Education United States Project #70747

Train a Teacher, Equip a Classroom, Teach a Child

by Montessori Global Growth Fund

Train a Teacher, Equip a Classroom, Teach a Child

Project Report | Apr 13, 2026
Montessori Materials Help Children Learn

By Eleanor Latimer | President, Montessori Global Growth Fund

Learning cylinder sizes - Uganda

One of the most common requests we receive at Montessori Global Growth Fund (MGGF) is for assistance with acquiring Montessori materials. Montessori materials are a foundational element of the Montessori method, with many of these tools developed by the communities themselves. Montessori materials are carefully designed to help children explore concepts, build independence, and develop a lifelong love of learning.

Core Tenants of Montessori Materials:

Built for Progressive Learning: When a child first interacts with a material, they start by mastering simple concepts before moving to more complex, abstract ones.
Self-Correcting: Montessori materials are self-correcting. With self-correcting materials, children develop independence while building their confidence and problem-solving skills.
Intentionally Designed: Materials are precise, engaging, and made from natural, durable materials. Montessori materials grab a child’s attention and hold their interest.
Holistic Learning: Montessori materials support the whole child through activities that refine coordination and motor skills while strengthening focus.

Access to Montessori Materials Matters

Access to high-quality Montessori materials transforms a classroom. However, these materials can be costly, and for many of the communities we support, they may be out of reach. Montessori materials are a core component of the Montessori method, and without them, delivering quality Montessori education becomes very challenging

MGGF, through the help of our GlobalGiving and other donors, is working to overcome those challenges. Our materials grants help schools to furnish their environments with these vital classroom materials.

Your Impact in Action:

Here are just a few of the communities your donations to MGGF that fund materials grants have helped to support:

Divine Mercy Montessori School (Buikwe, Uganda)

In rural Uganda, accessing authentic Montessori Materials is difficult and expensive. With support from MGGF, Divine Mercy Montessori School is combining high-quality imported materials with locally crafted ones to strengthen the learning environment while creating economic opportunities for local artisans.

Cypress Junction Montessori School (Florida, USA)

Founded in 2016 in Winter Haven, Florida, Cypress Junction Montessori School serves a diverse student population through a lottery-based charter system, with 30% of students receiving special education services. As Cypress Junction expands to serve an additional 100 students, the need for classroom materials has grown. With MGGF's support, new Montessori materials are helping ensure that every child, regardless of background or ability, has access to a prepared, engaging learning environment.

Harmony Montessori (Oregon, USA)

After a devastating sewage flood destroyed much of their classroom materials, Harmony Montessori faced the challenge of rebuilding from scratch. Thanks to donor support, they were able to replace essential materials and move into a new space where children can learn, explore, and grow.

Our latest requests

As we begin our second 2026 cycle of accepting grant applications, we are again receiving requests for Montessori materials. With your help, we can continue to enable under-resourced Montessori initiatives to support their students with holistic, intentionally designed, self-correcting and progressive learning materials. Thank you for your past support. As you can see, you've enriched the lives of some of the world's most vulnerable children.

Thank you for generosity,

Eleanor Latimer, President

Collaborating on math concepts

Caring for one's shoes

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Dec 15, 2025
Thank you for giving hope

By Eleanor Latimer | President, Montessori Global Growth Fund

Greetings,

Have you heard? You and others like you contributed more than $10,000 to our GlobalGiving project during Giving Tuesday, Dec 2. Two board members have matched your donations as well.

These donations and matching gifts make a huge difference, giving hope to communities across the globe. These under-resourced communities want to give their children an education that prepares them for the 21st century, a child-centered education. They want Montessori teachers who work with the child, where the child is in its development. They want Montessori classroom materials that are self-correcting to help the child to develop independence and self-confidence. They want a school that reflects their culture and their values.

