by Elena Grace Campos

I am the proud mom of Grace and Joy. I was 43 years old when I had my twin girls, who are almost 12 now. When they were only two and half years old, my best friend opened a Montessori school and I was asked to be the administrator and have the girls attend the school. What I did not know at the time was that I needed a plethora of requirements by the Department of Children and Family in order to work at a child care facility. In addition to the 45-hour courses, I had to provide valid college transcripts of my Bachelors in Business Administration, the First Aid/CPR certificate and live scan fingerprints. Immediately, I became very interested in studying further and researching about Dr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy in education. I was fascinated by her vision and what I saw daily in the classroom, especially with my children, which made me realize at the age 46 that I had fallen in love with working with children.

Why do I believe in the Montessori philosophy? First of all, Dr. Montessori closely observed children for over 20 years, including those with special needs. She then started to work with the more challenging ones and saw that in those groups in smaller settings (i.e. 10 children in a classroom or more but with assistance), she could teach them one-on-one and it made such a difference in their learning and their appetite for learning. Therefore, she furthered her studies and developed an individualized curriculum that would allow the educator to know in which level the child was according to his or her age. This was done in the different areas of study, such as reading, reading comprehension, math, practical life, social studies, science etc, so she would keep anecdotal notes for each child.

During almost ten years I have been living the Montessori experience, I believe its education philosophy works for all children, without exception. I understand that the love for teaching, care, protection and education in a Montessori setting are the ideal ingredients for any child to fall in love with education.

Today, I can honestly say that I value teachers, caretakers, educators more than ever, for I believe with all my heart, it is not just a career or a job, it is by far more than that, it is a true calling. As a parent of Montessori children, I believe that the unshakable foundation developed in a Montessori setting allows them to build whatever the parents/teachers like on top of that unshakeable foundation. For the child, given this opportunity, the child(ren) will have unlimited resources and options for growth and continued learning.

May God bless you and keep you.