Catholic Montessori Theory Certificate

Dean: Dr. James Peliska

The Montessori Method of education, developed by Dr. Maria Montessori, is a deeply Catholic, child-centered educational approach based on the natural developmental stages of children from birth to adulthood. The Catholic Montessori Theory Certificate Program aims at introducing students to the theory and principles that undergird the Montessori Method. Six two credit courses constitute this certificate. Primarily through an analysis of lessons and materials, all of these courses will examine 1) the anthropological and social underpinnings of the materials and activities across developmental stages (sensitive periods) from infancy through late adolescence, 2) the life of the authentic educator, 3) the right relation of child to educator and educator to child, 4) relations to families of children, 5) relations to state and the Church. These five categories provide the generic format for each course. The first course examines the child’s everyday life in the home, in society, and in the Church, and the child’s relation to the whole world. The second through the fifth courses are based on the anthropological underpinnings of the human soul. The second regards the motor-sensory-bodily potentiality of the human person. The third regards the intellectual life of the human person. The fourth regards the moral life (life of the will) of the human person. The fifth regards the essence of the human soul (the heart). The sixth regards practical aspects of the classroom that incarnates the principles learned in the first five courses and realizes them concretely. Each course will introduce the student to appropriate readings in Montessori, Saint John Henry Newman, and when relevant, other writers and theorists in education. Students will also be introduced to the long tradition of Catholic education.

Please note: this certificate program is not eligible for Title IV funding, and therefore students will not be able to apply federal financial aid funds toward the  completion of this certificate program.