Multilingual Montessori

Today’s episode is the second in a series of check-ins with my good friend and new bilingual mom, Samantha!

My guests for this episode are Simone Davies and Junnifa Uzodike, the authors of the upcoming book, The Montessori Child. They are both accomplished Montessorians and authors, and just generally lovely people. We had a great conversation about their work and their upcoming book, and I know you’re going to enjoy it.

Simone Davies is the author of “The Montessori Toddler” and co-author of “The Montessori Baby” and “The Montessori Child” books, comprehensive guides to raising children in a Montessori way. Simone is an AMI Montessori educator based in Amsterdam. She also has a popular blog, instagram and podcast “The Montessori Notebook” and is mother to two young adults. Simone currently runs parent-child Montessori classes in Amsterdam at her school Jacaranda Tree Montessori.

Junnifa Uzodike is an AMI 0–12 trained teacher, a wife, and mother to four children, all raised with Montessori principles from in-utero. Junnifa is the founder and head of school of Fruitful Orchard Montessori school in Abuja, Nigeria, serving children from 15 months to 12 years old. She is the co-author of The Montessori Baby and The Montessori Child books, and sits on the board of Association Montessori Internationale.

Their new book, The Montessori Child, comes out on March 5th, 2024, and is now available for pre-order. And if you pre-order it, you can get access to digital bonuses through the publisher that include a collection of poetry and songs curated by Simone and Junnifa, illustrated clothing labels for drawers, an observation sheet for when difficult situations arise, and more.

And if you would like to win a copy of the book, be sure to take my podcast listener survey! As I enter a new year of podcasting, I would love to learn more about you, the listener, and what you'd like to hear from the podcast - even if this is the first time you’re listening!

To thank you for taking the podcast listener survey, you'll be entered to win your choice of e-book from guests on the Multilingual Montessori podcast, including The Montessori Child by Simone and Junnifa.

Trisha Moquino is a member of the Cochiti, Kewa, and Ohkay Ohwingeh Tribal Nations. She is the Co-Founder, Education Director and Elementary Keres Speaking Guide at Keres Children's Learning Center, an Indigenous Language Immersion Montessori school in Cochiti Pueblo, NM. Trisha also helps in the continued development of KCLC’s Indigenous Montessori Institute, an anti-racist teacher training grounded in our Philosophy of Indigenous Education. 

In this conversation, Trisha shares what it’s like to be a part of a heritage language immersion school and why language revitalization efforts are so important for the Cochiti Pueblo community and other Indigenous communities. She also shares why she felt that Montessori was the best pedagogical fit for the language revitalization efforts of the Keres Children’s Learning Center, and why it was important to create a training center for Montessori guides that is grounded in anti-racism and an Indigenous philosophy of education. 

Zil Jaeger (they/them) is a Montessori educator, consultant and coach, with a passion for literacy and a commitment to anti-bias, antiracist education. They are Montessori trained at the 3-6 and 6-12 levels, with multiple literacy certifications. They believe that classrooms should be spaces of joy, critical engagement, and community-minded learning. An advocate for literacy learning, Zil is devoted to translating research into effective classroom strategies. They love supporting teachers, caregivers, and schools to empower children in their learning.

In this conversation, Zil shares insights into the sciences of reading, and how we can support literacy learning in Montessori environments according to the latest research. They also share their memories of going to Montessori school as a child, and their experience being the parent of a child attending a public Spanish-language immersion elementary school in Portland, Oregon!

Jasmine Williams is the Race and Equity Specialist at the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. Jazz provides race and equity guidance and education, and delivers Montessori theory and practice instruction for the NCMPS Montessori Teacher Residency.

Jazz has worked in bilingual Montessori programs for 12 years, including 8 years in a public program, as a classroom teacher, reading interventionist, Montessori coach, and academic director.

Jazz has lived in, volunteered in and traveled to 48 countries, most recently returning from four years in China. She is passionate about equitable and joyful Montessori education, and her dream is to bring free, socially justice centered Montessori training and education to marginalized communities throughout the world. Jazz is currently earning a doctorate in Education for Social Justice at the University of San Diego.

