My first Montessori experience was at a small Casa in Birmingham, England which I attended as a four-year-old. I remember cutting apples with the push-down apple cutter, writing with the Moveable Alphabet and the excitement of choosing what colour paper I would use for my metal inset work the next morning. My mother, a teacher herself, had become interested in Montessori education when she read “How to Raise a Brighter Child” by Joan Beck, first published in 1967. On our return to Australia, my parents became involved with the establishment of Plenty Valley Montessori School, now North Eastern Montessori School, and I was one of the inaugural students. In 1984 I graduated Grade 6 along with four classmates – we were the first graduates, but certainly not the last! I had a wonderful time at primary school have many happy memories of learning alongside my friends in a beautiful, natural setting. I wish every child could experience the kind of support, acknowledgement, flexibility, fun, individual focus and richly-resourced classroom that I did.
When I was in my mid-20s, my mother opened her own Montessori pre-school, having qualified as a Montessori Directress during the 90s. I went to work as her assistant and fell in love with the philosophy again, this time from a teacher’s perspective. After travelling to Japan for a couple of years, I relocated to Sydney to do my AMI 3-6 training and felt like I had found exactly where I belonged. Everything made sense and everything was fascinating. I went on to work with my mother for the next five years as the classroom Directress before having my own two daughters and working in various Montessori and non-Montessori settings part-time while they were young. Since May 2020, I have been working for Inspire Early Learning Journey, a Montessori early childhood provider, firstly as the Montessori directress at our Springvale Campus and now as a guide and mentor for all teaching staff across our several campuses. Although I do miss daily contact with the children, I feel very lucky to be part of a company committed to authentic Montessori practice and to be able to share my experience and passion with our team of dedicated educators.
I am very excited to see the recent increase of Montessori education in Australia, particularly in early childhood, and look forward to contributing to the continued growth and recognition of this wonderful philosophy.
