We were lucky to catch up with Emily Phillips recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Since I was young, I dreamed of having a ‘preschool attached to my home’. I enjoyed children and loved pretending my dolls were my students. After student teaching in Thailand and working there for 5 years, I moved to Kansas City and taught first grade for two years. The culture in the school and classroom was very different and I found that it was difficult for the children to sit still and quiet for many lessons a day. Then God stirred the dream in my heart again and I felt that it could become a reality to have a school in my home. When I thought about how I would want to teach children ages 3-6, I knew I wanted to use the Montessori method. I was a Montessori child, attending Log Cabin Montessori in upstate New York as a child and I have wonderful memories, mostly of time outside in the woods, even collecting sap and making syrup. I had worked at a Thai Christian school in northern Thailand that used Montessori based on the Bible and then been a substitute at a Montessori school in Johnson County, KS. I knew I wanted to get my Montessori training, and I found a fantastic place in North KC! Montessori Teacher Preparation of KC became the place where my understanding of children and how to guide them was transformed. I knew it was a worthwhile endeavor because it was what God had called me to. My husband graduated with his bachelor’s in business which was a piece necessary for this to work as that was not an area of my strength. It is rare to find a Christ-centered Montessori program for children, and that is what we offer! Montessori is a unique approach as it sees each child as a capable individual worthy of being given independence and the freedom to educate themselves, rather than someone who needs to be given a schedule for different subjects and filled with knowledge by an adult. Being able to do what I love in my own home has been a very exciting part of the idea.

Emily, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Emily Phillips began working with children in high school. She then received her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Cedarville University. After student teaching in Thailand she taught there for 5 years. She started Canvas Montessori after receiving her Montessori Early Childhood Certificate from Montessori Educational Programs International. Emily is a kinesthetic learner who enjoys the freedom of movement a Montessori environment provides. Emily delights in joining children in the wonder of exploration found in the indoor and outdoor Montessori environments. She has been teaching children for over ten years both locally and internationally. She and holds a current Kansas Teaching License. Canvas Montessori is a place for children ages 2.5-6 that is prepared just for them based on their unique interests and abilities. It’s a place for discovery and acceptance where children engage in learning and community life. The Montessori Method gives children the opportunity to develop respect, concentration, independence, self-discipline, and collaboration. Canvas Montessori offers families a Christ-centered, well-ordered, caring environment in which children can thrive and experience the joy of learning.

The goal for each Montessori student is to love order and work, concentrate fully on the work of their choice, eagerly cooperate, be independent, take initiative, work well with others, and enjoy learning!

Montessori students are free to choose:
Learning materials
Location of work
Amount of time spent on each lesson

I am proud of our Montessori Prepared Environment

Our environment is prepared just for children based on their unique interests and abilities. It’s a place for discovery and acceptance where children engage in learning.

Our environment includes:
Hands-on materials
Open floor space
Order, movement, free choice, exploration, investigation, contribution, and creativity

Children enjoy taking care of their environment and themselves. Practical Life prepares them in everyday tasks and develops fine motor skills.

Every child uses their senses to learn! The Sensorial area is devoted to training and refining senses.

Language constantly surrounds us. We offer rich vocabulary and excellent preparation for writing and reading.

Mathematics begins with counting objects and then the decimal system and four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) are presented in a concrete way.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn some of the ways I had interacted with children so that I could be more respectful to them and the way they learn best. I used to call a child from across the classroom to get his attention and I had to learn to walk over to the child and talk only loud enough so that he could hear me. Before I would correct children right away and in Montessori we learn to take notes to ourselves in the moment so that we can go back later at a neutral time and offer a lesson on the skills the child demonstrated he was missing/forgetting. I had to unlearn that a particular lesson needed to be completed on a particular day. In Montessori, we can present the lesson to a child and observe, if the child isn’t ready or isn’t making the needed connections at the current time, the materials can simply be put away and presented again another day.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I had just completed my Montessori Certificate for children ages 3-6 and was working as an assistant at a Montessori school that was a commute. We were just getting ready to start the school year and then a friend tagged me on a post from a parent in the Thai community that was looking for a teacher for a group of 5-7 children. I connected with this mom and she already knew the days and hours the group was looking for, as well as what the families were willing to pay. I had already begin purchasing Montessori materials for my own school, but still lived in an apartment, so when she said that one of the families in the group would be willing to host for the school year, I realized this was a fantastic opportunity to get started working on my own with children 2.5-6 years old! The host family had some familiarity with Montessori which was even better! It was an exciting time pulling all of the information together, meeting families, and setting up. It turned out to be an incredible year of learning and fun!

Contact Info:

• Website: canvasmontessori.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/canvasmontessori
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/canvasmontessori
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/canvas-montessori

Image Credits
Amber Dawkins Emily Phillips