Multilingual Montessori

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 teach and manage their own language programs. Yuna earned her MA in Second Language Studies from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa with a focus on language Assessment, measurement, and program evaluation, and she is expecting her doctorate in Applied Linguistics at Teachers College Columbia University in 2023. Having grown up bilingual in both the United States and Korea, and always having to code-switch between two different cultures and languages, Yuna values the importance of intercultural communications skills, and she is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion across global language teaching and learning contexts. In this conversation, we talk about Yuna’s journey as an educator and higher education program administrator, as well as her own experiences growing up bilingual.  Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

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 General and Special Education. She is a former preschool teacher, and currently teaches graduate students at Bank Street College of Education. In this conversation, we discuss Melina’s experiences growing up with multiple languages and how they shaped her identity. We also discuss her journey to becoming a teacher and what led her to found Pueblo and Nido Forest. Melina shares her experiences raising two bilingual daughters, and offers advice for parents raising bilingual or multilingual children. Follow Melina: Parent Pueblo Website Parent Pueblo Instagram Nido Forest Website Nido Forest Instagram Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

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 college consultant. In our conversation, we discuss Jackie’s childhood memories of Montessori school and how she thinks her Montessori education has influenced her as an adult, as well as what it was like transitioning from Montessori to a Waldorf high school and then to college. We also discuss her experiences studying abroad in Spanish-speaking countries, first in high school in Peru, then in college in Mexico, and finally in Spain where she got her masters degree in Spanish Language. Jackie shares her experiences as a bilingual Spanish-English educator in low-income public schools in Texas, and what advice she has for parents who are raising bilingual children. Follow Jackie Howard: Website Instagram Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

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 her homeschooling experiences on social media, she found that other parents were seeking guidance about how to homeschool their own children in a Montessori way. She decided to share her knowledge and experience by becoming a homeschool coach, and she developed a coaching program to help parents homeschool their children guided by Montessori pedagogy and principles. Social justice and global perspectives are important to Lynda’s work, and we talk about how homeschooling can be a way to work towards social justice and creating inclusive Montessori spaces. Instagram accounts that Lynda mentions in the episode: Afrocentric Montessori Modern Montessori Guide Montessori Madre Whole Child Home Follow Lynda: Website Instagram Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

Sophia O’Brien-Udry is a Children’s House guide at a Montessori school in New York City. Although Sophia is monolingual herself, she teaches at a bilingual Montessori school, and we talk about her experiences working in a bilingual environment, and what she has learned about language from her bilingual colleagues and students. Sophia is also the Director of Culture at her school, where she partners with families to narrow the gap between the Montessori classroom and the home. In this episode, we talk about ways that parents and teachers can support children’s language development in the preschool years, and what Sophia believes is the most important reason to expose children to multiple languages. Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

The guest for this episode is…me! I invited my good friend and former coworker Claudia to interview me about my education background and how I came to start Multilingual Montessori. Claudia was a podcast guest a few episodes back (linked below) and in honor of my 20th podcast episode, I thought it would be fun to be in the hot seat myself. I asked Claudia to interview me and she came up with some great questions for me about growing up in Manhattan and going to NYC public schools, teaching English in Italy, how I discovered Montessori, training in London, my teaching experiences, the masters program I’m finishing up, and of course, how Multilingual Montessori came to be. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about me and my journey! Episode 15: Claudia Lundahl on Montessori with Toddlers Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

Siri Panday is the Director of Education for Toddler and Primary at Marin Montessori School in Northern California. Siri is trained as both a 0-3 and 3-6 AMI Guide, and she has worked in Montessori schools as a guide, administrator, and consultant for over 20 years. Early in her teaching career, she had the opportunity to help open a Montessori Children's House classroom in Kathmandu, Nepal, and we chat about her memories of teaching in Nepal and learning to speak Nepali. Siri grew up bilingual in English and Norwegian, and she now has two daughters who are trilingual in English, Norwegian, and Nepali. In this conversation, we talk about navigating identity and moving between cultures, raising multilingual children, and how Siri's understanding of Montessori evolved once she became a parent. Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

María Laura Ribadeneira grew up in Quito, Ecuador where she spoke Spanish at home, English at school, and studied French outside of school. She went to college in the US (with me!) where she also studied Italian and Ancient Greek, and studied abroad in Italy and France. After college graduation, she moved to Paris for a masters degree, where she has lived ever since, and just became a French citizen a year ago. In this conversation, we chat about language and identity, as well as navigating an academic life, a professional life and a social life in multiple languages. Follow María Laura: Instagram Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

Tania Ginsberg-Jambou is a French-American bilingual mom and Montessorian living in California. Tania grew up speaking both French and English with her American father and French mother. Tania and her husband, who is French, have three children with whom they speak exclusively in French at home. Tania is trained as an AMI 3-6 Montessori guide, and before she became a mother, she taught in a bilingual Montessori Children’s House in Paris. She shares what that experience was like for her and how bilingual education functioned in that classroom. In addition to her Montessori training, Tania is also trained in the Pikler Method, known as RIE or Resources for Infant Educarers, and she is also trained as a NeuroMovement Practitioner. We talk about how she uses both her RIE and NeuroMovement trainings with her children these days, and how NeuroMovement has been particularly transformative for her son, who has cerebral palsy. We also get into a wonderful discussion about language and identity, both about how these themes have shown up in Tania’s own life and how she sees them manifesting in her children’s lives as they grow. Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

Janina Burmeister, a seasoned Montessorian and expat mom from Germany living in Valencia, shares her insights on raising a trilingual child. She discusses the challenges of navigating multilingual parenting while living in nine countries. Janina recounts her son Henry's language development journey and her proactive approach to addressing concerns. She highlights the benefits of Montessori education for multilingual children and offers practical travel tips for families. Her experiences illuminate the rich tapestry of expat life and the joys of fostering cultural identity.