Today we’re doing something a little different! This is the first episode of what will become a series of check-ins with my good friend and new bilingual mom, Samantha. In this first conversation, I’ll introduce you to Samantha and her one-year-old daughter, who is learning both English and Italian at home. We’ll talk about the current joys and challenges Samantha is experiencing with her daughter’s bilingualism, and what her daughter’s language use is like right now. Then we’ll check in again in another 3 months to see how things have changed! I’m excited to share Samantha’s journey with you and have the opportunity to follow up with her throughout the next year.

Elizabeth M. Castillo is a multilingual poet, writer, teacher, and parent. Her childhood was split between the Congo and England, and she spent her adolescent years on the tiny, tropical island of Mauritius. She now lives in Paris with her family and two cats. Elizabeth homeschools her two daughters, and writes a variety of different things, in a variety of different languages, and under a variety of pen names. She also runs a handful of small businesses, dabbles in charity work and teaches languages part-time. 

In her writing Elizabeth explores the different countries and cultures she grew up with, as well as themes of race & ethnicity, motherhood, womanhood, language, love, loss and grief, and a touch of magical realism. 

In this conversation, we talk about language, identity and how that can shift at different points in one’s life. We also talk about Elizabeth’s multilingual homeschooling journey with her daughters, and her work writing multilingual poetry and children’s books, as well as her forthcoming podcast!

Follow Elizabeth M. Castillo:

Today's Frequently Asked Question is from a listener: What if my child switches between langauges?

I'm back with another Frequently Asked Questions episode - a quick, bite-sized episode focusing on one frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews parents, educators and experts in their fields on topics relating to Montessori and multilingualism that you’re already familiar with.

Bianca Solorzano is a Montessori guide and consultant for Baby Tour Guide. In the past Bianca has run her own Montessori Infant Classroom, otherwise known as a Nido, and has also held roles in Admissions and School Administration. She now supports parents and educators through her Montessori Babies Podcast, the Montessori Babies Course, and on her Instagram account, @babytourguide.

In our conversation, we talk about what Bianca loves about working with babies and their parents, and what it has been like raising her own son in their bilingual English-Spanish household. We also discuss how parents can support their babies by incorporating Montessori into their parenting, and we discuss the question Bianca is asked most often about raising Montessori babies. Hint: it has to do with the floor bed!

Today is a very special day: I started this podcast exactly two years ago, in September 2021!

Since then, I’ve interviewed over 40 educators, parents, authors, researchers, professors and experts about Montessori and multilingualism.

A few months after I first started the podcast, in December 2021, I put together this bonus episode with advice from the first ten guests that I interviewed. At the end of each episode, I invited each guest to share some advice that they had for listeners, and I compiled all that advice into one episode to share with you.

Whether this is your first episode or your fiftieth - thank you for listening to the Multilingual Montessori Podcast!

Jenna Clark Embrey is the Literary Manager and Dramaturg at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. Jenna develops plays and supports playwrights alongside serving as the Executive Editor of the Lincoln Center Review. She received her MFA from the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.

Jenna is also the mom to a two-year-old named Amelia, who attends a German immersion preschool in New York. Jenna studied German as an adolescent, and now is re-learning German along with Amelia. We talked about how they utilize the time and place method at home to structure German into their day, and what the experience has been like for Jenna to observe Amelia’s language development in both English and German. We also talk about Jenna’s experiences studying in Russia during her masters program, and how her work as a dramaturg intersects with language and translation. Jenna is a fascinating person and a wonderful human - I know you’ll enjoy this conversation!

If you've ever wondered about Montessori at the adolescent level, this is the episode for you!

In this episode, I speak with Hannah Ewert-Krocker, a former Montessori child who worked as the director of the farm school program at the Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School for seven years. Hannah shares incredible insights about Montessori at the adolescent level, the joys and challenges of running a public Montessori program, and what she loves about working with adolescents.

Hannah also shares her thoughts about what it was like growing up with a mother who is a trained Montessorian, and her experiences teaching a bilingual English/Spanish yoga class in Denver, Colorado.

