In response to requests from our community, and recognizing the importance of having a solid understanding of Child Development for all who work with children, we are excited to offer this online course to the general Montessori community for all to benefit. There are no pre-requisites other than the capacity to participate in an online course -

all are welcome.  

Please see the information provided below and let us know if you have questions!

To participate in this course you must commit to participating in the two required video webinars to begin and wrap up the online course: one held on Sunday, January 17th at 7:00 PM CST and the other on Sunday, February 28th at 7:00 PM CST.

What am I going to learn in Introduction to Child Development (ICD) Course?

• This course is an intro-level course, designed for those who do not have a strong background in Child Development.  Many who work in Montessori schools, as well as about half of the students coming into Seton Montessori Institute’s programs have come from different backgrounds and have not taken a Child Development course in recent years, if ever.  Through participating in this course you will learn about child development from conception through early adolescence, providing the strong foundation for your Montessori certification program and internship experiences. The major theme of the course will be the "whole child." The course has also been designed to introduce online learning to all students in the first week to help you feel more comfortable with digital learning experiences.

 How will I take this course?

• Introduction to Child Development will be delivered in an online format. The ICD course is one that has a majority of its work completed online. The course will begin and end with an online video teleconference for all class participants. All of the course design integrates Montessori principles.  
• Students are required to purchase the magazine format textbook CDEV by Rathus, available on Amazon.com and other online retailers.

What will I be doing in Introduction to Child Development? 

• There are several components to the course. Since it is on the web, much of the “classroom discussion” takes place through journals and discussion boards. There will be one writing assignment and one non-writing assignment. There are two required video webinars that you must participate in that will be held on January 17th and February 28th at 7:00 pm Central Time.  The rest of the coursework is completed at times that work well for your schedule.
• The program has been thoughtfully prepared to be an appropriate pace for participants.

How often will I need to log in?

• The majority of the course is asynchronous, meaning that each person logs on at their own time, and you typically do not need to log in at the same time as all the other students each week.  There will be some students who are able to complete their work only needing to long in once a week while others will need to log in three to five times in order to be successful. It depends on the type of learner you are, how much time you take to complete the various assignments, and whether you learn best from doing your work in one longer session or in several shorter sessions.

When will my work be due?

• You will have one to two due dates per week, but you can always turn your work in earlier. Your work is due at 11:59 pm of your time zone.  

Course Fee: $350 (CDEV book purchase is responsibility of the student and an estimated additional cost of $55). 

About our Instructors 

Our instructors are all members of the Seton Montessori Institute faculty who hold graduate degrees in Education and have had extensive coursework and research on Child Development and related topics.