The NAMTA conference series provides an opportunity for Montessori practitioners to deepen their understanding of Montessori practice from birth through adolescence. Speakers present the continuum of Montessori’s living tradition. NAMTA responds to contemporary needs while preserving the fullness of Montessori’s original insights and design. We strive to keep our members firmly rooted in Montessori principles and implementation, while promoting innovations within the parameters of the field.

Cost for NAMTA members to attend October 2009 through April 2010 conferences is $300 ($315 after deadline).

Conference announcements, including registration materials, are mailed approximately four to six weeks prior to each conference. Online registration usually begins about four to six weeks prior to the conference; check this site for full conference schedules and registration materials. To be included on the mailing list, contact NAMTA with your name, address, and the conference in which you are interested.

Click here for a printable conference schedule.

The Essential Montessori Language: Whole School Language
Baltimore, MD
October 15-18, 2009
Whole-school immersion in Montessori language provides a profound sense of purpose and dimension for Montessori teachers, who not only present language for their own age group but also appreciate the relationship between their work and that of the rest of the school. The goal of this conference is to show the whole of language in the context of the whole of human formation. We will explore a wide variety of language development, oral and written traditions, the story of language, grammar, creative self-expression, storytelling as teaching, and the teaching of writing and reading. Language is examined as a psycho-discipline focused on the cognitive, emotional, moral, and social outcomes that can be identified as Montessori-specific. Optional: Full-day Keepers of Alexandria workshop on Thursday.
Click here for full conference brochure (pdf) or here for more options.

Montessori and Special Education: Converging Disciplines
Minneapolis, MN
November 12-15, 2009
Teachers in schools ranging in size from one primary classroom to infant through middle school have encountered children with special and unique learning profiles. Trained as observers, we are proud that our philosophy embraces and succeeds with all children. Nevertheless, teachers and administrators are challenged to grow in understanding of new research on brain development, reading, attention, social skills, inclusion, and ways to distinguish typical from atypical development. Psychologists, learning specialists, administrators, and directresses offer continuing expertise documented by NAMTA’s current focus on special education.
Click here for full conference brochure (pdf) or here for more options.

The Essential Montessori Mathematics: Whole-School Implementation
Dallas, TX
January 21-24, 2010
Acknowledging that all science relies on mathematics, this conference approaches mathematics as the key symbolization of the human intellect in all disciplines. Beginning with the sensorial foundations of mathematics, the exploration of order, sequence, and precision is viewed as a manifestation of the human tendencies. Problem solving, formula derivation, discovery approaches, the role of the materials, and the connections between arithmetic, geometry, and algebra will be viewed developmentally in response to the mathematical mind and its evolving needs from early childhood to adolescence. Classroom use of the history of mathematics will also be addressed.
Click here for full conference brochure (pdf) or here for more options.

Montessori Internationalism and Peace: Unifying History, Geography, and Nature
Portland, OR
March 11-14, 2010
Montessori’s true vision of peace emerges as a convergent point of all studies with a special focus on history, geography, and nature as the keys to understanding the world as a unity with a common destiny. The conference will present an unfolding perspective on peace, defined first by the optimal formation of the individual human personality and second through a view of human collaboration and solidarity in an overarching great work that can be accessed through the study of science and history. The child, then, is a citizen of the world; the great lessons are those that pertain to sustainability and the interdependency of life on earth; and the ultimate studies are about cultures very different from one’s own.
Click here for full conference brochure (pdf) or here for more options.

Information & Communication Technologies and Montessori Pedagogy: Converging Revolutionary Approaches
(Technology combined with Annual Adolescent Conference)
Chicago, IL
April 15-18, 2010
This conference will explore ways to find the right proportion of computer use for the growing child, according to ages and stages, without changing the character of the Montessori “hands-on” prepared environment. Use of technology should supplement or complement the Montessori curriculum, support the student discovery approach, and avoid the lockstep, programmed learning elements so often associated with computer-assisted instruction. In the right context, technology affords exposure to big ideas and contemporary contexts that inspire inventive and advanced thinking as Montessori education is meant to do.

A Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies
June 21-July 23 and November 4-7, 2010
Cleveland, OH, area
Click here for full event brochure (pdf) or here for more options.

Montessori Whole-School Management^SM: A Professional Development Course for Teachers and Administrators
August 1-6, 2010
San Diego, CA
Click here to see full information on the 2009 course. Information on 2010 event not yet available.

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