It's amazing how you can go to a Montessori school in any country in the world and immediately feel like you are right at home. No matter what language is spoken, the lessons, materials and atmosphere are universal. This is something that has intrigued me considering how training in the method is generational and passed down from one passionate teacher to another. When I began my training in 2007 at Walnut Farm Montessori in Bentonville, Arkansas, I was amazed to find out that my trainer was a 4th generation down from Maria Montessori (i.e. her trainer was trained by someone Maria Montessori trained).
I was excited to find the School of Modern Montessori and even more intrigued to find the lower and upper elementary classrooms. The directress is a charming British lady who trained in England and brought her passion to South Africa 30 years ago. She told me that they were affiliated with MACTE standards in America. What a God moment for me, as this was the training umbrella that I had learned under in Arkansas and here was the only Montessori in Africa certified under the same standard!
W started at the school the next school year and enjoyed many wonderful experiences learning the Montessori way. I was able to assist in the primary classroom once a week and enjoyed broadening my perspective even further.
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.”- Maria Montessori
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