The first component of the practicum course is online and includes:

• Video Lectures
• Ten Zoom chats with the course instructor
• Discussion forums on Montessori philosophy and practice
• Creation of an original year-long unit study involving lesson presentation and materials
• A case study of a student to practice developing interventions and indivualizing instruction
• Practicing classroom management strategies appropriate to Montessori environments
• Discussions about following the child, school leadership, and recordkeeping
• Reflections on teaching peace
• Observing other Montessori programs
• Advice on working successfully with colleagues

The second component of the practicum course is a teaching internship that includes:

• A minimum of 400 teaching hours for Early Childhood
• A minimum of 400 teaching hours for Elementary I, Elementary II
• A minimum of 520 teaching hours for Elementary I-II
• Observations with the Practicum instructor, Supervising Educator, or Mentor if self-directed (Students who indicate they are self-directed during their practicum experience will need to make arrangements with the Practicum course instructor to travel to their school site once during the practicum experience. Montessori Live will charge an extra administrative fee of $250 for this visit.  However, this fee does not include travel or per diem expenses to visit the school site. Students are responsible for these costs and must arrange travel to and from the location.

Prerequisites for Practicum Experience:

• Early Childhood program prerequisites require successful completion of FDN, OBS, and RESS-EC
• The Elementary I and EL I-II program prerequisites require successful completion of FDN, OBS, and RESS-EL, as well as three curriculum courses.
• Elementary II prerequisites are FDN, OBS, and RESS-EL and completing two curriculum courses.
• Approval of practicum site -The students are responsible for arranging employment and placement at a school for the practicum. Forms for approval of the practicum site are available in the Practicum Handbook and will be available upon notification of intent to enroll in the Educator Practicum course.

Once all prerequisites are completed, Montessori Live will grant the student educator’s Practicum permission to begin officially.

The intern’s practicum site must ensure the following requirements:

• Age Range of Students: The practicum intern must make arrangements to work in a learning environment that predominantly contains children between the ages of 3 and 6 for Early Childhood and predominantly ages 6 and 9 for Elementary I. For Elementary I-II, a classroom of mainly 9-12 year-olds is optional. Elementary II requires a class of mostly children between the ages of 9-12.
• Environment:  The intern’s learning environment must have a full essential complement of Montessori materials. The classroom environment should be consistent with the description in these guidelines for the age level served. Lists of required materials for each level can be found in the Montessori Research and Development albums (www.montessorird.com).
• Job Description/Contract:  The school has given the intern a job description or contract.
• Supervision: The school agrees not to ask the intern to assume total responsibility for a class without the presence of a supervising teacher or another qualified staff person unless the intern is in a self-directed internship, in which case the training program or local mentor will assume more responsibility for oversight and communication.
• School Policies:  The school has communicated administrative policies and guidelines for the internship to the intern.
• Non-Discriminatory Policy:  The school has published non-discriminatory policies for both students and faculty/staff.
• Instructional/Observation Time Allowance:  The school allows the intern release time to meet training observation requirements.
• Completion Support: The school will generally support the intern’s efforts to meet her/his practicum requirements.
• The School Administration agrees to cooperate and communicate with the training program as required.

Early Childhood (EC), Elementary I (EL I), Elementary I-II (EL I-II), Elementary II (EL II)

Send all Documents to [email protected].

1. We require photos of your learning environment embedded into a Word document to verify that you have the basic complement of Montessori materials in all areas.
2. We required a video of your learning environment identifying the entire layout of the learning environment from every angle and narrating the video explaining your rationale for the room’s layout.
3. Montessori Live requires the Practicum Site Agreement for Supervised Teachers to be completed and signed.
4. Montessori Live requires the Practicum Site Agreement for Self-Directed Teachers to be completed and signed if the intern does not have a qualified Montessori educator on site.
5. A copy of the Supervising Educator or Mentor’s Montessori credential.

Annual Course Schedule

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