Thinking of a Spring bookshelf refresh?
Consider adding some new titles from the NAMTA online store. Use the code march10 throughout the month of March to receive 10% off the price of books, journals, and DVDs.

50 years ago, December 1975, five teachers came together to create the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association.

Now, 50 years later, NAMTA’s board of directors is examining our history. With the assistance of Montessorians across the US, we hope to co-create the future of our organization.
The purposes for which NAMTA was organized remain our constant guiding light:

• To propagate, maintain, and further the rights of the child in society
• To provide an opportunity for a continuous research and study in depth of Montessori as a means for continual improvement of Montessori teachers
• To provide a loyal body in support of the aims of Association Montessori Internationale
• To stimulate professional attitudes and ethical conduct and maintain standards of our profession
• To develop greater public understanding and support for the essence of Montessori philosophy and method
• To improve understanding and cooperation among the teachers, schools, and the community
• To assist in the organization of Montessori teachers associations at the local, regional, and state levels

The first publication of The NAMTA Quarterly was Fall, 1975, “Day Care and the Montessori Experience.”  In Fall, 1986, The NAMTA Quarterly was renamed The NAMTA Journal with Volume 12, No. 1, “Montessori Frontiers: Adolescence, Infant-Toddler, and Daycare.”  David Kahn was the editor of The NAMTA Journal and executive director until 2019.

Our most recent publication is Volume 46, Spring 2024, “A Montessori Legacy in Retrospect: Selected Writings of David Kahn.”  This invaluable collection of David’s writings reflects across these 50 years.

NAMTA has been an important voice and contributor to the evolution of the Montessori movement.  Besides the journal, NAMTA’s workshops, parent-education publications, and videos provided multimedia support to schools. The development of the Montessori adolescent vision was one of the most significant elements of NAMTA’s contributions to that evolution.  Our conferences and journals have provided important contributions from AMI trainers, across the planes and across the world, as well as leaders and spokespersons outside of Montessori:  David Orr, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Brian Swimme, John Merrow, and many others.  A key component of every NAMTA conference was the afternoon workshops that featured teachers talking with teachers, sharing their ideas, their experiences, and details of their implementation of Montessori principles in their daily life with their students. We often hear grateful memories of how our conferences impacted so many across all locations and practices.

Many of you have accompanied NAMTA on this journey. Regardless of your years in Montessori, your training, your past and current experience as a teacher, parent, administrator, support staff member, we would love to hear from you.

What role might a teachers’ organization have in our Montessori world today?  As you reflect on our founding principles, are we missing anything? How would you like to NAMTA evolve to best support you?
If you want to share your thoughts, please email us at info@montessori-namta.org

As we celebrate that history, please enjoy this article by David Kahn: “Montessori Education: An Interactive Idea for Human Understanding.”

Autumn and the 2025-2026 academic year are in full swing.

As we continue to reflect on the past years of NAMTA’s evolution and consider our next iteration, we have the opportunity to explore the Montessori movement through the lenses of the many individuals who have contributed to our conferences and to The NAMTA Journal.

As teachers, administrators, and parents navigate the complexities of the modern era, inspiration and solace can be found in the voices of Montessori past and present. The NAMTA Journal has frequently explored the themes of civility, civilization, and community throughout four decades of publication. Here we honor the vital theme of community by sharing these two articles: “The Montessori Classroom: A Foundation for Global Citizenship” by Gerard Leonard and “Community Building in Schools” by Terry Ford. These source journals along with other publications, including titles in the Montessori-Pierrson collection, can be found in our online store.

As NAMTA continues to share the voices of experts that we’ve nurtured over the past 50 years, please share our work with colleagues who might not be aware of our trusted role in the Montessori world. If you are not currently on our distribution list, please contact us at info@montessori-namta.org with your contact information.

As we reflect on the past 50 years and the history of NAMTA across the decades, the NAMTA officers and Renee Ergazos, our archivist/managing editor, will be searching our archives to choose timeless articles from The NAMTA Journal. Hoping to share legacy voices with a new audience and to continue our commitment to the work of Montessori education in today’s world, we will share links to two or three articles every few weeks.

As Montessori teachers, school administrators, and staff prepare for the fall start-up of the 2025-26 academic year, we chose to consider Montessori voices as they reflect on the development and evolution of community within and beyond a school setting. The NAMTA Journal, Winter 2015, is titled “The Art of Montessori Grace and Courtesy,”  and we are proud to share one article by Pat Ludick and another by Larry Schaefer. We hope these voices bring you inspiration as you work to support and grow the Montessori movement.
As NAMTA continues to share the writings of experts that we’ve nurtured over the past 50 years, please share our work with colleagues who might not be aware of our trusted role in the Montessori world. If you are not currently on our distribution list, please contact us at info@montessori-namta.org with your contact information.
Best Regards,
Jacquie Maughan, President

As we look back on the decades and consider all that has changed in the Montessori landscape, we realize the importance for us as an organization, and as individuals with lifetime commitments to the Montessori method, to utilize both the past and the current conditions in order to best prepare ourselves for the future. With excitement and hope, we are planning for the 2025-26 academic year when NAMTA turns 50.

In the meantime, we maintain our presence on our website and continue to host job postings. Our beloved parent education booklets and NAMTA journals and other publications can be purchased through our Shopify store.

NAMTA will be keeping you informed as we plan this next year, and each emailing will feature an article from the past journals or from The NAMTA Bulletin. We are honored to have published much of Annette Haines’ writing and are happy to share “Individuality, Sociability, and Peace” which was published in The NAMTA Bulletin, May 2001. It was relevant when she delivered the speech at the 1998 AMI International Conference on Peace in Perugia, Italy and is especially relevant today.

Please keep in touch with us, and if you have any questions or suggestions about the future of NAMTA, please contact us at staff@montessori-namta.org. Would you like to be added to our email list? Email us at staff@montessori-namta.org too!