When the Pink Tower Doesn't Fix Everything

What They Don’t Tell You in Montessori Training

Mar 31, 2025

Welcome to the April Series: Stages of the Montessori Guide (Week 1)

The Dream vs. The Reality

You finish your training. Diploma in hand. Albums organized. Philosophy internalized. You’re ready to step into the classroom and change the world, one child at a time.

But then reality hits.

The classroom doesn’t feel like a peaceful haven of concentration and self-directed learning. It feels like organized chaos, and sometimes not even organized.

There’s crying. There’s noise. There are incomplete lessons, forgotten water bottles, and a never-ending trail of crumbs under the snack table.

And you wonder:
Did I miss something in training? Was I the only one not paying attention? Is it me?

My First-Year Wake-Up Call

Let me take you back to a moment during my first year.

I was attempting to gracefully guide a child through pouring water at a table. Meanwhile, two children argued over a map of Europe, and another was crying in the corner because someone else had used their red pencil.

The precision and elegance I had practiced for months? Gone.
The “calm, normalized child” Dr. Montessori wrote about? Nowhere in sight.
I felt like I was sinking.

What no one told me in training, and what I now tell every new teacher, is this:

The first year is not just about presenting materials. It’s about becoming.

You’re becoming someone who can guide through uncertainty, who can observe in the noise, and who can keep showing up, not because it’s easy, but because you believe in what’s possible.

You learn to see “the child that is not yet there.”

This isn’t a flaw in the system. This is the system.

✨ The Transformation No One Talks About ✨

There’s a hidden gift in this rough start. And it’s this: the first year is your real training.

In that year, you learn things no lecture or album can teach:

How to truly observe when everything is loud and moving.
How to pause before reacting.
How to recover from mistakes (especially your own).
How to see children as they are, not as you hoped they’d be.

Montessori teacher training gives you the map.
Your first year gives you the terrain.

Once you’ve been through it, you start to see what Dr. Montessori meant when she said the adult must prepare themselves even more than the environment.

Because this work changes you, if you let it.

What Stage Are You In?

One of the most powerful things I’ve learned in nearly four decades in Montessori education is this:

Every Montessori guide is always in a developmental stage.

We talk so much about a child’s plane of development, but we don’t often name our own evolution as adults in the classroom. Just like the children, we go through stages: from uncertainty to confidence, from over-preparing to letting go, from needing validation to knowing we’re enough.

Sometimes we circle back.
Sometimes we sprint forward.
But we’re always becoming.

So wherever you are - in training, in your first year, or well into your career, I want to invite you to pause and reflect.

This week, take five minutes at the end of each school day to reflect on one question:
What did I learn about myself today as an educator?

Don’t worry if the answers feel messy or emotional. That’s normal. That’s honest. That’s the work.

If you’re in your first year, remember: it’s okay to feel like you’re just barely keeping up. You’re not doing it wrong, you’re actually in the middle of the most important part.

If you’re beyond that beginning stage, look back and ask:
What would I go back and tell myself?
What compassion can I offer my younger teaching self, and maybe someone else who’s just starting out?

💬 I’d love to hear your reflections in the comments. I read every one. We all learn from each other.

You’re Not Alone

No one becomes a Montessori educator overnight. It’s not a switch that flips when you pass your exams or get your diploma.

It’s a path. Often winding, sometimes messy, and always meaningful.

So, if you’re questioning yourself right now, welcome.
You’re not behind. You’re not failing.

You’re becoming.

And that, my friend, is exactly the work.

🌱 Share some of the lessons you learned in your first year. Just hit reply and share your story with us. Know someone in training or in their first year? Share this with them, or re-post to share with your Montessori network. We are stronger together!

Next week in the April Series:
“Why So Many Good Teachers Quit Around Year Six: It’s not burnout. It’s just the beginning of becoming who you’re meant to be.”

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