About CGMS

What is the Center for Guided Montessori Studies (CGMS)?

CGMS, the largest and most respected Montessori teacher certification program, was founded in 2006 to make Montessori teacher education more effective and more accessible.

Designed by well-respected Montessorians Kitty Bravo, Tim Seldin and Jonathan Wolff, the CGMS course of study uses cutting-edge distance-learning technologies to reduce the amount of time students have to spend physically at any one given Montessori training center. These same technologies also allow students to collaborate more effectively, and review Montessori theory and practice more thoroughly and with greater repetition over time.

Why Distance Education for Montessori Training?

In 2006, responding to a world-wide shortage of Certified Montessori teachers, Jon and Tim identified several problems with the standard practice of most training programs.

First, few qualified candidates actually live near great training centers; these programs require months away from home. It is much more difficult now than it once was to bear the cost in lost wages, not to mention the emotional cost of being away from children and spouse. In many countries most families need a second income, and cannot afford to leave work to spend a year or even a summer in training. Society has changed, and candidates are now more reluctant to leave home to take extended courses.

The second problem with traditional programs is that they tend to overwhelm the students. Tim and Jon realized that trying to cram in all of Montessori philosophy and practice in even a few months was resulting in many stressed and agitated learners unable to fully absorb the most important pieces of the training curriculum. “We would never teach children this way,” they thought, “so why should we be so inhumane to adults?”

The results of these problems are manifest – too few well-qualified Montessori teachers, leaving the best teachers exhausted, and Montessori schools with the difficulty of having to really train these newly-minted Montessori teachers.

Considering these problems, Jon and Tim wondered how much more effective Montessori teacher training could become if they set up an online training program which used cutting edge technology? They completed their team with educational consultant Kitty Bravo, business and technical professional Marc Seldin, and many well known and respected Montessori teachers, so that teachers could get their Montessori teacher certification online. Together this group launched CGMS to see how many more great teachers could be prepared with this new approach.