Montessori Leadership Online • June 2008
Taking Montessori Into Homes Around the World When Montessori Teacher Karen Tyler’s health took her out of the classroom she turned her energy to answering a world‐ wide need for informal, affordable, online training. was living in a remote area and had to There are many women around the train the 19 staff members myself. I world, especially homeschoolers, who had built an extensive collection of would like to use the Montessori apalbums, forms and other materials over proach with their own children or in community schools. Many are in a situ- the years. As Director of the center this ation where the option of taking formal was a challenging responsibility which I loved.” training is not an option for them due to logistics beyond their control or choosing. For example, such as being She then asked the Yahoo Montessori located far from any formal training boards where she was a member if it institution, not being able to afford the would benefit homeschoolers to cost of formal training or not take a long distance Monteswanting to spend time sori course that was not away from their own certified by any known “At 56 years children. Because of Montessori school old I guess I’m one this combination or association. of the old Montessori‐ of factors, many The answer was a people just cannot resounding “YES”. ans that never die! I am justify the time She started her so very passionate about and cost of formal first Montessori what I am doing with training which leads Teachers Training to certification. the rest of my life!” class with over 100 international students on Yahoo in June 2006. Karen Tyler obtained her Now she runs a number of AMS certification 19 years training classes with over 200 stuago, from the Montessori Teacher’s dents. There is a Montessori PhilosoEducation Center in San Francisco, phy class for over 50 students. StuCalifornia (USA). In 2006 she had to dents come from everywhere including leave the classroom due to a health isSaudia Arabia, Egypt, Netherlands, Italy, sue. Although, at first she was heartbroken, she soon realized that there was numerous countries on the African a need in the Montessori world that she continent, Canada, Indonesia, Pakistan, China, India, Malaysia, England, was able to fill. Mexico, and Australia. Some students have their own computers, but others Karen writes: need to go into the village once a week “I had spent years as head directress in to use a computer at a library. classrooms and then I raised a million dollars through grant money to design, The beauty of this course is that you build and staff a Montessori center. I Page 28
access the information from a Yahoo group site any time during the day or night to download the presentations/ lessons to add to your own album. You don’t need special software in order to participate. There isn’t a time limit or assignments so there isn’t any pressure. Some of the students make comments or ask questions by posting to the group and others contact Karen privately. The supporting literature makes it quite clear that this course is not intended to replace proper certification, but it does provide a good basic knowledge as well as the albums for curriculum to teach the Montessori Method. You will receive a certificate that will say that you have completed a pre-primary training course by World Wide Montessori On-line. This is basically how it works: Three times a week Karen adds pages to the album on which the group is working. These begin with Practical Life, moving through the various Montessori curriculum areas. Practical Life alone ended up with 329 pages of lessons and
Montessori Leadership Online • June 2008
dozens of pictures that can be copied into your on-line photo album. The entire course is 20 months in length. There isn’t tuition for joining, but Karen does ask for $10 per month or $30 for the four month term for downloading her albums. There are also albums and materials for sale on the website. While she is aware that she is, in a sense, “flying under the radar.” Karen knows she is serving many people who love Montessori and want to incorporate the Montessori method into their children’s lives. She is giving people in remote areas an opportunity to learn what would otherwise be denied to them, as well as helping certified AMS and AMI teachers to brush up and add other variations and extensions to what they already know and love. She always encourages her students to take certified training courses if at all possible. Several of them are doing just that! Karen now lives in Lincoln, Nebraska (USA). Although there are a few Montessori schools in the city she keeps in practice by homeschooling her own grandchildren. Find out more at: http://www.amontessorimarketplace.com
New Master’s Course for Montessorians The College of St. Catherine in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) has recently announced a new and innovative Master’s degree program especially for certified Montessori teachers. The exciting news is that the program is now approved and is currently enrolling students in its first cohort. The flexible, one-year AM2 course of study – which stands for “Recognizing Montessori for a Master’s” - recognizes the work you’ve already done for your Montessori credential, which puts you well on the way to your Master’s degree. In AM2 you will: •
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Learn without interrupting your life (the course consists of one August weekend on our Minnesota campus and nine months of on-line study). This means that you can take these courses from anywhere in the world. If you can get on line, you can join us in study! Receive up to 15 credits for
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your Montessori credential (earned through AMI, AMS or other MACTE accredited Montessori teacher education programs) Take 15 additional credits to complete a Master of Arts in Education degree. Study with distinguished faculty at the College of St. Catherine’s Center for Contemporary Montessori Programs.
Program Director, Michael Dorer, is very excited about this new opportunity. “I think that it will bring a great degree, and excellent learning opportunities to you. I know that the cohort will be filled with interesting Montessorians as well. I am thrilled to be teaching the first AM2 course, so I will get to know many of you very well.” For more information go to: http://minerva.stkate.edu/offices/ academic/education_mont.nsf/pages/ am2 Or contact Michael Dorer personally at +1 651-690-6001 or mdorer@ stkate.edu.
Karen shared some of her albums with me for review. These are well structured with comprehensive lesson plans which lay out all the necessary steps and movements. Her ap‐ proach follows her AMS training, but she is careful to state on the websites that her mate‐ rials are “Montessori‐based” and to point out in a number of places that this course and its supporGng materials should not be regarded as formal preparaGon for classroom teach‐ ing. I would definitely recommend this program to the thousands of people worldwide who have no hope of taking formal training, or who don’t need to, but would appreciate access to a more in‐depth understanding of Montessori educaGon than can be gleaned from some of the books intended for homeschoolers. ‐ Sharon Caldwell Page 29