Conference program

Phyllis Pottish-Lewis will discuss the fundamentals of Montessori education at the Primary and Elementary Levels. On the first day she will review the distinct, very different sets of universal characteristics of the child at both levels identified by Dr. Maria Montessori. Show more

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Relationships with parents can be unpredictable — praise one moment, pressure the next. How can we bring calm, stability, and compassion to this essential area of leadership? Beyond Parent Education offers a shared journey that combines Montessori principles with a compassionate understanding of the human tendencies shaping school–parent interactions. By recognising your own responses and the needs driving parent behaviour, you regain clarity and steadiness. Our approach turns challenging moments into opportunities for alignment, creating calm, collaborative partnerships where parents feel understood, connected, and ultimately become your strongest advocates. Show more

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The workshop consists of three parts:
– Reflection on key concepts regarding the third stage of development and the Montessori Work and Study Plan.
- Discussion on how a study plan aligns with adolescents' innate interests and integrates modern learning theories with Montessori principles.
– Participants engage in collaborative brainstorming to create a study and work plan guided by the instructor.
1. Workshop objectives
– Deepen understanding of the third stage of development – adolescence.
– Examine the internal structure of the Montessori Work and Study Plan.
– Apply this understanding to design a plan meeting adolescents' needs.
– Support adolescents’ personal growth through a connected, holistic plan.
2. Key topics covered
– Adolescents as active participants in their plan Understanding sensitive periods and responding to their needs.
– Education for the third stage as the foundation of the plan Focus on personality development.
– Prepared environment as context for the plan.
– Preparing them for life.
– Holistic learning: components and interconnections.
– Exploring relationships using the Theory of Variation.
– Adult as guide in learning cycle.
– Protect, provide, guide.
– Valuing as goal.
– Creating socially and economically independent adolescents with appreciated personalities.
3. Expected outcomes
– Understanding Montessori Work and Study Plan principles.
– Recognizing logical links between main plan components.
– Designing a constructive, systematic plan supporting adolescents’ development. Show more

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Building Children’s Houses, not preschools, in the face of declining birth rates, this is a good proposal for frustrated, know-it-all, and busy parents. Show more

In this session, participants will:
- Gain an understanding of schema therapy as a framework for recognising children’s core emotional needs.
- Explore how unmet emotional schemas influence behaviour, learning, and cooperation.
- Receive practical examples of how educators can create safe, attuned relationships that help children return to a state of calm.
- Learn how schema therapy principles naturally align with Montessori values such as respect, freedom within limits, empathy, and observation. Show more

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In this highly interactive workshop, we invite you to unpack the ideas introduced in our Beyond Parent Education lecture and apply them to your own school context. We’ll explore why parents choose your school, what challenges them along the way, and what helps them stay and feel connected. Through guided reflections and practical frameworks, we’ll review current processes and identify specific opportunities for more connected and compassionate interactions with your parents, thus better aligning yourself with the needs of your parents. The focus is on building clarity, compassion, and partnership. You leave with a clear roadmap for understanding the forces moving through your school-parent relationships and a strong sense of direction for cultivating trust and meaningful collaboration. Show more

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Training for teachers and specialists who want to consciously support children’s emotional development. Participants will learn how the Montessori environment – order, rhythm, silence, observation, and freedom of choice – naturally fosters self-regulation. Emphasis is placed on psychoeducational stories as effective tools to discuss emotions in both age groups. Practical strategies help children recognize and regulate emotions while building inner strength. This workshop bridges neuroscience and Montessori in daily practice. Show more

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In Montessori pedagogy, freedom always comes with responsibility, and every child’s experience carries consequences, shaping their way of thinking about themselves, others, and the world. What a child learns in daily small relational situations at school directly affects their functioning in later years. This lecture explores how adults’ responses to children – protection from difficulty, doing things for them, lack of consequences, or overcontrol – build coping strategies that persist in later stages. Using Maria Montessori’s developmental triangles, the lecture demonstrates that calm, self-regulation, and responsibility emerge gradually through consistent experience with freedom and facing the results of choices. Participants reflect on the adult’s role as a guide accompanying the child in discovering responsibility, creating a solid foundation for maturity, agency, and inner calm.Show more

This practice-oriented session will enable participants to:
- Learn a range of simple, ready-to-use CBT techniques that can be integrated into Montessori environments.
- Help children identify their thoughts, emotions, and bodily signals.
- Apply emotional-pause strategies, self-regulation exercises, and cognitive tools that support calmness and focus.
- Explore examples of using CBT with children experiencing stress, impulsivity, anxiety, or difficulty with transitions.
- Learn techniques that help adults regulate their own responses, maintain calm, and become a “co-regulation anchor” for children. Show more

