Turning Education Inside-Out ─ Confessions of a Montessori Principal

This book shares the experiences and insight of a Montessori educator over the course of her 40 years as a Montessori teacher, administrator, school owner, and Montessori teacher trainer. It addresses the need for parents and educators to better understand the Montessori philosophy and to embrace it as a means to solve the problems inherent in the traditional structure of education in the United States. Despite the fact that Dr. Maria Montessori created this method over 100 years ago, most of her discoveries about how children learn and the affect of their environment on their developing brains have only recently been validated by current technology and specialists in brain development. These recent discoveries and the real-world success of numerous high-profile Montessori educated entrepreneurs have helped the popularity of this educational philosophy.Turning Education Inside-Out: Confessions of a Montessori Principal shows the impact that the Montessori experience has on the developing child, clears up misconceptions about exactly what Montessori is, and helps prospective parents determine if Montessori is right for their child. Montessori educators will also find the author’s insights into the challenges of successfully implementing the Montessori philosophy into the classroom and school to be helpful in their own journey.Key Features: • Offers valuable insight from multiple perspectives: teacher, administrator, school owner, and teacher trainer • Thoroughly explains the Montessori educational methodology, providing parents and others not trained in the philosophy with a better understanding of child development and the importance of the child’s environment during crucial developmental stages • Reviews current theories on brain development and current trends in education, including the education of boys and testing, grades, and report cards • Examines key issues affecting Montessori teachers and administrators, and provides a platform for them to express their viewpoints on the successful implementation of the Montessori philosophy

Judy Dempsey is the owner and principal of Summit-Questa Montessori School in Davie, Florida—a Montessori school on 10 acres for students from the age of three through the 8th grade. She is also the co-director of the Summit Montessori Teacher Training Institute which offers training in infant/toddler, early childhood, and elementary 1 levels. This institute is Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) accredited and also an affiliate of the American Montessori Society (AMS) teacher education program. In addition, Judy was trained as an AMS consultant in 1990 and in 2003 as a MACTE Teacher Training Evaluation Committee member.Judy has held the officer’s position of First Vice President and Director of Accreditation from 2010 to 2016 with the Association of Independent Schools of Florida (AISF), a state of Florida Private School Accreditation organization, where she has been a board member since 2006. She held the office of secretary for AISF from 2008 through 2010. Presently, she is a board member of the Montessori Florida Coalition, an organization that puts on an annual Montessori Conference in Miami, Florida. Judy also sat on the Board of Trustees for the Montessori Development Association from 1993 until 1995. She has been trained to serve on school evaluation teams for the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools-Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS).In 2009, Judy was awarded The Alan O’Such Memorial Outstanding Service Award by the AISF for outstanding service to the organization and the children of the state of Florida. In 2012, Judy was nominated for the Distinguished Educator of the Year Award through the AISF. She can be reached at Summit-Questa Montessori School, in Davie, Florida. Her email is msjudy@summitquesta.com.