Why Montessori

     My first experience with Montessori was when Goose was 2 years old.  There was a Montessori School down the street from our home and I was going back to work as an Elementary School Teacher. The school took children from 8 months up to what would equal 4th grade. Several neighbors children attended and it had a wonderful reputation. Honestly, I had no idea what Montessori was all about at the time, but I knew Goose was learning a lot and was even invited to start Kindergarten at the school at the age of 4 years 2 months. She loved her time there.
     Unfortunately, soon after she started the Kindergarten program we moved out of the area.  At that point, I kept her home with me until she started Kindergarten, the following fall, at the local public school. It was a very good school, a CA Distinguished School, but we quickly found that it wasn't the right school for Goose.
     Never in all my years of teaching public school, a full decade at that point, did I think that I would home-school my children. But at this point I saw no other option.  Luckily for us we found a hybrid charter school.  Goose attended a Montessori program for the first three days of the week and home schooled for the last two. This was perfect!  I could get my feet wet home schooling and she could enjoy 3 days of Montessori which she had thrived in before.
     Her Montessori Teacher was amazing and since I was interested in leaning about Montessori I began working as a classroom aide. At the end of that school year I was hired as a new 6-9 teacher and started my 6-9 Montessori training through North American Montessori Center.  This is an on line program with beautiful color photo manuals.  I was very lucky because I had a wonderful Montessori mentor at work to guide me through the "learn as you go" process.  http://www.montessoritraining.net 
     After finishing my 6-9 training I really wanted to take the 2-6 training but couldn't afford the program at NAMC.  Somehow in my web surfing I came across Karen Tyler's program -World Wide Montessori On line.  This program is created for home schooling parents and current Montessori teachers at a very affordable rate. The course does not take the place of a certified Montessori teacher training school, but it was perfect for my needs. http://worldwidemontessorionline.com