This episode originally aired on October 20, 2021.

For more information: - AMI Montessori training for teachers at the adolescent level, visit https://www.montessori-imti.org/ - Hershey Montessori School adolescent community: https://hershey-montessori.org/programs/adolescent-community - Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School: http://dmhs.dpsk12.org/

Jacqueline Ménoret is an American living in Paris. Jackie graduated with a Master’s degree in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She works in higher education in Paris, coordinating French-speaking study abroad programs. Jackie founded the Immigrant Book Club in 2020, and is also the co-founder of a new bilingual magazine called Revue Version Originale, available this fall. Jackie grew up in Wisconsin and now lives in Paris with her husband and her cat.

In this episode, Jackie talks about learning French with her dad as a child and adolescent, and her experiences studying abroad in France and England. She also talks about the decision to start a book club in Paris focused on reading exclusively immigrant authors, as well as the new literary magazine she founded with our mutual friend, Maria Laura Ribadeneira, who you may remember from episode 18 of the podcast.

Warning: this episode may make you want to drop everything and move to Paris! 

Have you ever wondered about what Virtual Montessori school is like? Not Montessori schools that temporarily held virtual classes during the pandemic, but an academic program designed to be a fully remote Montessori school?

In June of 2022, I graduated from Linköping University in Sweden with a Master’s Degree in Child Studies. For my final thesis, I conducted a qualitative study about teachers’ experiences, and their impressions of their students’ experiences, in a virtual Montessori program that started at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

My good friend and former coworker Claudia, an AMI 0-3 trained Montessorian, joined me back on the podcast to interview me about the master’s program and the contents of my thesis research. You might remember Claudia from episode 15, where I interviewed her, and episode 20, where she interviewed me about starting Multilingual Montessori. 

In this episode we chat all about virtual learning - both in the contexts of the master’s program, and my research on virtual Montessori preschool, what my biggest takeaways were from interviewing virtual Montessori teachers, and what the future of virtual Montessori school might be. 

Today's Frequently Asked Question is: What’s the best way to raise a multilingual child?

I'm back with another Frequently Asked Questions episode - a quick, bite-sized episode focusing on one frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews parents, educators and experts in their fields on topics relating to Montessori and multilingualism that you’re already familiar with.

I'm bringing back one of the podcast's most popular episodes about one of the most requested topics: Montessori with toddlers!

On Episode 15 of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, I spoke with Claudia Lundahl, an AMI Montessori toddler guide, postpartum doula, and freelance artist living in London, England. One of Claudia’s first teaching experiences after college was teaching English in France through TAPIF, which stands for Teaching Assistant Program in France, where she taught English to French middle schoolers in a town along the Swiss border near Geneva. Claudia then discovered Montessori, and we talk about her experiences as a toddler guide, including what developmental work happens in a Montessori toddler classroom and what it’s like to be an early childhood educator and not be a parent.

Claudia also shares her experiences as a postpartum doula and why she finds that work aligns very well with Montessori principles. She also  shares about her experience starting an English-immersion Montessori homeschool class in London with a French family during the first summer of the pandemic. Claudia is a font of knowledge about toddlers and Montessori, and I think you’ll learn a lot from her, whether or not you have a toddler in your life!

This episode originally aired on February 2, 2022.

Sylvia Arotin is the founder and CEO of Guide & Grow. She runs My Montessori school in Sydney, Australia and is an international speaker and trainer for educators and parents, specializing in communication and guiding children's behavior. Sylvia holds an International Montessori 0-3 diploma, 3-6 assistants’ certificate, International Communications degree and a Masters in Teaching specializing in early childhood.

Sylvia created Guide & Grow from a desire to help raise tomorrow’s children and to create a movement towards supporting caregivers on their path to raise future generations. With its roots in Montessori, positive communication, positive discipline and building children’s emotional intelligence, Guide & Grow takes a holistic approach to guiding parents and educators so they can help their children to grow and build lifelong skills.

In this conversation, Sylvia shares her path to Montessori and her experiences with multilingualism, both as a child and now as an adult. We also talk about her work doing Montessori with the elderly, and she shares her best advice for parents when it comes to navigating the toddler years!

