIFFERENT perspective on School Accreditation!

Fast forward that calling to present time, how are we going to answer to same call given our knowledge of the brain, trauma, and the entire wellness of a child? The Wellness Wheel for Life is a Desert Garden Montessori initiative that takes a deeper dive into serving the WHOLE child along with Montessori principles at the very core. From nutrition and microbiome testing, sustainability, mental health, spirituality, finance and more. This approach takes into account the well being of the child and the entire community.

Come journey with us as we try to answer the call!

John Hunter created the World Peace Game to help children navigate conflict and negotiate peace by solving 50 interconnected global crises. After taking the Master Facilitator class last year and then hosting my first World Peace Game at my school, I am more convinced than ever in the value of this game for our students and humankind.

Part one of this workshop will show how the game is in alignment with our Montessori practices and philosophy of Peace Education. I will share the experience of my students and school community with the WPG. We will explore the game board that is 4 levels (undersea, land and sea, airspace, outer space) the 4 fictious countries, the organizations also involved in the game (The United Nations, World Bank, World Court etc). We will discuss much like our Montessori training, this game has to be facilitated by people who are committed to it’s authentic practices and properly trained. I will give an overview of the rules, protocols and tenets of the game. (This is not a training course for facilitating the game, just an overview of the highlights of the game) Participants who wish will be given roles for game playing which will start in part two of the workshop.

Part two will be a review of rules, roles, responsibilities and introduction of a novel world crisis that must be solved. Game playing, will commence with it’s calamity, negotiation, surprises and twists as the crisis is solved. (Hopefully we are capable)! After game play, we will connect, dialogue and share observations.

This workshop and roundtable double session will invite participants to revisit Montessori’s plan of work and study laid out in From Childhood to Adolescence to share how they are meeting adolescent developmental needs in their unique contexts, and to build a resource archive of the diversity of Montessori secondary innovation happening across the globe.

“This is what Dr. Montessori taught. This is what my trainer told me. This is what’s in my albums. What more is there to talk about?” Other guides are exhibiting a tendency to graft activities and materials onto the prepared environment that are incompatible with our philosophic foundations. Whether it’s a misuse of internet technology or an overuse of worksheets, we sometimes hear teachers and school leaders justifying un-Montessori approaches by saying, “The children love this work and parents expect their children will learn this and bring evidence of this learning home.” In this inquiry, we will explore how today’s Montessori guide can stay connected to our philosophic roots while being open to growing new branches of self-directed learning on the Montessori tree.

Tamara S. Balis, Head of Greenspring Montessori School and the Executive Director for the Greenspring Center for Lifelong learning, shares lessons learned during nearly 20 years as a Montessori head of school, and the structures and strategies she has found make a significant difference. These include intentional structures that send belonging cues, implementing a thorough orientation program, partnering new staff with experienced colleagues, providing training for new assistants and mentoring for new guides, offering regular check-in meetings, and truly listening and responding to feedback offered. Tamara will go into detail about how to build and implement each of these structures so that school leaders walk away with a successful framework for onboarding supporting new staff.

This session will explore the brain’s development involved in the execution of these skills and help one to understand the vital role EF skills play in the academic and social-emotional development of a child. Together we will identify how poor EF skills might present in your classroom and identify ways to strengthen them among your students.

Based on current evidence-based actions that align with Montessori philosophy and pedagogy, this participatory workshop will share practical and doable solutions for serving the range of diversity in needs we are experiencing in our classrooms. You will gain a greater sense of confidence on your path toward success.

Join rhythm specialist Tammy Oesting in this interactive workshop to explore the unifying world of body and voice rhythms.

For over two decades, Tammy has witnessed the transformative power of rhythm. From participating in world rhythm festivals to performing with bands as a percussionist, she has seen how rhythm transcends boundaries and brings people together. As a Rhythm Specialist in Montessori schools, she has facilitated daily rhythm classes and multi-generational community events, experiencing firsthand how rhythm serves as a connective force.

Attendees will learn about the numerous benefits of rhythm games for individuals and groups, including improved emotional regulation, increased focus, and a stronger sense of community. They will be introduced to and invited to facilitate simple movement games that they can bring back to their own communities, spreading the rhythms of unity.

Beginning with the most basic vocal and body rhythms, this fully immersive and engaging workshop promises to bring cohesive and low-pressure games into Montessori communities and beyond. Designed for non-musicians, this workshop opens up the world of simple rhythm games that can be adapted for multiple levels, including adults, fostering peace and harmony through the universal language of rhythm.

As school officials expand into community conversations with enforcement agencies, stakeholders, community councils, families, or neighbors it is important to navigate through the conversation to educate, empower and explain Montessori through a different lens. As passionate Montessorians, we sometimes don’t recognize our conversations can be hard to follow and difficult to translate into what others know or have experienced in terms of Montessori education. In this session, we work to recognize key points of possible challenges when others are trying to understand and embrace Montessori education. We will identify current challenges in our community partnerships and develop a strategy to address the gap in understanding and possible assistance in translating our keep points to connect with their key points. This is a valuable session to help create and facilitate a plan in creating a more easily understood “voice”.

“This is what Dr. Montessori taught. This is what my trainer told me. This is what’s in my albums. What more is there to talk about?” Other guides are exhibiting a tendency to graft activities and materials onto the prepared environment that are incompatible with our philosophic foundations. Whether it’s a misuse of internet technology or an overuse of worksheets, we sometimes hear teachers and school leaders justifying un-Montessori approaches by saying, “The children love this work and parents expect their children will learn this and bring evidence of this learning home.” In this inquiry, we will explore how today’s Montessori guide can stay connected to our philosophic roots while being open to growing new branches of self-directed learning on the Montessori tree.