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Martin Seligman’s positive psychology introduces a fundamental question to education: how to support a child’s development not only cognitively, but also emotionally, socially, and existentially. Montessori pedagogy has addressed this question for over a century – through freedom within limits, attentiveness to the child’s needs, and deep trust in their inner potential.
The lecture shows how the PERMA model (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment) naturally fits Montessori environments and how it can be consciously applied in daily teaching practice.
Combining: – positive psychology,
– Montessori pedagogy,
– child development knowledge,
– practical examples from school life.
It is aimed at school directors, Montessori teachers, pedagogues, school psychologists, and anyone wishing to create a school fostering well-being, meaning, and resilience in children. Show more

Montessori developmental materials for mathematics are powerful! They are invaluable for bridging the concrete and abstract stages. So why worry that a child might not build this bridge…? And why does this sometimes happen?
How to prepare the construction site…?
When is the construction successfully completed…?
And what if it doesn’t finish…?
The teacher’s role in this construction…?
The parent’s role…?
In the workshop "Materialized Abstraction – Will It Ever End?" I will share answers to these questions, present examples of selected materials, and share experiences working with students and teachers. Welcome. Show more

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Phyllis Pottish-Lewis will discuss the fundamentals of Montessori education at the Primary and Elementary Levels. On the second day of the conference, Phyllis Pottish-Lewis will expand and deepen the inaugural lecture topic. She will discuss how to appeal to and develop the child’s universal characteristics at two levels — in the classroom and in other related environments — supporting the child’s growth toward becoming a fully formed, independent human, drawing on her 54 years of experience as a teacher, trainer, consultant, and author. Show more

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In this lecture, we will examine children’s behavior through the lens of their core emotional needs and look at how the Montessori environment can either support inner balance or reveal where that balance has been disrupted. We will discuss how children’s need for safety, autonomy, and spontaneity shapes their sense of calm, and why challenging behavior is often a child’s way of signalling that something important has not yet been understood or met. A special focus will be placed on the educator’s own calm and presence, which often serve as the most powerful source of co-regulation for the child. I will share practical ways to recognize triggers, maintain boundaries, and restore a sense of calm in the classroom so that both the child and the educator feel grounded and supported. Show more

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Ecological Belonging and the Inner Life of the Child invites Montessori educators to explore the deeper dimensions of calm, connection, and purpose in a rapidly changing world. Drawing on Maria Montessori’s cosmic education and contemporary insights into wellbeing and regeneration, this lecture explores how nurturing the inner life of the child is foundational to peace, ecological responsibility, and cultural renewal. Through reflection, story, and practical examples, participants are invited to reconnect education with belonging - to the self, to others, and to the living Earth - and to consider the unique role Montessori schools can play in shaping a more caring and regenerative future. Show more

ONLINE LECTURE

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The Montessori community of leaders and educators is driven by a desire for service and peace, yet our relationships with parents can still bring frustration. Parents happily choose our schools, then ignore our suggestions or complain when things don’t go how they expected.
How do we bridge that gap between us?
In this workshop, we will explore why go beyond parent education, where barriers to compassion emerge within our daily processes and how we can intentionally infuse more gentleness into our interactions. Together, we will look at past experiences and personal biases that show up in the present, shaping the way we react, not respond to parents. Through reflection, role play and guided exercises, we will reconnect with the human story to build genuine connection. It is a journey of compassion toward calm. Show more

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This workshop shows how storytelling becomes a natural bridge between language rules and how children actually learn. Participants discover how narrative introduces order, meaning, and calm into often abstract spelling rules, helping children 6–9 years old understand rather than just memorize. The workshop follows Montessori’s approach to language – concrete, experience, symbol, and story as memory keys. Participants learn how to create and use stories that activate attention, build emotional connections to content, and foster intrinsic motivation. A practical, inspiring approach to make spelling a logical and calm journey for children.Show more

In a world of sensory overload, rush, and constant information exposure, schools increasingly become noisy — not only audibly, but cognitively and emotionally. This workshop invites reflection on creating conditions where young people can truly think, understand, and make sense of what they learn. Drawing on Montessori pedagogy and high school experience, it shows that silence is not inactivity but a consciously designed space for mindfulness, dialogue, and intellectual maturation. In this atmosphere, reflection, responsibility, and intrinsic motivation emerge. The workshop provides practical tools applied daily in classrooms.Show more

In Montessori pedagogy, mistakes are a natural part of learning. It is not the mistake itself but the adult’s response – language, tone, pace, and intention – that influences child development. This lecture explores how a culture of correcting errors and giving feedback builds intrinsic motivation, security, and group relationships. We examine why praise and criticism – despite good intentions – may strengthen dependency on external evaluation, and how observation-based, respectful feedback supports self-regulation and resilience. In Montessori spirit, the goal is not eliminating stress but creating conditions to safely face challenges, learn consequences, and grow without fear or overprotection.Show more

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