Program Calendar · Founding Primary Cohort
September 2026 through May 2027, week by week.
The academic phase runs 36 weeks. Each week a new bundle unlocks with its theme, lessons, reading, and observation focus. Live seminars, album deadlines, and the monthly observation focus are marked on the weeks they fall. The founding Primary cohort begins the week of September 8, 2026. Exact seminar dates and times are set with the cohort at the start of the year so you can plan around them.
36
weeks, academic phase
224
Primary lessons
18
album entries due
9
full-day observation visits
Live seminar weekAlbum entry due
September2026
Week
1
Orientation: The Montessori Guide BeginsSeminar
Theory + PL · 6 lessons (T1-T3, PL1-PL3)
Seminar theme: Welcome and Program Overview: What brought you to Montessori and what do you hope to build?
Week
2
The Prepared Environment: Where It All BeginsAlbum due
Theory + PL · 6 lessons (T4-T5, PL4-PL7)
Week
3
Practical Life: Preliminary Exercises
PL · 6 lessons (PL8-PL13)
Week
4
The Prepared Hand: Care of SelfAlbum due
PL + Theory · 6 lessons (PL14-PL18, T6)
October2026
Week
5
Care of the Environment: InsideSeminar
PL · 6 lessons (PL19-PL24)
Seminar theme: The Adult as Obstacle: How does your presence help or hinder the child's independence?
Week
6
Care of the Environment: Food PreparationAlbum due
PL · 6 lessons (PL25-PL30)
Week
7
Grace and Courtesy: The Social Curriculum
PL + Theory · 6 lessons (PL31-PL35, T7)
Week
8
Practical Life: Advanced Exercises and IntegrationAlbum due
PL · 7 lessons (PL36-PL42)
November2026
Week
9
Practical Life: Completion and the Work CycleSeminar
PL + Theory · 6 lessons (PL43-PL47, T8)
Seminar theme: Normalization: What does it look like in your classroom? What conditions support or prevent it?
Week
10
Sensorial: The Education of the SensesAlbum due
Sensorial + Theory · 6 lessons (S1-S4, T9-T10)
Week
11
Visual Discrimination: Dimension and Form
Sensorial · 6 lessons (S5-S10)
Week
12
Visual Discrimination: Color and PatternAlbum due
Sensorial · 6 lessons (S11-S16)
December2026
Week
13
Tactile and Thermic SensesSeminar
Sensorial · 6 lessons (S17-S22)
Seminar theme: Freedom and Discipline: How does the prepared environment create the conditions for both?
Week
14
Baric, Stereognostic, and Auditory SensesAlbum due
Sensorial · 6 lessons (S23-S28)
Week
15
Sensorial Extensions and the Binomial Cube
Sensorial + Theory · 6 lessons (S29-S33, T11)
Week
16
Sensorial: Geometry Foundations and IntegrationAlbum due
Sensorial · 6 lessons (S34-S39)
January2027
Week
17
Language: The Explosion into ReadingSeminar
Language + Theory · 6 lessons (L1-L4, T12-T13)
Seminar theme: Observation as Practice: Share one observation that changed how you see a child. What bias did you have to set aside?
Week
18
Sound and Symbol: Beginning PhonicsAlbum due
Language · 6 lessons (L5-L10)
Week
19
The Moveable Alphabet: Writing Before Reading
Language · 6 lessons (L11-L16)
Week
20
Phonogram Introduction and Word BuildingAlbum due
Language · 6 lessons (L17-L22)
February2027
Week
21
Reading: Object to Picture to SymbolSeminar
Language + Theory · 6 lessons (L23-L27, T14)
Seminar theme: Equity in Language: Whose stories are told in your classroom library? Whose languages are honored?
Week
22
Reading Classification and ComprehensionAlbum due
Language · 6 lessons (L28-L33)
Week
23
Mathematics: The Concrete Foundation
Math + Theory · 6 lessons (M1-M4, T15)
Week
24
Numeration: Symbols and Quantities UniteAlbum due
Math · 6 lessons (M5-M10)
March2027
Week
25
Grammar: Function of WordsSeminar
Language · 6 lessons (L34-L39)
Seminar theme: The Development of the Will: Where in your classroom do children exercise genuine choice? Where is choice absent?
Week
26
Language: Writing, Reading, and Total LanguageAlbum due
Language · 6 lessons (L40-L45)
Week
27
The Decimal System: Introduction
Math + Theory · 6 lessons (M11-M15, T16)
Week
28
The Decimal System: Operations BeginAlbum due
Math · 6 lessons (M16-M21)
April2027
Week
29
Linear Counting and Skip CountingSeminar
Math + Theory · 6 lessons (M22-M26, T17)
Seminar theme: Race, Access, and Montessori: Who is in your classroom? Who is not? What structures create that reality?
Week
30
Operations: Addition and SubtractionAlbum due
Math · 6 lessons (M27-M32)
Week
31
Operations: Multiplication and Division
Math · 6 lessons (M33-M38)
Week
32
Math: Fractions, Money, and TimeAlbum due
Math + Theory · 6 lessons (M39-M43, T18)
May2027
Week
33
Mathematics: Memorization and AbstractionSeminar
Math · 4 lessons (M44-M47)
Seminar theme: Your Philosophy of Education: What do you now believe about children, learning, and the purpose of education?
Week
34
Theory: The Whole Child and the Whole SchoolAlbum due
Theory · 7 lessons (T19-T25)
Week
35
Theory: Equity, Justice, and Your Montessori Practice
Theory · 6 lessons (T26-T31)
Week
36
Capstone: Integration and Your Philosophy of EducationAlbum due
Theory · 4 lessons (T32-T35)
After the Academic Phase
Then the paid practicum year begins.
When the 36-week academic phase completes in May, residents move into a paid classroom practicum: a minimum of 540 supervised teaching hours, quarterly formal observations, continued twice-monthly seminars, and a midpoint check-in with Hannah at the halfway mark. The credential is earned through real classroom practice, not a summer away from one.