Gabrielle Kotkov graduated with an AMI Diploma 3-6 in 2017 and her training was a stepping stone to a varied career focused on bilingualism and language acquisition, she explains:
I did the full-time AMI Diploma 3-6 course in 2016-2017. One thing that I always tell colleagues that was so special about my training cohort was that in a group of 23 students, we had six continents represented! I learned so much from my fellow students and of course from the incredible trainers. The foundation in Montessori principles and pedagogy that I was given during my training truly set me up for success in a variety of Montessori environments.
After training, I first became a lead teacher in a Children’s House at Austin Montessori School in Austin, Texas for three years. I then moved back home to New York City where I live now. I am currently studying for a Masters in Child Studies as well as working as a consultant for Montessori schools and a mentor for Montessori teachers.
I have also started a podcast called Multilingual Montessori where I interview parents who are raising multilingual children, Montessori teachers who have taught in bilingual classrooms or who are themselves multilingual, and adults who grew up speaking two or more languages (including two fellow Montessorians from my training cohort!) I have an Instagram account by the same name @multilingual.montessori where I share resources for raising multilingual children from a Montessori perspective.
I have also had the opportunity to present at several Montessori conferences on the topic of multiple language acquisition in young children. Before I came to Montessori I had taught English as a second language and I have always been interested in language acquisition in young children, so it has been very fun to combine these two interests through the Multilingual Montessori lens. I’m excited to see where it takes me next.
Interested in our AMI 3-6 Diploma? We’ve got an early bird offer until 30 April 2023 which will save you £2,000! Apply now and save.