AMI Montessori for Ages 6-12, Questions and Answers

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On October 3, 2026 Conference Education for Life was held in Iasi, Romania.
We were treated to music by the students, and several interesting stories. We Montessori speakers gathered from far away, including Lynne Lawrence from Amsterdam (General Director of AMI), Judi Orion from Amsterdam (AMI Director of Pedagogy), Lori Woellhaf from London and the Philippines (AMI 3-6 teacher trainer), yours truly from California (AMI consultant and examiner), Jenny Hogland from Sweden (AMI 6-12 and 12-18 teacher trainer), Simona Nicolae (AMI 3-6 teacher trainer and educational director of the Montessori School of Iasi) and Catalina Ivan (founder of the Montessori School of Iasi) both from Romania.

After the speeches we gathered on stage to answer questions. Conference attendees were invited to submit questions and many were answered but over 60 questions remained to be answered later. Here are the questions given to me, and my answers: Continue reading →

AMI Montessori Event & Visit to Village School in Romania, Fall 2026

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AMI Montessori Event & Visit to Village School in Romania, Fall 2026
During this time of Montessori work in the fall of 2026, my hostess and friend Catalina Ivan and I visited the Potângeni school in the country. Nine years ago, Lenuta, the kindergarten teacher visited the Montessori school of Iasi and attended workshops; the teachers and students from the Montessori school visited the village school; and the sharing between these two ways of educating children began.

To back up a bit, Catalina’s husband was for ten years the representative at the European Parliament in Brussels for the poor villages in this area. After these years of attempting to help his constituents through politics he discovered Montessori through a friend in Bucharest whose wife had opened a Montessori kindergarten (for ages 3-6 years) It seemed to him that supporting authentic Montessori could be more helpful to his country (and family) than politics. Continue reading →

Montessori Interview – Russia, Fall 2026

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Montessori Interview – Russia

A few months ago, I answered questions, sent from Elena Timoshenko via the internet, and the results (in Russian) are available online publication shared throughout the country. To see the original CLICK: Russian version

 

The editor added pictures that she found online and my old friend Valentina Zaytseva Nosenko, head of the Montessori School of Moscoe, helped me identify picture and make sense of the whole. Here is a picture of me with Valentina (and in the Middle Noon, one of our students in the first Montessori training center in Thailand in 2006). Here is an English version of what was published in Russia. Please share with Russian speakers anywhere.  

Continue reading →