Virginia Montessori Association
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2019 VMA Conference in Review

On November 14,  the Virginia Montessori Association held our annual fall conference, once again, at the University of Mary Washington's College of Education. The topic was Montessori Inclusion:  Preparing Adults and Supporting Children.  

Before we got started, Kathy Minardi thanked the Patawomeck people for the use of their land for our important work.  Inga Sieminski shared the value of Montessori-Orff music for children of all developmental stages and the benefit of bringing simple rhythms to ground children in their work in classrooms. 

We separated ourselves into groups and various speakers offered supportive information to all about programs, literacy, evaluation and adaptations to the classroom environments for those children that require extra attention.  Our keynote was Catherine Nehring Massie, a founder of Montessori Medical Partnerships for Inclusion and she spoke broadly about her life's work.  Her presentation was entitled Back to the future of Inclusion - Montessori Roots show us the way.  

Over lunch we viewed a movie about the  history of Montessori and Special Needs Children in DC and then had a presentation by Barbara Luborsky, entitled The OT.'s role on the team.  We split into groups and visited various speakers who knew more about inclusion and different practices that help Montessori teachers help children. Kathy Minardi, Corey Borgman, Jennifer Wheat and Sinuda Kapalczynski all presented. Difficult conversations, leadership for inclusion, Orton-Gillingham in the classroom and Everyday Kindness were the topics.

Our afternoon ended with a Partnership Panel where varied experts answered questions from the audience about the nitty gritty details that grew within us throughout the day.


Well-deserved thanks go out to our speakers, volunteers, and attendees for making our fourth annual fall conference such a success. We look forward to welcoming an even larger membership in the years to come although we may need to get creative with the space because we certainly packed the house this year! Thanks everyone for your continued support.
The Virginia Montessori Association is a non-profit (501(c)3) that was established in 2015 to bring Montessorians in Virginia together and to offer a community from which we all could benefit.  Administrators, educators, parents and other supporters can connect, inform and communicate in a way that is of value to all.  
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  • Home
    • What is Montessori? >
      • How to Find a Montessori School
      • The Montessori Essentials
    • Board Members >
      • Join the Board!
    • Social Justice Statement
    • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Join Us
    • Individual Membership
    • School Membership >
      • Create Your School's Profile
  • Schools
    • Montessori Schools
    • Training Centers
  • Events
    • VMA Annual Conference
    • Presentation Slides
    • VMA Spring Speaker Series
    • Montessori Mingle
    • Montessori Education Week
    • 2021 Calendar Events
  • Employment
  • Resources
    • Research >
      • Journal of Montessori Research
      • AMI Research
      • AMS Research Library
      • NAMTA Research Library
    • Presentation Slides >
      • Montessori and Students of Color...
      • CARE for Teachers
      • Measuring What Matters
      • The World Peace Game
    • Covid 19- Teaching Resources
    • Organizations >
      • AMI
      • AMS
      • NCMPS
      • MACTE
      • MPPI
    • For Parents >
      • How to Find a Montessori School
    • Anti-racism Resources
  • Advocacy
    • Montessori Census
    • Questions? Ask the VMA (Blog)
    • Advocacy in Virginia
    • MPPI Advocacy 101