Hi All! I'm looking for some advice about how to go about getting Montessori certified. I'll start off with some info about me: -Bachelors in English Literature -Worked for one year in a 3-5 year old Montessori classroom as an aide -Worked for one year as a Kindergarten teacher at a public charter school (want to switch back to Montessori, but as a lead teacher) -Now living in Grand County, CO where there are no Montessori Teacher Certification programs available My remote location poses some challenges, to say the least. I'd love to find an online program that would allow me to do at least the first year of certification without having to make a commute. However, I'm not sure if any of these programs are credible. I know that the North American Montessori Center does distance training, but it's only a 7 month program and doesn't include any residential in-classroom component, which I see as a definite downside. I'm also not quite sure if their diploma would fully certify me as a lead classroom teacher. I've also found the Center for Guided Montessori Studies which does a distance program which does include a residential component as well as a 9 month practicum internship. I would not be able to complete the practicum in Grand County, but I would be able to complete the first 9 months here which would be beneficial. However, like I said, I'm unsure of the credibility of these programs/how successful their graduate are in finding employment. The websites for both of these programs look great, but I'd love to get some outside information from anyone who has experience with them. Really, any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help
I have participated in one of these online programs, and I would say that it would really be beneficial for you to find some sort of internship program if you do a distance education program. I think it's really important to have direct experience with the methods and applying what you study in the program.
