Student/Teacher Ratios and Teacher Certifications

Little Hands Montessori has 3 certified teachers and less than 20 students 
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Did you know that Montessori teachers can be certified without having a bachelor’s degree in education?  Did you also know that the legal student/teacher ratio in Michigan for preschool age children is 1 teacher to 10 students? 
 
When I began my bachelor’s degree, I hoped to get my Montessori certification before I graduated. This dream, however, was not possible in the United States at the time.  The very best Montessori training centers in the USA (AMI centers, Montessori International), did not admit students who had not yet completed a bachelor’s degree in education or early childhood.  Therefore, I applied to be accepted at the Montessori Institute of London, where Lynne Lawrence, the current president of AMI Montessori worldwide, is head of school.  In Europe, and every other country in the world, Montessorians did not need an educational degree to receive training.  In fact, it was considered a drawback to be previously trained in a traditional style of education, because it is hard to unlearn or relearn new or different teaching methods.  
 
Now it is not the same in the USA.  The certification is available to anyone who applies.  AMI Montessori training is very good, but not what you find at many Montessori schools.  There are various trainings that are not as thorough. Non-Montessori preschools also only need one teacher in the building to be certified.  
 
Nonetheless, Little Hands Montessori has a higher standard. We have 3 certified teachers. 

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I was certified as an AMI teacher in London after all before completing my bachelor’s degree from Hope College. My co-teacher, Beata Guerra, was AMI certified in Spain. The teachers of the AMI Montessori Institute of Mexico traveled to Spain to train her there!  Finally, our literacy teacher, Margaret Christensen, has her undergraduate in Language Arts and an Education certificate for K-9th grade from Hope College and almost completed a Master’s in Education at Western Michigan University. (Did you know that many teachers do not fully finish their master’s degrees because they would need to be paid more and many employers don’t wish to do that so they would become at risk of losing their job or struggling to find one?)  Both Margaret and Beata received a prestigious AMI Montessori assistant training prior as well. That training was a 9am-5pm two-week straight training (they both took it in different states; AMI Montessori is the same around the world). The Montessori training that assistants receive in Michigan is only 3 days long. Little Hands Montessori is a one room school house with 13-20 children at any given time.  Three certified teachers for that number of children is unheard-of.  Our literacy specialist is part time.  We additionally often have a 4th part time employee, an assistant.  At any given time, there is almost always two highly certified lead teachers with the children.  The majority of the week, there are three.  
 
Education for staff members at Little Hands Montessori does not end there.  Beata has a bachelors in social work and I have a Master's in Education in World Language Instruction.  I also am a trained Music Together teacher, Children and Worship teacher and Canta y Baila Conmigo teacher. I was the first individual in Michigan certified to teach Canta y Baila Conmigo and I pilot the material in my school along with the director of the program who is in Boston. 

Teachers are required to have 16 hours of new professional development each year.  Many fill those hours with inclusion and general classes.  At Little Hands Montessori, however, we dive into serious new professional developments that we know will impact our students in a major way and make us truly better teachers.  This year we’ve been getting fully trained in the Orten-Gillingham method.  This is the only proven method to help struggling readers and writers learn literacy (students with suspected dyslexia).  Though the public school is required not to let any child fall through the crack, they don’t not have teachers trained in this method.  We are being trained though; two of our certified teachers are. For the rest of our staff, we have brought in special professional trainers, such as the executive director of the SLD Read tutoring program that uses the Orten-Guillingham method to help students in the area.  I am also taking a 3 month AMI Montessori Business and Marketing course virtually out of the Montessori Institute of Prague.   
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We know the value of education here.  We know the value of partnerships as well.  We have partnerships with Gull Lake, the local school district, to have our kindergarteners literacy tested.  Our kindergarteners can participate in their Title One literacy support groups as well if they do not test at a high level; this has not yet happened though.  Finally, we partner with KC Ready 4s and pull in professionals (speech therapists, OTs and behavior specialists) when needed and are consented upon by the student’s parents.  

Are the ratios low at the preschools you consider for your children?  Is the staff certified in a qualified way and receiving excellent educational updates, or is there just one qualified teacher?  Do the centers you are considering for your children have partnerships to help your child connect to any service needed if they begin struggling in an area?  

Read more about the story of Little Hands Montessori and each of our staff members by clicking the button below.  

LHM Story and Staff