Multilingual Montessori

Today's Frequently Asked Question is: What’s the best way to raise a multilingual child? I'm back with another Frequently Asked Questions episode - a quick, bite-sized episode focusing on one frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews parents, educators and...

I'm bringing back one of the podcast's most popular episodes about one of the most requested topics: Montessori with toddlers! On Episode 15 of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, I spoke with Claudia Lundahl, an AMI Montessori toddler guide, postpartum doula, and freelance artist living in London, England. One of Claudia’s first teaching experiences after college was teaching English in...

Kaila Diaz is a sociolinguist who specializes in childhood and family bilingualism.  She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband Alfredo and their 3.5 year old daughter. Kaila is the director of Bilingüitos , an educational platform and online community for parents raising bilingual kids. Kaila also hosts the Bilingual Parenting Podcast. In this conversation, we talk about Kaila’s experiences...

Laura, Megan and Rachel are three trained Montessori guides and new mothers who host the Montessori Moms in the Wild Podcast . Between the three of them, they are trained in Montessori education for ages birth through twelve years old. Their podcast aims to serve caregivers who want to learn more about the Montessori philosophy but also want a bit of lightheartedness and realness when it comes to...

Sylvia Arotin is the founder and CEO of Guide & Grow. She runs My Montessori school in Sydney, Australia and is an international speaker and trainer for educators and parents, specializing in communication and guiding children's behavior. Sylvia holds an International Montessori 0-3 diploma, 3-6 assistants’ certificate, International Communications degree and a Masters in Teaching speciali...

Viorica Marian is a Psycholinguist, Cognitive Scientist, Psychologist, and writer known for her research on language, bilingualism, and multilingualism. She is the Ralph and Jean Sundin Endowed Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, and is the Principal Investigator of the Northwestern Bilingualism and Psycholinguistics Research La...

Marikay McCabe and Mirka Vlčková are two of the co-founders of The Bilingual Montessori Project . Marikay McCabe founded Madrid Montessori School in 2006 and was its Director until 2017. In 2018 she established Learning Ecologies to continue supporting Montessori educators as a school consultant and by offering seminars on bilingualism and school organization & leadership.  In 2020 she co-foun...

Today's Frequently Asked Question is: What are the stages of second language acquisition? I'm back with another Frequently Asked Questions episode - a quick, bite-sized episode focusing on one frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews parents, educators and experts...

Nasma Alkhafif is an Early Childhood Consultant and bilingual mom living in Columbus, Ohio. Born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, she holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology. Nasma is also a certified AMI 3-6 Guide and Positive Discipline Parent Educator. As a parenting coach and consultant, Nasma  is passionate about providing children with the best environment and resourc...

Harvard-educated doctora of education Vero Benavides has spent her career exploring and advocating for the intersection of identity, language, and learning. Throughout her career in education—as a high school and middle school teacher, a Fulbright scholar, a leadership coach, and the Executive Director of a leading early childhood educational research and training center—she's always sought to cre...

In Episode 3 of the Multilingual Montessori Podcast, I spoke with Chelsea Daniel, an AMI Montessori guide, birth doula, and certified yoga instructor living in Brooklyn, NY. Chelsea is the founder of Chickadee Yoga, where she teaches children's yoga, prenatal yoga, and postnatal/baby + me yoga classes. We discuss the intersection of mindfulness and Montessori, how to use mindfulness to support chi...

Paula Lillard Preschlack was a teacher and the head of school at Forest Bluff School in Illinois for over 25 years. Her work focuses on the principles and benefits of the Montessori approach. Paula attended Hampshire College and holds a Master's Degree in Education from Loyola College in Maryland, has diplomas from the Association Montessori Internationale for Assistants to Infancy, Primary, and E...

Claudia Serrano Johnson is a bilingual speech-language pathologist and a mom of three living in Virginia. Claudia is passionate about empowering Latinx parents with accurate information on bilingual language development. On her social media platforms, she clarifies misinformation such as "Bilingualism causes delays", "Bilingualism confuses children", and "Bilingual children speak later." Claudia f...

Linda McGurk is a Swedish-American freelance writer and author of the  book, There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient and Confident Kids . Linda is a passionate advocate for the Nordic outdoor tradition friluftsliv and believes that the best childhood memories are created outside, while jumping in puddles, digging in dirt, catching bugs...

Today's Frequently Asked Question is: Can I Teach My Child a Language That Isn’t My Native Language? I'm back with another Frequently Asked Questions episode - a quick, bite-sized episode focusing on one frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews parents, educators...

Meagan De Clerck is a multilingual mom of four. Meagan lives with her family in Northern Vermont and homeschools her children with a Montessori-inspired curriculum. Meagan’s children are trilingual; she and her husband use the one parent one language method in their home. Meagan speaks exclusively in Spanish to her children, her husband speaks exclusively in French, and they get English exposure f...

A question I hear all the time is: Is it too late to raise my child bilingual? This is the first episode of a new series of short, bite-sized episodes where I’ll tackle a frequently asked question about language acquisition, Montessori language development principles, or multilingualism. I’ll alternate these episodes with the longer-form interviews that you're already familiar with, so every other...

Natalia Sáez is a professor and researcher at Teachers College Columbia University focusing on second language development as well as bilingual/bicultural education. Natalia is also the founder and co-owner of TraducGlobal, which offers language services to clients around the world. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Cognitive Science from Universidad de Chile, and a Master of Arts degree in App...

Beth Allison is a mom, educator, and entrepreneur who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Beth is Navajo and grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, but she is not fluent in the Navajo language. When her son, who is now 2 and a half, was born, Beth decided to learn Navajo along with him. She quickly found that there weren’t as many teaching resources for an indigenous language like Navajo as there ar...

Diandra Morse is a bilingual mom, licensed clinical social worker and child advocate living in Syracuse, New York with her husband and two bilingual sons. Diandra is Dominican American and was raised in both the Dominican Republic and New York City. You might know Diandra from Instagram as Bilingual Playdate, where she promotes positive language attitudes towards all languages, language variations...

Jesse Gevirtz is the Director of Adolescent Programs at Austin Montessori School in Austin, Texas. Jesse has been teaching in Montessori schools for 25 years, 21 of them at Austin Montessori School. He holds an AMI Elementary Diploma and an AMI Diploma in Adolescent Studies. Jesse attended Montessori school as a child in Houston, Texas in the early 1970s. He is the parent of two Montessori childre...

Yuna Seong is a language educator and assessment expert living in New Jersey. She is the Director of the Community Language Program, the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Certificate Program, and the Language Program Management Certificate at Teachers College Columbia University, where she hires and trains language educators and language program professionals who aspire to te...

Melina Gac Levin is an educator and bilingual parent who lives in Brooklyn, NY. She is the founder of Pueblo, which supports multicultural families through parenting classes and consultations. She is also the co-founder of Nido Forest, NYC's first forest school en Español. Melina has a dual Masters from Bank Street College of Education in Infant, Toddler and Family Development and Early Childhood...

Jackie Howard is a bilingual educator and former Montessori child living in Austin, Texas. Jackie grew up speaking Spanish and English at home, and went to a Montessori school from kindergarten to 8th grade. She has worked in the education field for 13 years, first as a bilingual elementary teacher, then as an instructional coach mentoring teachers, and now as a high school humanities teacher and...

Lynda Apostol is a Montessori teacher, parent, and homeschool coach who lives in Southern California with her husband and two children. Lynda has worked in both public and private schools as a teacher, instructional coach and administrator. During the pandemic, she decided to homeschool her young children, and we talk about how that decision came about in our conversation. When she began sharing h...