The Next One Hundred Years

Every revolution started with a vision of how things could be. Maria Montessori had a vision of how education should be. She had vision of how every child could be. In 1908 her vision was revolutionary. In 2008 it remains so. What will the next one hundred years bring? Bama desires to be part of that answer. It is not accidental that Bama has been re-energized in Montessori's centenary year. It is Bama's vision to create a more united Montessori front, one that as well as supporting Bay Area Montessorians, can also commit to making Montessori a viable option for all families who seek it. Bama unites AMS, AMI and all in the bay area who call themselves Montessorians. We want to put aside our differences, find common ground and move forward. This is 'Modern Montessori' ...what inspires us, what keeps us going, where we plan to go in the future. At our last Bama meeting many of the members were excited to share their ideas for how we should move forward. Instead of only creating our own meetings and workshops, somebody suggested that we should also consider attending general education workshops as a united Montessori 'contingent'. We should use these opportunities to network with non Montessori educators, thus bridging the divide between us and the rest of the education world. That our vision should not only be limited to uniting our own differences within the Montessori community, but also to uniting our differences with other more traditional educators. We should desire to be more visible in the world. The launching of the Bama website supports this notion. Accessing the world wide Internet community is an amazing way to spread the word without even trying. The blog will continue to be written in this spirit: getting the wisdom and simplicity of Maria Montessori's vision out there. It will serve as inspiration and education to any one interested in learning more about the philosophy as well as a reminder of it's significance in our modern world to all those already converted. Viva Bama, Viva Maria Montessori! 

-Sidney Leck