AIM Infant Toddler Team Returns to Vietnam!

This weekend we went to the Sol Montessori training center to meet with faculty members and prepare the model classroom environment so we can demonstrate lessons to the students during the residency. We also enjoyed a tour to the classrooms, and spent some time with the toddlers singing songs with them and showed them on the world map where we live in the United States, and how far we travelled to come visit them. We were thrilled to see them doing their Montessori lessons, dancing and singing, and to receive their hugs when we said goodbye.

Our first day with the students taking the Infant-toddler residency in Hanoi went very well. We were all so happy to see one another, and there was a general feeling of joy and appreciation in the room. Today we discussed the normal development of the child and the formation of the personality in the first three years of life. We emphasized the importance of the teacher, preparing not only the environment but herself, to be able to give the best to the children in our care. We discussed observation, when and how to intervene and direct a child, the importance of guiding children to work, and the need to take care of ourselves, so we can be peaceful, nurturing, and guide the children with love. The teacher training course is such a wonderful way to grow and be transformed as teachers!

Nancy McNabb is a parent of four adult children, a grandparent of nine grandchildren, a Montessori teacher and school administrator, a Montessori consultant and parent coach. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in counseling from Florida State University. Her love for children led to her pursuing the Montessori Early Childhood certification where she was trained by Dr. Elizabeth Caspari and Mary Ellen Maunz in 1983. She has taught in and been the administrator of two other successful Montessori schools in Montana over the past 39 years. Nancy helped to develop the Montessori Infant/Toddler Teacher Course for aim which launched in September 2021. She is the main instructor of the course, and oversees and mentors the students and interns.