Viorica Marian is a Psycholinguist, Cognitive Scientist, Psychologist, and writer known for her research on language, bilingualism, and multilingualism. She is the Ralph and Jean Sundin Endowed Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, and is the Principal Investigator of the Northwestern Bilingualism and Psycholinguistics Research Laboratory. She received her PhD in Psychology from Cornell University, Master's degrees from Emory University and from Cornell University, and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Alaska. 

Today's Frequently Asked Question is: What are the stages of second language acquisition?

I'm back with another Frequently Asked Questions episode - a quick, bite-sized episode focusing on one frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews parents, educators and experts in their fields on topics relating to Montessori and multilingualism that you’re already familiar with.

Nasma Alkhafif is an Early Childhood Consultant and bilingual mom living in Columbus, Ohio. Born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, she holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology. Nasma is also a certified AMI 3-6 Guide and Positive Discipline Parent Educator. As a parenting coach and consultant, Nasma  is passionate about providing children with the best environment and resources needed to reach their full potential. In addition to her professional work, Nasma is a mother of two bilingual children, and implements Montessori-inspired parenting in her home.

In our conversation, Nasma and I discuss how she discovered Montessori, and what bilingualism looked like for her growing up in Cairo versus  what it looks like in her life now in the US. She shares how one of the greatest dilemmas for her and her husband in raising their children with the Arabic language is how to find the balance between their two dialects of Arabic - standard Arabic, which is used for reading and writing, and Egyptian Arabic, which Nasma and her husband use for conversations. She also shares about when she decided to speak in Arabic to her children, and what that linguistic and emotional shift was like for her.

Harvard-educated doctora of education Vero Benavides has spent her career exploring and advocating for the intersection of identity, language, and learning.

Throughout her career in education—as a high school and middle school teacher, a Fulbright scholar, a leadership coach, and the Executive Director of a leading early childhood educational research and training center—she's always sought to create strengths-based environments where all people and children thrive.

Now, as founder and CEO of The Language Preservation Project, Dr. Benavides works to support the reclamation and flourishing of heritage languages across global contexts. Through learning resources and cohort-based programs for educators and families, The Language Preservation Project decolonizes language learning to promote bilingualism in homes and schools.

In this conversation, Vero and I talk about her own language experiences growing up and what it has been like to speak exclusively in Spanish to her two young children. We also discuss what learning a heritage language means for many people, and how she supports heritage language speakers through her work with The Language Preservation Project.

In Episode 3 of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, I spoke with Chelsea Daniel, an AMI Montessori guide, birth doula, and certified yoga instructor living in Brooklyn, NY. Chelsea is the founder of Chickadee Yoga, where she teaches children's yoga, prenatal yoga, and postnatal/baby + me yoga classes. We discuss the intersection of mindfulness and Montessori, how to use mindfulness to support children, and how we as adults can use mindfulness practices to be our best selves when caring for children. We also chat about Chelsea's experience living in Austria for several years as a young child and learning to speak German there.

This episode originally aired on October 6, 2021.

Paula Lillard Preschlack was a teacher and the head of school at Forest Bluff School in Illinois for over 25 years. Her work focuses on the principles and benefits of the Montessori approach. Paula attended Hampshire College and holds a Master's Degree in Education from Loyola College in Maryland, has diplomas from the Association Montessori Internationale for Assistants to Infancy, Primary, and Elementary Levels, and she audited the NAMTA/AMI Orientation to Adolescent Studies. Paula and her husband Jim have two children, now 18 and 20 years old. Her new book, The Montessori Potential, will be published in February 2023.

In this conversation, Paula and I discuss her experiences growing up as a Montessori child and how she decided to go into the field of Montessori education herself. We discuss her new book, The Montessori Potential, and we talk specifically about some of the important features of Montessori’s language curriculum throughout the Planes of development.

