There are six key things you should know before you start your Montessori certification training. It isn’t an ordinary experience, and, to be honest, many people don’t know what they’re getting themselves into before they start. So I’ve narrowed it down for your benefit.
Wait. I might have skipped a step: you do know that you should take Montessori training, right? Maybe that’s presumptive, but it is my sincere belief.
I will warn you, though. Earning your Montessori certification isn’t always easy. It takes work. It takes tradeoffs. It takes organization and resolve. In fact, anything worth doing takes those things. And I certainly believe that becoming a certified Montessori educator is worth doing.
It’s worth it not because it’ll open career opportunities for you and not because if you work at a Guidepost or ATI school it’s a free benefit worth thousands of dollars. It’s not because once you’re a certified Montessori educator, you hold that certification for life.
All those things are great and real, but they are nothing compared to the ultimate reason: Montessori training gives you the fundamental blueprint to help humans, including yourself, be more successful and fulfilled.
A Montessori educator’s job is to understand how young children grow and develop into complete, successful, fulfilled adults. And if you know how to help children do this, you reap the benefits of knowing how you can support yourself so that you, too, can be deeply fulfilled.
Now that you’re convinced(!) let me tell you those six things I think you should know before you dive in:
1. You’re probably underestimating children
It’s not your fault. Our society typically underestimates children. We simply don’t allow them to show us what they’re capable of, mostly because we’re afraid they might mess up.
When you think about it, this is why we have things like bowls with gyroscopic balance so that they are “unspillable”, backpacks with leashes attached, and walkers with seats to prop children up as they cruise, without the need to balance.
It’s also why we step in to solve problems for children, or order for them when we take them to restaurants, or get nervous when 7- year-olds walk to the mailbox by themselves. It’s even why our nation’s educational standards are so low: many children can read and do much more complicated math than the expectations are for their age, but they simply don’t have the opportunity to do so.
A lot of how we operate as a society is driven by the loving cause of protecting children from harm, but we have overcorrected, and are now “protecting” children from experiences that enable them to know for themselves (and to show us) just how capable they are.
Montessori is the opposite: we challenge children to be as independent as they can be as early as possible. In turn, we see what they are actually capable of, rather than what adults have decided they are “ready for”. For example, there are no “unspillable” bowls in Montessori classrooms. And yes, sometimes there are spills, but when a child is given the opportunity to use items with real consequences, they naturally take more care and often impress us with how much they can do!
2. Montessori is incredibly structured, despite its reputation. Being a Montessori teacher means learning the structure before learning to riff on it.
The common understanding of Montessori education is that it values child freedom. And it does. But we value the child’s opportunity to be free within very structured limits. The classroom has particular guardrails that limit choices (for example, children in Children’s House and Elementary classrooms are only allowed to choose to work with materials they have already been given lessons on).
And the whole curriculum in Montessori classrooms builds on itself, so a child must progress through the lessons in a logical order to get the full benefit these materials offer. So, it isn’t true that a Montessori classroom is a free-for-all. It is the opposite: it is a highly structured and planned out environment that the guide has complete control over, but within that, the children experience the opportunity to be free and supported in whichever direction they choose.
3. Montessori isn’t about kids. It’s about building future adults.
Okay. This is a weird one. Of course it’s about kids, but it’s about providing kids with the childhood experiences today that are best suited to serve them when they are adults. It is the ultimate “long-term play.” We do not make choices for children based solely on what will make them happiest in the moment (if that were the case, we’d probably be showing a lot of videos on iPads to kids in our classes!) We make choices based on what will make them happiest on a deeper level, for the rest of their lives.
It just so happens that, as Maria Montessori first described, the best way for children to be ready for future stages is to fully live in their current stage. In other words, the best way for a Children’s House 3rd year child to be ready for elementary is not to practice elementary lessons early, but to live as fully as she can in her final Children’s House experiences.
The same is true on the bigger scale: preparing for adulthood means having the best possible childhood! Montessori educators learn how to maximize that childhood experience.
4. Montessori educators lead by example. You want excellent students, you have to be an excellent person.
This one is straight-forward. If you expect honesty, organization, kindness, and joy in your children, you have to have those things in your life. You can’t fake it; children pick up on the mood and habits we display. If you want to expect excellence in children, expect excellence in yourself first.
5. Montessori training is intellectually difficult
I will be honest. I used to think that educators of younger students were kind, wonderful, loving people, but not interested in deep intellectual pursuits. If they were, they’d teach older students with more complicated subject matters.
But I was wrong. At least for those who are Montessori educators. In our training program we learn about cognitive development, psychology, neurology, sociology, math, sciences, linguistics, physiology, etc. etc. etc. We also learn about developmental milestones and how to help a toddler who bites classmates, and how to write a welcome email to parents.
The list is long and deep! It isn’t for those who are afraid to work hard, both physically and mentally. But because of this…
6. You’ll be a better person when you’re done.
Montessori educators function best when we learn how to take on the perspective of our children. We often think of what it would be like to be in our own classrooms and how someone would feel if they were spoken to like we speak to our children. And I already mentioned how we have to have high expectations for how we carry ourselves and be organized, persistent, caring, and intellectual if we expect the same for our students.
We have to be the adults we want the children in our classrooms to become. And that’s a high standard, but one that you can reach.
Now that you know what to expect, I look forward to seeing you in our training programs. And the children, your school, your family, and yourself will all thank you for putting in that hard and rewarding work.
Have a nice weekend,
Joel Mendes
Executive Director of Prepared Montessorian Institute
Your passion is so evident in this article ! I am new to Guidepost but as a passionate individual, I am feeling at home already.
Yes! I love the people you get to meet and know in the process as well. This program is intellectually stimulating and structured in a way that strengthens and supports your best self. You will get what you put into it. Thanks for sharing Joel!