In Argentina, donations such as yours are helping to fund a rigorous 3-6 Diploma Course (June 2025 – August 2026). It is a dynamic hybrid program that includes in-person and online modules, supervised practice with Montessori materials, classroom observations, and mentorship by AMI-certified trainers. The course provides both the theoretical foundations and practical skills necessary to lead Montessori classrooms. It emphasizes observation, empathy, and scientific preparation of the adult—qualities essential for working with children in vulnerable contexts.

Currently six women—already active in social projects in José C. Paz, Villa Ballester, San Miguel, and San Justo—are committed to serving children in vulnerable neighborhoods. These women are assistants and teachers in community-based Montessori projects, where children are growing up amid poverty, exclusion, and in some cases, violence. With MGGF's scholarships, they will complete their studies in August 2026. They'll return to their classrooms as fully certified guides, ensuring continuity and expansion of these initiatives.

I hope you know that under-resourced communities find us. They search on line for grants that will help their children grow socially, emotionally as well as academically within their own belief system and values. We stand out as one of the only non-profits that award grants (albeit very small grants) that fit those goals. And your gifts are enabling us to fulfill those desires, not only in Argentina, but elsewhere around the world.

Many thanks for your support. You are delivering hope worldwide.

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Nov 3, 2025
YOU'VE FUNDED THREE GRANTS - THANK YOU

By Eleanor Latimer | Project Leader

AMMCI students

Because your donations have climbed to more than $13,000, Montessori Global Growth has funded three grants this summer.

One of these grants is to help launch the first-even AMI 0-3 diploma course in the French language in Africa. The Association Maria Montessori de Côte d’Ivoire (AMMCI) is training many mothers, teachers and community leaders from rural or low-income communities. Prior to the launch of this program, trainees had to travel abroad to obtain their certification, making certification prohibitively expensive and far out of reach for rural or low-income prospective teachers. The MGGF grant is being used by AMMCI to purchase essential Montessori classroom materials needed to launch the diploma course. The long term impact of this grant is immense. Being located in Côte d’Ivoire, now more young adults from throughout Francophone Africa will become Montessori teachers working with hundreds of children during their careers in child-centered learning environments. In time, this course will become a hub for Montessori excellence in Francophone Africa—and a symbol of what is possible when education is locally led and globally supported.

Another grant is being used by Montessori for Kenya to train a young woman from the Nasolot community in East Pokot. This young woman will receive intensive Montessori teacher training that she’ll carry back to her home community. Because she’ll return to East Pokot to her home, she’ll become a respected member of the community, trusted by parents and children alike. And she’ll be delivering a child-centered education incorporating local traditions and maintaining the traditional values of her community. The long term impact on the children, their parents, and the wider community will be significant. More children will become literate, many will stay in school longer becoming more productive adults. This young woman is starting a positive transformation in one of most marginalized regions of Kenya.

Our third grant is again for teacher training, this time in San Sebastian Rio Hondo, Oaxaca, Mexico. MGGF’s grant provides support for a local educator to complete AMI Montessori training, in Mexico City. Centro de Aprendizaje Ananda (Ananda) was started with the goal of incorporating Montessori education with sustainable ecological practices in keeping with the culture and traditions of the Zapotec people. Ananda offers children ages 3-15 an environment that nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a deep sense of connection to community and nature. Beyond serving its own students, Ananda is preparing to become a hub for teacher training, equipping local educators with the skills to bring high-quality Montessori education to some of the most underserved areas of the region. Our grant ensures continuity of authentic Montessori education from early childhood through adolescence, while also building local leadership and capacity. By supporting Ananda’s mission, donors have made possible an education that awakens human potential, strengthens ecological awareness, fosters peace, and builds a foundation for lasting transformation in the lives of children and the communities they will one day serve from early childhood through adolescence.

MGGF is deeply thankful for all the donations that have made it possible for us to award these grants. Donors are truly helping us reach some of the most marginalized people in the world, enabling under-resourced communities to educate the world’s next generation.

East Pokot Boy Learns Shapes

Ananda Students & Montessori Guide

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