Claudia Serrano Johnson is a bilingual speech-language pathologist and a mom of three living in Virginia. Claudia is passionate about empowering Latinx parents with accurate information on bilingual language development. On her social media platforms, she clarifies misinformation such as "Bilingualism causes delays", "Bilingualism confuses children", and "Bilingual children speak later." Claudia feels strongly that these myths negatively impact the bilingual community by making parents fear passing on their language or delaying parents from seeking the right supports for their children. Ultimately, Claudia hopes that by sharing this information, parents can continue fostering bilingualism in their families.

In our conversation, Claudia debunks some of these myths about bilingualism, and offers advice on what parents can say to doubters to help bust these myths. We also talked about what signs Claudia looks for in her work as a speech-language pathologist that indicate a bilingual child might be experiencing a speech-language delay or disorder, as well as strategies to maintain bilingualism with a child who is diagnosed with a speech-language delay or disorder. And of course, Claudia shared her own journey as a bilingual parent and the joys and challenges she and her husband have experienced in raising their three children with two languages.

Today's Frequently Asked Question is: Can I Teach My Child a Language That Isn’t My Native Language?

I'm back with another Frequently Asked Questions episode - a quick, bite-sized episode focusing on one frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews parents, educators and experts in their fields on topics relating to Montessori and multilingualism that you’re already familiar with.

Meagan De Clerck is a multilingual mom of four. Meagan lives with her family in Northern Vermont and homeschools her children with a Montessori-inspired curriculum. Meagan’s children are trilingual; she and her husband use the one parent one language method in their home. Meagan speaks exclusively in Spanish to her children, her husband speaks exclusively in French, and they get English exposure from their community. Since we recorded this episode over the summer, Meagan has also started speaking Italian with her children every day at lunchtime (which you might recognize as the “time and place method”).

Meagan went to Montessori school as a child growing up in Houston, Texas. She has a Masters in International Policy and Crisis Management from the University of Rome La Sapienza and has lived and worked all over the world, including at an NGO in Kenya and throughout Central and South America.

Natalia Sáez is a professor and researcher at Teachers College Columbia University focusing on second language development as well as bilingual/bicultural education. Natalia is also the founder and co-owner of TraducGlobal, which offers language services to clients around the world. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Cognitive Science from Universidad de Chile, and a Master of Arts degree in Applied Linguistics from Teachers College Columbia University, from which she also has a Doctor of Education degree specializing in Applied Linguistics.

Diandra Morse is a bilingual mom, licensed clinical social worker and child advocate living in Syracuse, New York with her husband and two bilingual sons. Diandra is Dominican American and was raised in both the Dominican Republic and New York City. You might know Diandra from Instagram as Bilingual Playdate, where she promotes positive language attitudes towards all languages, language variations, accents, dialects and reminds parents that they are the heart of their child’s bilingualism.

In this conversation, Diandra shares her experiences raising two bilingual sons, and what it has been like to watch her husband transition to speaking Spanish to their children as well. She talks about how she decided to use her Instagram platform to focus on advocating for bilingualism by dismantling myths about bilingual children, drawing attention to discriminatory and linguistically oppressive practices, connecting parents to bilingual parenting community supports and providing parents with play-based Spanish learning ideas that they can incorporate in their home to preserve their Spanish heritage language.

Diandra is so insightful and enthusiastic and I definitely left this conversation feeling inspired - I think you will too. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Diandra!

Jesse Gevirtz is the Director of Adolescent Programs at Austin Montessori School in Austin, Texas. Jesse has been teaching in Montessori schools for 25 years, 21 of them at Austin Montessori School. He holds an AMI Elementary Diploma and an AMI Diploma in Adolescent Studies. Jesse attended Montessori school as a child in Houston, Texas in the early 1970s. He is the parent of two Montessori children: both of his young adult daughters attended Austin Montessori School from their early childhood years all the way through the adolescent program.

Jackie Howard is a bilingual educator and former Montessori child living in Austin, Texas. Jackie grew up speaking Spanish and English at home, and went to a Montessori school from kindergarten to 8th grade. She has worked in the education field for 13 years, first as a bilingual elementary teacher, then as an instructional coach mentoring teachers, and now as a high school humanities teacher and college consultant.

