Inner Compass Rose – A Montessori & Social Justice Educational Journey

Montessori Magic - The Early Years

When I first learned about Montessori in the 1990s, I was enamored with this method, one that seemed to be the antidote for what I had hated about most of my own K-12 school experience.  While my own education had been largely segmented, disengaging, and disconnected from my lived experiences and identity, a Montessori education offered an authentic, integrated, engaging way to learn organically.

Thinking in expansive ways with Infinity Street! This was a favorite, for both the children and me. I loved to watch children learn to read huge numbers, visualize and extrapolate the patterns, apply their growing understanding of numerical prefixes and conceptualize base-ten, place-value quantity in a concrete manner. Concrete, consistent, multimodal and impressionistic - what brilliantly fun way to learn!

Honestly, my first love with Montessori had the excitement and novelty characteristic of young love.  As someone who was  much closer in age to the children than I am now, I was drawn to it solely from the child’s perspective.  Here was a method where children were free to move, and not only choose their work, but also their way of engaging with the work.  Here was a method where children could discover who they are while following their dreams.  This was the type of education I would have loved as a child and I wanted to be a part of children’s journeys, as their guide.

What a joy and honor it was to be a Montessori guide! I loved being a part of the learning process as children experienced true accomplishment, such as learning the final letter sounds with the sandpaper letters.

Maria Montessori's Vision for Peace

While decades have passed, I still feel a deep conviction to this dynamic and empowering form of education.  Yet, now I see this beautiful method as so much more.  As I’ve witnessed children who were in my first classes grow into adults, I have a deeper understanding of the long-lasting impact this method of education can have on our world. 

Maria Montessori believed that, “An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of the [person], the enhancement of [their] value as an individual and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.”

With the current state of our world, I have a deeper understand the gravity of Dr. Montessori's vision.  Like so many, I am deeply concerned about rise of authoritarian governments, dehumanizing language and actions, and the rollback of hard-fought progress towards human rights.

What Can We Do?

This brought me to the questions – what can I do in this moment to support those who are guiding our children?  What can I do to support Maria Montessori’s vision for peace, one that I hold dear to my heart, as so many others do?

It is Time for Social Justice Montessori Education

Recently stepping out of the classroom to work on a Doctor of Education, and witnessing this critical need for peace and justice in our world at this moment, my mind returned to the Montessori materials I created over a decade ago. 

A portion of my original, social justice Montessori materials - 2011

At that time, I recognized the lack of modern, ready-made, culturally diverse, human-rights focused Montessori materials and lessons.  I knew that if I ignored this void, children would miss valuable perspectives, negatively impacting their spiritual growth.  Without these materials and conversations, children would grow up unable to see themselves in their work and learn to honor their friends' cultural differences. Since children are our future adults, future peace is not possible without the understanding and inclusion of all. 

New Montessori Materials to Support Guides in this New Era

A preview of the color card materials from Empowered Montessori's Maria Montessori's Life Journey Set. I intentionally designed the Life Journey Series to cultivate children's growth and empowerment in academic areas, so guides could rest assured that their children are developing key literacy and math skills, while they learn about historical people's inspiring life stories. This Life Journey set contains: control cards, pictures cards, labels, Life Story cards, heart word cards, tiered vocabulary cards with matching definitions, grammar and sentence analysis sentences and cards, Maria Montessori's Timeline of Life arrows, math number stories and research task cards. The set also comes with (not pictured) a Guide's Guide to the lessons and Blackline Extensions.

Revising and expanding my original lessons, I am so excited to share these Montessori social justice educational materials with all of you and provide you with the support that you need to be the change in the world that we desperately need.  Understandably, guides often feel worried that they might mess up when teaching these sensitive, but important, topics.  I’m here to support you. 

Seedlings of hope, for a better future.

Together, Let's Sprinkle Seeds of Hope

Like the tiny seeds of an empowering educational system spread when Dr. Maria Montessori traveled the world, my hope is to create a community, where we can nurture and support one another.  Your work in young people’s lives is of utmost importance, now more than ever.  While I know this moment is scary, I hope to give you the confidence to inspire dreams, empower hearts and create a better future - one lesson at a time.

Begin your journey - get your free Maria Montessori's Life Journey Lesson Set. Together, we'll build a more just and peaceful world.

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