Never Assume You Know Enough: What A Senior Montessori Teacher Taught Us

By Author: UC Kinidies
Total Articles: 1
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When we opened our school in 2017, I already had experience teaching children. What I didn’t have — what none of us had — was experience running a playschool. Those turned out to be two very different things.

We had been assuming a lot. And it took opening the school to teach us the lesson that twenty years in education should have already taught us: you can never assume you know everything. There is always more to learn, and the moment you stop learning is the moment your curriculum stops serving the children in front of you.

We Tried to Learn It From Books First

Once we recognized the gap, we did what most people would do — we went looking for information. We collected the right books. We searched the internet for Montessori material, downloaded PDFs, bought whatever resources we could find.

It wasn’t enough. Reading about Montessori materials and methods gave us information, but not the judgment that comes from actually having used them with real children.

The Real Breakthrough: Learning From Someone Who Had Lived It

Eventually, my team and I found a very senior Montessori ...
... teacher and asked if we could meet with her — two hours, two or three times a week — for a fast-tracked, hands-on education. She gave us assignments. She walked us through what she had learned over years of working directly with children.

I took those classes for three months. It was a complete game-changer.