The guest for this episode is…me! I invited my good friend and former coworker Claudia to interview me about my education background and how I came to start Multilingual Montessori. Claudia was a podcast guest a few episodes back (linked below) and in honor of my 20th podcast episode, I thought it would be fun to be in the hot seat myself. I asked Claudia to interview me and she came up with some great questions for me about growing up in Manhattan and going to NYC public schools, teaching English in Italy, how I discovered Montessori, training in London, my teaching experiences, the masters program I’m finishing up, and of course, how Multilingual Montessori came to be. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about me and my journey!

Siri Panday is the Director of Education for Toddler and Primary at Marin Montessori School in Northern California. Siri is trained as both a 0-3 and 3-6 AMI Guide, and she has worked in Montessori schools as a guide, administrator, and consultant for over 20 years. Early in her teaching career, she had the opportunity to help open a Montessori Children's House classroom in Kathmandu, Nepal, and we chat about her memories of teaching in Nepal and learning to speak Nepali. Siri grew up bilingual in English and Norwegian, and she now has two daughters who are trilingual in English, Norwegian, and Nepali. In this conversation, we talk about navigating identity and moving between cultures, raising multilingual children, and how Siri's understanding of Montessori evolved once she became a parent.

María Laura Ribadeneira grew up in Quito, Ecuador where she spoke Spanish at home, English at school, and studied French outside of school. She went to college in the US (with me!) where she also studied Italian and Ancient Greek, and studied abroad in Italy and France. After college graduation, she moved to Paris for a masters degree, where she has lived ever since, and just became a French citizen a year ago.

In this conversation, we chat about language and identity, as well as navigating an academic life, a professional life and a social life in multiple languages.

Tania Ginsberg-Jambou is a French-American bilingual mom and Montessorian living in California. Tania grew up speaking both French and English with her American father and French mother. Tania and her husband, who is French, have three children with whom they speak exclusively in French at home.

Tania is trained as an AMI 3-6 Montessori guide, and before she became a mother, she taught in a bilingual Montessori Children’s House in Paris. She shares what that experience was like for her and how bilingual education functioned in that classroom. In addition to her Montessori training, Tania is also trained in the Pikler Method, known as RIE or Resources for Infant Educarers, and she is also trained as a NeuroMovement Practitioner. We talk about how she uses both her RIE and NeuroMovement trainings with her children these days, and how NeuroMovement has been particularly transformative for her son, who has cerebral palsy. We also get into a wonderful discussion about language and identity, both about how these themes have shown up in Tania’s own life and how she sees them manifesting in her children’s lives as they grow.

Janina Burmeister is a mom and Montessorian living in Valencia, Spain. Janina is originally from Germany but she has lived abroad for the past twenty years! In this episode, Janina shares her experiences as an expat living in nine countries over the past two decades, and how that has shaped her cultural and linguistic identity.

Janina and her husband have a five-year-old son Henry who speaks three languages: German, English and Spanish. When Henry was a baby, Janina and her husband, who are both educators, realized that his language wasn't developing as quickly as they would have expected. Instead of deciding to speak in only one language to him, as some people recommended, they decided to get him checked out by a doctor. Janina shares that experience and what her son's language progress has been since then.

Janina also shares her journey to becoming a Montessorian and what advice she would give to parents wanting to raise their child with two or more languages.

Claudia Lundahl is an AMI Montessori toddler guide, postpartum doula, and freelance artist living in London, England. One of Claudia’s first teaching experiences after college was teaching English in France through TAPIF, which stands for Teaching Assistant Program in France, where she taught English to French middle schoolers in a town along the Swiss border near Geneva. Claudia then discovered Montessori, and we talk about her experiences as a toddler guide, including what developmental work happens in a Montessori toddler classroom and what it’s like to be an early childhood educator and not be a parent.

Claudia also shares her experiences as a postpartum doula and why she finds that work aligns very well with Montessori principles. She also  shares about her experience starting an English-immersion Montessori homeschool class in London with a French family during the first summer of the pandemic. Claudia is a font of knowledge about toddlers and Montessori, and I think you’ll learn a lot from her, whether or not you have a toddler in your life!