CAMDEN — Anyone serving, or who has served in the U.S. military, is now approved to receive training and certification under the G.I. Bill to become Montessori instructors, according to Martha Monahan, leader of Northeast Montessori. Northeast Montessori currently teaches classes in Boston. Two years ago Northeast Montessori expanded and is now certifying instructors through the Children’s Montessori House in Camden.

Classes will run two weeks this coming summer at the Children’s House with weekend seminars. It will then run again two weeks the following summer, again with weekend seminars, according to Monahan.

“For people who work, it makes it easier to stretch it out over two years,” she said. “It makes it easier to attend. We’re really just trying to provide a service to smaller places like Damariscotta, Rockland, Camden, Belfast and Bangor. It’s hard for people up here to drive all the way down to the North Shore. They have to deal with extended travel times, lodging and meals. We’re hoping that with the VA approval it will help kick-start the program. We have five people interested, but we need 10 to make the program work.”

Northeast Montessori Institute was established in 1984. Martha and her husband, Donald, have run the institute since the 1990s.

“It’s an early childhood Montessori teacher preparation course,” she said. “We train adults to become Montessori teachers. We are affiliated with the American Montessori Society, which is the largest membership organization in the world. The teaching certificate comes from the AMS. We are also accredited through the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education, which I also sit on the board of. MACTE is accredited by the United States Department of Education. And MACTE is the only organization that accredits Montessori training courses.”

Monahan said one does not need to hold a teaching certificate to become a Montessori teacher and for early childhood development, nor hold a bachelors degree. All one needs is a high school diploma.

“We are really trying to target parents whose children already attend Montessori school,” she said. “Around a third of our students are parents. They take the course because Montessori offers a parenting style. It helps them become better parents; it helps them to be more familiar with Montessori to bridge that gap between school and home. And a lot of women, once they have a family, are looking to change professions. It’s a great profession for mothers because you’re on the same schedule as your children and you’re that much more involved with your children’s life and education.”

Monahan said students range in age from 18 to 60. The typical cost to get certified is around $5,500 and the price is all-inclusive meaning it covers all the curriculum material, books and memberships to AMS and MAVTE. It also covers the cost of a childhood development course offered online with Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Kirstin Sidwell, Administrative Director of the Children’s House Montessori School in Camden, said the school supports Northeast Montessori’s efforts to train teachers at the school.

“We are happy to have them here and make it work,” she said. “We have the classrooms and materials they need for training. Someone from the VA came and looked at the building so for our part, we just filled out paperwork.”

Kristin described existing programs at the Children’s House.

“We have the toddlerss program, what we call primary, which is for multiage program for three-year-olds through kindergarten,” she said. “We have an elementary class, which is first through fourth grades,” she said. “We have great faculty and Montessori really does set kids up for learning for life.”

Krisitin said that when there is a need, it can be hard to find teachers who are Montessori trained.

“In Maine, in particular, it can be hard to find schools for training teachers,” she said. “I know there are a lot of assistant teachers who would like to get trained and accredited. Most of the people who work in Montessori really love it and if they’re not trained, they really want to be to truly embrace it. I think there is a need overall. We have teachers here who were trained by Northeast and I think they’re the best teachers you can find, so that speaks very well of the program. We would be happy to host something of that quality.”