Lesson Planning Best Practices

Mariana Serralde is our Senior Trainer. Mariana has been a Montessori educator for more than 20 years, working as a Children’s House Guide, Head of School, Montessori Mentor and currently as a Senior Montessori Trainer. She holds an AMI Primary Diploma from the Montessori Institute of San Diego, a Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education with a specialization in Second Language Learning. Her passion for Montessori and diverse experience across the world brings about an empathetic approach to spreading Montessori pedagogy. Mariana has worked and supported several teachers and schools throughout her journey, including bilingual Montessori environments at all levels and collaborating in the development of a dual-language Montessori model for one of the first public dual-language Montessori schools.

Laura is our Nido and Toddler Trainer. Over the past 15 years, Laura has been actively involved in early childhood education. She studied education with an emphasis on music at Bridgewater College, Virginia, then moved to California to work with infant and toddler families. She received her Montessori training from the Prepared Montessorian and served as a Lead Nido Guide before joining our team.

Monique Shen is our Nido and Toddler Trainer. After earning her BA in Psychology from Stony Brook University, Monique continued to pursue her interests in developmental psychology and found that her true passion was in early childhood education. She graduated with her AMI Montessori Diploma for the 0 to 3 age group from The Montessori Training Centre of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and is currently pursuing a dual master's in Early Childhood and Special Education. Monique has opened and led toddler communities, and has also worked as part of the training team in international Montessori training courses in Mexico City for Nido and Toddler guides seeking Montessori certification.