Multilingual Montessori

In this episode I speak with Lucie Tamášová, a mother and Montessorian who lives in Prague. Lucie shares her experiences working in Africa over the past twenty years with the NGO that she now runs. She also talks about the joys and challenges of bilingual parenting with five children - Lucie has three children and her partner has two - and how the bilingual experience has differed in raising each of her children. Lucie is also the founder of the Childhood Potential online Montessori conference happening in November. We talk all about how the idea to hold a free online Montessori conference came about and why she refuses, under any circumstances, to charge a registration fee for the conference. I will be speaking at this conference, and I’ll be presenting on “Learning a Second or Third Language in the First Plane of Development.” I hope you’ll join me for that presentation and for some of the many other incredible speakers that will be presenting during the conference! You can find the link to sign up below. The conference is free to attend live (my presentation will be on November 17th) but you can also purchase a Lifetime Access pass to have the videos forever. If you decide to purchase the lifetime access pass, I’d so appreciate if you use the link below - I get credit for everyone who signs up using my link! Register for the Childhood Potential Conference: https://childhoodpotential.com/?a_box=994qh3we&a_cam=1 Follow Lucie:  Website Instagram Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

If you've ever wondered about Montessori at the adolescent level, this is the episode for you! In this episode, I speak with Hannah Ewert-Krocker, a former Montessori child who worked as the director of the farm school program at the Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School for seven years. Hannah shares incredible insights about Montessori at the adolescent level, the joys and challenges of running a public Montessori program, and what she loves about working with adolescents. Hannah also shares her thoughts about what it was like growing up with a mother who is a trained Montessorian, and her experiences teaching a bilingual English/Spanish yoga class in Denver, Colorado. For more information: - AMI Montessori training for teachers at the adolescent level, visit https://www.montessori-imti.org/ - Hershey Montessori School adolescent community: https://hershey-montessori.org/programs/adolescent-community - Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School: http://dmhs.dpsk12.org/ Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

In this episode, I speak with Merila, a mom of two who first learned about Montessori when she sent her older son to a Montessori school when he was 22 months old. Her boys are now 6 and 2.5, and we chat about the joys and challenges of parenting from a Montessori perspective, and how Merila went from thinking Montessori sounded kind of cultish to being, as she puts it, a “hardcore” Montessori mom. I was particularly interested in interviewing Merila because she and her husband are both monolingual parents, born in the United States, but they made the decision to introduce a second language to their boys, and now Merila is learning Mandarin along with her sons. We talk about how this idea came about and strategies she is using to help support the boys’ language acquisition in a language she herself isn’t fluent in. We also had a wonderful and unexpected discussion about the connection between music and language, which, as a musician and a language enthusiast, I particularly loved! Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

In this episode, I speak with Chelsea Daniel, an AMI Montessori guide 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 children, and how we as adults can use mindfulness practices to be our best selves when caring for children. We also chat about Chelsea's experience living in Austria for several years as a young child and learning to speak German there. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Chelsea!   Follow Chickadee Yoga:  Website Instagram Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

In this episode I speak with Jinny Gonzalez, an AMI-certified 0-6 Montessori guide and the Director of Early Childhood at Austin Montessori School in Austin, Texas. Jinny is originally from Puerto Rico and is a mom to three boys, and she has been working in Montessori for 22 years. In this conversation, we chat about Jinny’s experiences teaching in a dual language immersion Montessori classroom, her experiences raising bilingual children, and advice she gives to teachers and parents about supporting young children’s language development. Jinny is a walking encyclopedia of Montessori information - I hope you enjoy this conversation! Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

Welcome to the first episode of the Multilingual Montessori podcast! On this episode, I speak with Tais Zeitune, a Brazilian mother and Montessorian living in London with her Irish husband Will and their two-year-old son Luca. In this conversation, we discuss what first drew Tais to Montessori, how Montessori philosophies have influenced her parenting style, her experiences teaching in a montessori children’s house, and the role that bilingualism plays in her family’s daily routine. Tais has wonderful insights about Montessori and bilingual parenting - I hope you enjoy this conversation! Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon

Welcome to Multilingual Montessori, a podcast where we’ll discuss multilingualism, multiculturalism, and raising children from a Montessori perspective. I’m Gabrielle Kotkov, an AMI Montessori guide and certified TESOL instructor with a Masters in Child Studies, and I’m the founder of the Multilingual Montessori website and Instagram account. In this podcast, I’ll be interviewing parents who are raising multilingual children, Montessori guides who have taught in bilingual classrooms or who are themselves multilingual, and adults who grew up speaking two or more languages. We’ll talk about the intersection between language and identity, how to find balance when speaking two or more languages in a monolingual environment, and all the joys and challenges that we experience along the way. Thanks for joining me on this Multilingual Montessori journey - and stay tuned for more episodes! Follow Multilingual Montessori: Website Instagram Consultations Patreon