Hello and Happy New Year! I know it’s March but the beginning of the year was one big busy blur for me. I only now feel like I’m coming up for air and able to think about the new year. While it has been really busy, it has also been an exciting year so far because one (actually two!) of my Montessori dreams came true! I can only tell you about one today though.  A lot of you have followed me on this crazy amazing Montessori journey but incase you haven’t, I’ll give you a quick rundown.
In 2011, I discovered Montessori by chance while taking my mum to visit a local school. I was so moved by what I observed that I had to know more. I read everything I could and found a 6 week workshop being offered by the Greater Cincinnati Centre for Montessori Education. I took it and was amazed by what I learned. I wanted to know more!
In 2012, I quit my pretty amazing job as Strategy Manager at a Fortune 500 Multinational and started the AMI Assistants to Infancy Training at Montessori Northwest in Portland, Or. (USA). After that first summer session, I moved back to my home country, Nigeria.
In 2013, I completed the AMI Assistants to Infancy Training at Montessori Northwest, attended the Montessori Congress (also in Portland) and welcomed my first child. I started implementing Montessori at home from his birth.
In 2014, I worked with a local training centre in Nigeria to set up model infant and toddler environments, and offer parent/child classes. I also attended the MTIPS Summer Institute in Chicago.
In 2015, I welcomed my second son and immediately after, we proceeded to Italy so I could  begin the AMI 3-6 training. Later that year, I started offering the understanding and supporting your infant e-course
In 2016, I attended the AMI Refresher course in California, Spent one month observing and student teaching at the amazing Austin Montessori School, completed the AMI 3-6 training in Italy, attended the AMIESF assembly in Hyderabad, India and also moved to Gambia to work with a new Montessori school.
In 2017, I welcomed my 3rd child and in November, we moved to another city (Abuja) in Nigeria to be close to our extended family.
Are you tired yet? Lol! That’s kind of how I felt by 2017. In addition to all of that, we had also taken many other trips and were in what felt like constant motion. I was exhausted by all the movement and ready to put down some roots and give my children the consistency that I could see that they craved. As God would have it, while looking for a home in Abuja, we came upon a location that was perfect for a Montessori school. As you may have guessed by now, when it comes to things or people that I am passionate about, I am a chance and opportunity taker. So with very little notice,  I took the chance and decided to start the Montessori school I had always dreamed about for my children. We opened the doors to our children’s house on January 8th and have just completed our first month! (I actually wrote this post in February) We will be adding a young children’s community in the next couple of months.
 
I will be sharing our journey on our Facebook page Fruitful Orchard Montessori and also on instagram -@fruitfulorchardmontessori. I’d love for you to follow along!
What about Nduoma Montessori? I truly miss this space and will be back to sharing more consistently in the near future. Please bear with me as I put the school in place. I do have some exciting Essence of Montessori interviews ready to share with you and will be doing so weekly over the next few months, so definitely stay tuned! The first one is from Simone of the Montessori Notebook who recently released her book The Montessori Toddler and you don’t want to miss it! You can subscribe to be notified when it is posted.

0 Comments

Liz · March 10, 2018 at 10:08 am

Oh wow! Congratulations on your beautiful little montessori school – it looks beautiful! What a wonderful space to raise your children in!

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