Join Our Annual Conference
Meet our keynote speaker, school sponsors, and exhibitors. Register today!
We can't wait to see you in-person this January 2023
Get your event tickets for our Annual Montessori Education Days Conference taking place on 27th and 28th of January 2023. We will meet in-person at Barry University for two days of curated topics exposed by our expert guest speakers and plenty of opportunities to learn.
This event is designed to bring together educators, administrators, parents, and schools in Florida.
Registration is open!
Use code EARLYBIRD2023 for a $10 OFF per ticket until January 9th.
Montessori Education Days Conference, January 2023
Rekindling Our Montessori Spirit
As we all emerged from the pandemic, it was freeing to once again return to our lives as they were before COVID. We were able to return to our classrooms, use our hands-on Montessori materials, be together again and renew our relationships with our students and co-workers. We now have a renewed appreciation for everything that we lost over the last few years. We now celebrate all that has been returned to us.
Our Montessori Spirit is rekindled; we are back in our classrooms and the light is shining brightly!
Join us as we reconnect with each other and welcome a new year of Montessori inspiration.
Meet our Featured Keynote Speaker
Jesse McCarthy
Jesse McCarthy has been in education for nearly 20 years. He received his B.A. in psychology
from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his Montessori teacher's diploma for
ages 2.5 to 6+ from Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). Through his career he’s
worked with thousands of children, teachers, and parents — as an elementary & junior-high
school teacher, a Head of School for infants to 8th graders, an executive with a nationwide
group of Montessori private schools, and a teacher-and-parent mentor.
Jesse has spoken on early education and child development at Montessori schools across the
globe, as well as at popular organizations in and outside of the Montessori community: from
AMI/USA to Twitter. Jesse now heads MontessoriEducation.com and hosts The Montessori Education Podcast.
"Montessori - Rekindling our Fire"
“The child developing harmoniously and the adult improving himself at his side make a very exciting and attractive picture.” — Maria Montessori, ‘Education and Peace’
In our early eduction world, we of course focus on aiding children. But what about us adults?
In this keynote, we dive into how Montessori is actually a real-world philosophy for all ages.
We’ll discuss how Montessori is not only an “aid to life” for boys and girls to develop
themselves into successful men and women, but also a way of life that can bring out the best in
‘grownups’, too.
Given the challenges in our field over the last few years — and challenges is probably too light of
a word — we will emphasize reigniting our passion for Montessori education, in principle and
practice, to help turn otherwise normal days in and out of school into inspiring moments we
will cherish forever.
Meet our Featured Keynote Speaker
Jesse McCarthy
Jesse McCarthy has been in education for nearly 20 years. He received his B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his Montessori teacher's diploma for ages 2.5 to 6+ from Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). Through his career he’s worked with thousands of children, teachers, and parents — as an elementary & junior-high school teacher, a
Head of School for infants to 8th graders, an executive with a nationwide group of Montessori private schools, and a teacher-and-parent mentor.
Jesse has spoken on early education and child development at Montessori schools across the globe, as well as at popular organizations in and outside of the Montessori community: from AMI/USA to Twitter. Jesse now heads MontessoriEducation.com and hosts The Montessori Education Podcast.
"Montessori - Rekindling our Fire"
“The child developing harmoniously and the adult improving himself at his side make a very exciting and attractive picture.” — Maria Montessori, ‘Education and Peace’
In our early eduction world, we of course focus on aiding children. But what about us adults?
In this keynote, we dive into how Montessori is actually a real-world philosophy for all ages.
We’ll discuss how Montessori is not only an “aid to life” for boys and girls to develop themselves into successful men and women, but also a way of life that can bring out the best in ‘grownups’, too.
Given the challenges in our field over the last few years — and challenges is probably too light of
a word — we will emphasize reigniting our passion for Montessori education, in principle and
practice, to help turn otherwise normal days in and out of school into inspiring moments we will cherish forever.
Saturday, January 28, 2023, Miami. From 9 am to 10:25 am
An interactive workshop for educators
Meet your Workshop Leader
Beatriz Martinez- Peñalver
Beatriz Martinez-Peñalver is a licensed psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience. Passionate about decreasing the current mental health crisis, she advocates to make emotional literacy an integral part of education combining self-discovery, positive psychology, cognitive-behavioral, and meditation for personal-growth. Science shows that happiness is a skill that can be learned, and according to Beatriz, we completely forgot to teach this fundamental class in schools.
Recognized by The School Board of Miami-Dade County for her commitment to students' mental wellness, and emotional literacy nationwide; nominee for the prestigious David Lawrence Jr. Champion for Children Award recognizing a lifetime of notable achievements and dedication to children. Beatriz has been featured on NBC, CBS, PBS, Univision Radio, Hay House radio, and received the AXA 2019 Business Woman of the Year in the category of Outstanding Healthcare Professional.
Co-Founder of Healthy Connections (a community mental health center operating in Miami for the past 21 years), and author of Triumph Steps: a Curriculum for All Schools and Universities, an eight-step therapeutic framework helping children and adults gain dominion over their emotions. Triumph Steps was recognized as the 2018-2019 Miami-Dade County Public Schools Exemplary Dade Partner Award, districtwide. Her program is approved for Continuing Education Credits by The Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling. This year, the Florida Bar Association also approved the course for 5 Continuing Legal Education credits.
Happiness is a skill that can be learned
During this workshop, Beatriz will walk you through the transformational therapeutic framework she developed to lead teachers, mental health clinicians, and law professionals to leverage the power of emotional literacy and gain dominion over their emotions. Triumph Steps is a systematic, consistent, and simple emotional literacy framework that helps overcome negative and self-defeating attitudes and aims to decrease the progression of our current mental health crisis.
After this workshop, Beatriz can continue to support your school with live school-wide seminars and online programs to bring emotional literacy tools to administrators, support staff, teachers, and parents.
Friday, January 27, 2023, Miami. From 5:30pm to 8:30pm
An interactive workshop for educators
Meet your Workshop Leader
Paula Lillard Preschlack
Paula was a teacher and the head of school at Forest Bluff School for over 25 years. She is the
daughter of author/school founder Paula Polk Lillard, and sister of researcher/author Angeline
Stoll Lillard. Paula Lillard Preschlack has given over 100 talks at Forest Bluff, other Montessori
schools, teacher training courses, and conferences. 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 Elementary Levels, and she
audited the NAMTA/AMI Orientation to Adolescent Studies. She is married to Jim Preschlack
and has two children, now 18 and 20 years old. Paula loves horses, standard poodles, nature,
hiking, skiing, reading, and laughing really hard with friends!
"Why Authenticity Matters & How We Achieve it"
In the first half of this workshop, Paula Lillard Preschlack will define what an authentic interpretation of Montessori entails and explain how Maria Montessori’s approach benefits
children because:
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Is a structure with inherent balance
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Is wholistic (ALL topics of life are present and interconnected)
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It spans birth to age 24 (continuity for a child’s entire journey)
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It follows human development (the changes and stages of the four planes)
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It addresses the universal child
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It works to foster traits for succeeding and thriving in an uncertain world
Paula will show slides to demonstrate her points. In the second half of the workshop, Paula will help participants to reflect on their own preparation and practices, and discuss together how we can aim for the most effective practices in our classrooms and schools.
Saturday, January 28, 2023, Miami. From 1:30pm to 3:30pm
An interactive workshop for educators
