I have created this blog to document my journey towards becoming a Montessori teacher, director, and owner of Ladybird Montessori School of Buda, TX.
Many have asked me what has led me to this, the creation of a Montessori School.
It started in 2007, when I became an assistant teacher at Mariposa Montessori School. While I was working there, I fell in love with the Montessori Approach to teaching. At one point while working there, I did tell Justin I wanted to stop working towards my Masters in Education and pursue a Montessori Certification with the intention of becoming a lead teacher at Mariposa, and maybe someday having a school of my own, like Whitney Falcon. The idea faded, just as other professional ideas I have had in the past (such as going to the Mountain Forests of Rwanda to study gorillas, just like Dian Fossey.) Lucky for me, my dream of pursuing Montessori has resurfaced and become a reality. I am happy to say that I can leave my dreams of African adventures to my brother-in-law, Marshal Foster! You can follow his journey at http://theangelsofafrica.blogspot.com
My four years in the classroom, gave me a great deal of insight into the public education system versus the Montessori classroom. I have discovered that the public school system tends to teach towards the middle. It is not the public school teachers fault for teaching the class to the middle. It is the design of the system that causes that. It is the TEKS and the Curriculum Road Maps. It is the objectives and skills that must be mastered by the end of each grading cycle. It is the 24 students to 1 teacher ratio. It is all of the high stakes tests. It is a one-size-fits-all approach to education. Any teacher that does it differently (and MANY of them do because they love their students and teaching) is having to go above and beyond during his/her own personal time and that is not fair to the teacher or the teachers family. I saw many amazing things happening in the public school I worked at, but it was all due to the teachers rebelling against the status quo and going the extra mile on their own accord. I did not have to ask myself if there was a better way. I already knew there was a better way. I knew Maria Montessori had figured it out by creating an environment of well designed materials that encouraged and enabled a child to design his or her own learning path. A model in which the child is his/her own teacher and the classroom teacher is merely the guide that helps light the way. An environment where there are a maximum of 12 students to every 1 guide in a Primary Classroom. I knew I wanted that way for my children. That is what has set me on this path. I am becoming a Montessori teacher, director, and owner because I believe in it and I know it works. More importantly, I am doing this for my children. I am doing this so that Jaxon and Fenix can have an education that I truly believe in and can stand behind with a passion that I can only describe as almost spiritual. It is my love for education and my love for my family that has set me on this path. That is why I am creating Ladybird Montessori School.
In this blog I will aim to inform my readers about the Montessori Method to education, outline the steps my husband, Justin, and I took to create Ladybird Montessori, document my journey towards obtaining my Montessori certification in the 2.5 - 6 classroom, and share the joys and trials I encounter along the way.
