I began teaching in 1976, after earning a Montessori Primary Head Teacher Certification from Ravenhill Academy, at that time the AMI training center in the Philadelphia area, having earlier graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, with a concentration in Engineering, from Miami University, Oxford Ohio. Although, my very first teaching experience was in 1967-68 as a high school student assisting in summer camps for students with special needs. My teaching practice is deeply rooted in the Montessori Method, which I have applied to a variety of ages and circumstances, from Early Childhood to High School, also as a teacher trainer and a corporate trainer in the food service industry. From 2007 to 2014, I was the Technology Specialist at Wilmington Montessori School, during which time I developed a Science based Technology curriculum applying Montessori techniques and principles specifically to the physical sciences, from Primary to Sixth grade. During that period, I also taught digital recording and Scratch programming summer camps and tutored guitar lessons. Over the decades, I have taught in a variety of circumstances from church basements to daycare facilities. I owned and was principle caregiver in a Family Home Day Care during the 1980's, which helps me relate to parents who are home schooling. I have worked in residential treatment facilities, and both private schools and public schools. I have worked with students gifted with both talents and challenges.
While I bring an adult's experience, technique and information to any situation, I always regard my students as also being my teachers, and I tell them so. Humility and respect have to be at the core of any teaching relationship, regardless of the age or circumstances of the student, because the ultimate goal of teaching is to nurture the student's self-respect and self-reliance, her or his independence in the pursuit of knowledge and skill. And if humility and respect are the core, gentleness, humor and awareness are the elements of presentation, as teaching is both a research and a performing art.
I currently fulfill a care-giving role in my immediate family, which is what leads me to on line tutoring. I also currently work on line as a writing sample evaluator at the elementary and high school levels for two major testing services, which informs my practice as a writing and reading tutor. I continue to publish articles and training materials in the field of early science education, which can be sampled here, medium.com/primary-coil.