Spoiler: A Montessori certification isn’t necessary even if you can’t afford to send your child to a Montessori daycare or preschool. In fact, I think society’s over reliance on credentials is one of the contributing factors to inequality. A degree from a fancy school won’t tell you if someone has a killer work ethic, great networking skills, empathy, reliability, or emotional IQ. If you look at Maria Montessori’s background, she started Montessori to help the poorest kids in Rome. She did not develop her methodology to cater to upper middle class families who these days are increasingly the ones who can begin to afford a paid Montessori education.
Why is a Montessori education so great?
It’s no secret that we are a Montessori aligned family even though we don’t send our child to a Montessori school. We benefit from a daycare subsidy for government/agency employees and the cost savings were too substantial for us to pass up (the convenience too!). As a graduate of a Montessori school abroad, I clearly remember coming to the US and being a year ahead of my peers in a very competitive school district. Having enjoyed school and remembering this outcome made me want the same for Mr. 4.
There are so many benefits to a Montessori education, but the one that is most important to our family is the independence factor. We want our child to feel comfortable and confident in making decisions. We are also impressed with how easily academic skills come to children exposed to the Montessori methodology during the ages of 3-6. The materials used really turbocharge learning, and the way it makes abstract math concepts understandable is unreal.
What is Montessori certification and who gets it?
Where it becomes a question of ethics to get a Montessori certification is if you are an employee of a school that calls itself Montessori or you run a school that has Montessori in its name. Montessori is not a trademarked name, so there are instances where a Montessori program isn’t actually a real Montessori school. In this instance, certification is a necessity.
If you’re not going to be leading a group of students and/or you don’t own a Montessori school, this certification could be the sort of investment that has diminishing returns. I would rather put that money towards buying the Montessori materials for your child to use. Montessori math materials like golden beads run upwards of $200 for example, but are definitely a must purchase item because of the learning it can unlock.
Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, self study should suffice. You can also add short courses to deepen your understanding or help clarify what you see in written guides – see below for some samples. Full on certification can take more than a year and the kids grow so much between the ages of 2-6; you don’t want to miss out!
Do this instead of getting a Montessori certification
If I’ve convinced you that supplementing school and hybrid homeschooling merits self study instead of a Montessori certification, here are some resources:
Courses
My Montessori Homeschool Course
Montessori albums/guides
There are A TON of resources on adopting Montessori for the home. Your first decision point once you’ve decided that Montessori certification isn’t for you (and if it is something you want, amazing! I love a good learning opportunity!), is whether or not you want a structured program like KHT or if you’re comfortable perusing the albums/guides and going from there.
I ultimately went with the Montessori Print Shop teaching manuals and have found them to be a great resource for the type of Montessori learning I’m targeting at home. We supplement school at home, so there was no need for me to go the full route. I was strongly considering KHT, but the certification is a 12 month program and wasn’t open for enrollment when I was looking. Moreover, I was really interested in Montessori from the ELA and math perspective. I find that the practical life and sensorial activities are more intuitive to pick up without too much difficulty.
At the end of the day, the Montessori philosophy shouldn’t be thought of as something exclusive. That’s what kills me about the Montessori hoopla these days – it has become something almost dominated by enrollment from upper middle class or wealthy families. Bringing Montessori home is one way to fight against that exclusivity and raise curious learners. Don’t let certification stop you from designing a Montessori environment that works for your family.
