As a Montessori Guide (teacher), I've noticed how similar and compatible permaculture is with Montessori schools. Maria Montessori mentions there should be a garden at each school where the children can plant flowers and things. I've read that there are a handful of Montessori Permaculture schools that exist, and it surprises me that there are not more. Does anyone have first-hand experience with permaculture montessori schools?
I was just looking into this myself! We run an outdoor education program from our farm in MO and I am a PDC graduate. I've been using Montessori materials with my own kids in our homeschool and taught for a little while in a private school that was Montessori based, but not a certified Montessori school. It's interesting because now I'm at this point where it seems like all of these loves of mine are converging and becoming one. I was thinking maybe I'd get a forest school certification and a Elementary I/II Montessori certification and make our outdoor education classes legitimate Montessori/ Forest School/ Permaculture classes. I wish there were more examples. I'm trying to formulate a concept of how it would all work.
There has been a strong program at Greensboro Montessori School in North Carolina (18 months-old to 14 yrs old). There are several PDC trained instructors on site. Permaculture is growing in the area, with a nearby Canterbury Episcopal starting a permaculture garden, and Gate City Harvest in Summerfield, NC running a sustainable, small farm with permaculture principles and a micro-school on site. Reach out to sara.stratton@gms.org for more.