Six weeks of summer are past. I survived the past six weeks of getting the girls out the door by 7:15 each morning in order to arrive at school before the adult students and instructors in the teacher training program arrived. We still managed to give them baths most mornings, each breakfast together as a family and not dole out too many threats about hurrying up to get out the door.
Six weeks ago I lead orientation for 5 adult students; 1 male and 4 females, a group made up of a mixture of experienced teachers and newcomers to the trade. The past six weeks offered training in Practical Life, Montessori Philosophy, Sensorial, Child Development, Math, Language, Music, Science, Cultural Studies, Observation and Classroom Management. Presentations were given, materials were practiced, discussions occurred.
The easy part is over for them. Six weeks of class, 5 days per week, 8 hours per day is pretty intense. However, now is when the real work begins. Most of them have a couple of weeks before the school year begins. All of them will be interning for a year, some are self-directed, some are also working as assistants. Along with the classroom portion of the year, they will all be writing their Montessori Manuals, attending weekend institute classes, writing rationales, journaling about their experience and hopefully falling in love with the Montessori Method of teaching.
Here's to you MTA class of 2011-2012--May your coming school year be a wonderful introduction into Montessori!
