Our Guest: Barbara Luborsky
Show Notes
Barbara Lubosky joins us to talk about “following the child” with learning differences in the Montessori classroom. Many guides don’t feel adequately prepared to support students with learning differences. Yes we can start in a familiar place, with observation. Once we have observed and have a sense of the child’s needs that are not being met, we can start brainstorming ways to meet the child’s needs in our prepared environment. Barbara discusses some specific strategies and tools that guides can utilize in the Montessori classroom to support students with a variety of differences, such as ADHD, dyslexia, auditory processing challenges, and more. She describes the technique of co-regulation to model for students the vital skills of self-regulation. Barbara also describes what a successful collaboration looks like between classroom guides and outside support professionals.
About our Guest
Barbara Luborsky, OTR/L
Owner, Way to Grow and Co-director, Montessori Medical Partnership for Inclusion
Barbara Luborsky, OTR/L has been working with children of all ages as a developmental OT since 1991. Following completion of her OT training, she earned a Certificate of Infant and Toddler Specialization from the Georgetown University Hospital Child Development Center. She has worked in public and private school settings, an Infants and Toddlers Program, and at her own clinic, Way to Grow, which she opened in 2002, in Frederick, MD.
Barbara initially became interested in Montessori education when her daughter began attending a Montessori school at the age of 3. It was immediately apparent how much OT and Montessori have in common. Barbara began sharing information about OT and consulting and collaborating with Montessorians at the schools her children attended. She met her colleague, Catherine Massie, at the Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School, in Frederick, MD- the first Charter school in the state! Catherine helped to found that school and another Public Charter Montessori in Frederick as well.
In 2012, Barbara and Catherine began working together exploring how OT could be integrated into the school where she was Directress. That learning experience along with research and many late-night discussions, led to the formation of the Montessori Medical Partnership for Inclusion (MMPI) in 2018. MMPI offers their own courses, and also sponsors courses presented by world leaders in innovative inclusion practice. MMPI also has a website that acts as a clearinghouse for inclusion information and acts as a catalyst for collaboration among inclusion practitioners around the world- having welcomed more than 12,000 visitors from 103 countries since it opened in 2018.
Barbara says, “My favorite aspect of my work is that I get to interact with so many amazing people in the course of my days. I interact with cute, funny, smart and amazing children and their families. My work with MMPI offers me an incredible opportunity for intellectual development and also facilitates my interaction with so many wonderful and dedicated Montessori teachers, administrators, children and families!”
Resources
Montessori 4 Inclusion
montessori4inclusion.org
Way to Grow
www.way2grow.com
Voices in Montessori Podcast
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