AMI Primary (3-6) Diploma Programs

The Primary Program offers a comprehensive study of Montessori theory and practice for individuals who aspire to work with children in Montessori primary environments (ages three to six). Students in the Primary Program engage deeply with Montessori theory topics, which create the foundation for a Montessori teacher’s work and are constant reference points for the student’s understanding. Topics focus on early childhood development, educational theory, practical implementation, and classroom management from the Montessori perspective.

Students learn how to create an environment for three to six-year-old children that contains a large variety of materials for the development of coordination, the senses, life skills, literacy, and mathematical understanding. Opportunities for imaginative exploration abound, leading to confident, creative self-expression. Children achieve these developments through learning materials, games, and activities presented by the teacher. Students in the Primary Program will learn these presentations, as well as how to foster a child’s functional independence, task persistence, and self-regulation, and how to promote positive social development through respectful, clear communication and safe natural and logical consequence.

• Program FAQs

• Learner Handbook

Students in the Primary Program explore Montessori theory through lectures and discussions, reading and writing assignments, and personal reflection. Reading seminars are scheduled throughout the year to help students engage with Montessori’s own writings. During these seminars, students engage in group discussions stimulated by a series of questions or discussion points related to the target reading.

Students learn how to present the Montessori materials and activities to children by observing demonstrations from the trainers and through guided practice in our model classroom, supplemented by independent practice on your own. Students in the Blended Primary program will continue your practice with the materials during the distance blocks and will need access to a Montessori prepared environment for 3-6-year-olds. A minimum of 140 hours of practice is required.

From these experiences, students create five teaching manuals, or albums, to guide their work with children - theory, practical life (life skills), sensory development, language, and mathematics. Depending on the course, these albums might be digital, using GoogleSites, or physical binders. Students also create samples of Montessori materials to demonstrate their ability to apply the principles of Montessori material design to their own classrooms.

Observation and practice teaching are essential components of the program, and allow students to continue your study of the child in real time. During observation, students spend a minimum of 90 hours observing the children’s interactions with the materials and each other. During practice teaching, students spend a minimum of 120 hours presenting lessons to children, with guidance from the AMI host teacher or MNW faculty. Please note that for students living in the vicinity of a MNW Training Center, observation and practice teaching are organized by the training center staff. Students living outside the vicinity of MNW will coordinate with MNW staff to schedule observation and practice teaching at a school that is in their area. All observation and practice teaching are intended to be completed during specific times during the program year.

Comprehensive written and oral examinations at the end of the program verify that each student has met the standards of the Association Montessori Internationale.

3-6 Book List

Students will purchase books independently. You will be provided a booklist prior to the program of the required and suggested books to purchase. Students can expect to pay approximately $250-$300 on books.

Students will receive specific guidance about exact requirements, but all students will need these items to start:

• Laptop computer and reliable high-speed internet access

• All-in-One Printer

• Ample note-taking supplies (ie: large multi-subject notebooks)

• Copy paper

• High quality colored pencils (Prismacolor, eg.) for illustrating presentations in your albums

The creation of Montessori materials and activities is a significant component of the program. Supplies will also include crafting supplies, stationery, and baskets, trays, and other containers. These can be purchased from various locations and can be found at various price points. Costs vary depending on the supplier and thriftiness of the student.

Students can expect to spend up to $900 on office and material supplies throughout the program as well as $99 for an AMI Membership.

Learner life at MNW incorporates the use of technology. This means regularly receiving important information by email, accessing documents digitally, downloading, and uploading files from a hard drive or cloud to Google Shared Drives and Populi (our learning management system), and using Zoom. Adequate internet access and speed, and audio/video capacity are all necessary to engage in online classes and discussion groups. The majority of the work a learner completes involves word processing and preparing illustrations by hand, then scanning and uploading them for review.

Learners will need a laptop computer when attending the in-person blocks of the program. A desktop or laptop computer can be used during the distance blocks. Consistent high-speed internet access is also necessary to participate in the program. While in class for the in-person blocks, learners will be able to connect to MNW’s network.

MNW will update this document periodically, but it is each learners’ responsibility to update their hardware and software to meet the requirements of each platform.

• Google Drive

• Populi

• Zoom

At this time, the current minimum requirements for learners are:

COMPUTER SPECS

• Processor

  • Minimum: Dual-core 2Ghz or higher (Intel i3/i5/i7 or AMD equivalent)

  • Recommended: Quad-core processor or higher

• RAM

  • Minimum: 4 Gb

• Operating System

  • Mac OS X with macOS X 10.13 or later, or

  • Windows 11 (Note: Windows 11 is supported on version 5.9.0 or higher), or

  • Windows 10 (Note: Devices running Windows 10 must run Windows 10 Home, Pro, or Enterprise; S Mode is not supported), or

  • Windows 8 or 8.1, or

  • Windows 7

• Monitor

  • 1280 x 1024 pixels

• Speakers and a microphone

  • Built-in, USB plug-in, or Wireless Bluetooth

• Webcam or HD webcam

  • Built-in, or USB plug-in

• Internet connection

  • Broadband wired, or

  • Wireless (3G or 4G/LTE)

  • Minimum bandwidth: 1.0 Mbps/600kbps (up/down)

  • Recommended bandwidth: 3.8Mbps/4.0Mbps (up/down)

• Browsers

  • Minimum: most recent 2 versions of the following browsers:

    • Chrome

    • Firefox

    • Windows only: Microsoft Edge

    • Mac only: Safari

MNW staff will be available to help learners troubleshoot any technical issues that arise.