Montessori Notes

Autumn – A time  for new beginnings?

Holidays are great for catching up on things, aren’t they? In my case clearing some ground in the garden put me in mind of the bare classroom that Montessori teachers are working in for the first few weeks of September as they embark on the new academic year. Just as the bare earth is the best for new plants, the bare classroom is ideal for settling in both the not very confident new starters, who know nothing at all of how their new Montessori environment operates, but also the old hands, who appear to have forgotten everything they learnt the previous year about being in the Children’s House.

The garden gave rise to another observation as well. Amazingly, even though the first flush of autumn is in the air, two primroses are still blooming in the garden, vibrant and healthy, if remarkably unseasonable. This is a strong reminder that it’s never too late to make a change in direction, and maybe this is the moment to embark on that course of training you’ve been wondering about. You can sign up to study for your Montessori Partnership Diploma in Early Years Education at any time, but September is particularly the time for a fresh academic starts. And if you get going now, and work consistently, you should be ready for next summer’s workshop. If you’re thinking about joining the new cycle of the Primary Course, which will start in Bournemouth in February, the sooner you sign up the sooner you’ll be able to start getting some of the reading under your belt.

If you’re a nursery owner, September is a good time for getting some in-house training organised as well. We offer all sorts of sessions and seminars, to order really, but the most popular are sessions on the five main Montessori subject areas. And if you are beginning to feel that perhaps the Montessori practice in your setting is not as strong as it could be, is it time to think of organising a Montessori Classroom Assistant’s Course for your non-Montessori trained people? It’s a level 2 qualification that you deliver in your own setting, and it’s a springboard to the diploma for those who might eventually want to go further.