The AMI primary diploma prepares educators to guide children through the 3 to 6 years. You will study child development and Montessori theory closely, work with the full set of primary materials, and carry out supervised teaching, so you finish ready to set up and lead a primary classroom of your own.
Complete AMI certification for the 3 to 6 primary years.
Flexible AMI study for parents, educators, and everyday assistants.
Short, practical Montessori training for families, schools, and educators.
Look over the primary diploma’s format, schedule, pricing, and upcoming start dates, then ask our team if the 3 to 6 route suits the career you are aiming for.
The online application itself takes roughly five minutes, and from there our team walks you through every next step.
Begin your coursework from home, then complete the hands-on training during two San Diego summers, learning beside guides who travel in from across the country and abroad.
This is an authentic AMI credential, never an AMS or off-the-shelf certificate. Your primary diploma is accredited by both AMI and MACTE, honored by Montessori schools across the globe, and it opens a master's degree pathway through Loyola for graduates who want to continue.
You study under certified AMI trainers and examiners whose careers in the classroom span decades across several countries, taught by our Children's House faculty rather than part-time instructors.
Most of the program is studied online across the year, and the hands-on training comes together over two focused summers in San Diego. Every year, future guides travel in from every corner of the country and from overseas to train with us face to face.
Montessori Stoppani prepares educators to become certified AMI guides for the primary years, through training that is AMI and MACTE accredited. The primary diploma pairs close study of the 3 to 6 years with real work using the Montessori materials and supervised time with children, so graduates finish ready to run a Children’s House of their own.
Our students train with a faculty of seasoned AMI trainers and examiners, earn a diploma that Montessori schools recognize, and gain access to a master’s degree route through Loyola that few centers offer. The institute trains roughly 220 students a year across its diploma and assistant programs, and up to about 500 once workshops are counted, and we work to keep real AMI training more affordable than most programs of this level.
You learn from a team of AMI trainers and examiners who work internationally.
Ale serves as Montessori Stoppani’s Training Director and an AMI trainer, with over twenty-five years in Montessori education. She earned her AMI diploma for the 3 to 6 level in Italy and completed her infant 0 to 3 training in San Diego, studying under the guidance of Dr. Silvana Montanaro. Her whole career has gone into supporting children, families, and the next generation of guides through her AMI courses, workshops, and consulting work.
Cristina brings advanced degrees in education, pedagogy, and clinical psychology, with more than twenty-five years beside children in Montessori and conventional classrooms. She trains and examines AMI guides at the 3 to 6 Children’s House level, and has mentored Montessori educators across five countries, from the United States and Argentina to Taiwan, Costa Rica, and Spain, bringing that international perspective into the primary course.
Gabriela came to Montessori as a young student herself, moving from the children’s side of the classroom to assisting in it, and then into training as a guide. She earned an early childhood education degree, completed her AMI diploma, and went on to add a master’s in education, with more than twenty years teaching in Montessori schools across the United States and Mexico. Internationally, she now takes on the roles of AMI trainer, examiner, speaker, and consultant.
An AMI trainer, Emily brings more than twenty-one years of classroom experience across the toddler and primary communities. Her academic background covers sociology, psychology, and Montessori education, and she holds AMI diplomas for both the infant (0 to 3) and primary (3 to 6) levels. She pairs that depth with a warm, grounded approach to guiding children, families, and the educators who come after her.
A physician, researcher, and educator, Dr. Salguero focuses on integrative health, psychiatry, clinical nutrition, and personalized medicine. He earned his medical degree from the University of Guadalajara, then pursued advanced training in clinical nutrition, a doctorate in molecular biology as applied to medicine, and his residency in psychiatry at UC San Diego. He brings a scientific understanding of how children, and people in general, grow and develop to our training faculty.
Choosing an AMI training path naturally raises questions. These cover what future primary guides ask us most, from how the diploma is recognized to the study formats, the Loyola master’s pathway, and cost.
Yes. This is an authentic AMI credential, accredited by both AMI and MACTE. AMI stands for the Association Montessori Internationale, the organization Dr. Maria Montessori founded, and it remains among the most trusted names in Montessori education. What you earn here is real AMI training, not an AMS course or a generic certificate.
Yes. An AMI diploma is respected at Montessori schools and by teachers around the world, so the credential follows you wherever your teaching career leads.
Our diploma trains guides at two levels: Infant, for ages 0 to 3, and Primary, for ages 3 to 6. This page covers the Primary path, for teaching the 3 to 6 years.
The Primary Diploma runs on a hybrid model. Most of your study happens online across the year, and the hands-on training is completed in person over two San Diego summers. If a fully online path is what you are after, our Assistant courses are offered online and in blended formats.
Yes. Because the institute holds MACTE accreditation, finishing the diploma may open pathway opportunities toward a master’s degree with Loyola. These pathway opportunities differ from person to person, so ask us for the complete program details to see how it would apply to you.
No. This program does not hand out college credits that transfer to another school. What you receive is a complete professional AMI qualification, and if you want to keep going toward a graduate degree, that happens through our Loyola master’s pathway described earlier. Ask us for the program details and we will show you exactly how that option works.
A guide carries the full AMI diploma and is qualified to build and run a Montessori classroom of their own. An assistant works alongside that guide and helps maintain the prepared environment, trained through a shorter and more flexible course. What this page describes, the Primary Diploma, is the complete guide qualification.
AMI is the Montessori world’s founding authority, created by Dr. Maria Montessori to keep her method intact. It carries weight because it sets the benchmark other approaches are measured against, it is not the same as AMS, and it is the credential schools ask about before they hire. Training under AMI means you learn Montessori as she intended, which is what gives the diploma its standing worldwide.
Tuition depends on the program you choose and the payment plan that suits you. Ask for our free Program Details and Pricing Guide and the numbers appear right away, alongside formats, schedules, and payment options.
The AMI Montessori Diploma for ages 3 to 6 trains you to guide young children through the primary years with authentic Montessori practice. The San Diego summers give diploma students hands-on time with the full primary materials, plus supervised teaching and one-on-one time alongside AMI trainers and examiners. The rest of your study happens online across the year, so you can grow into Montessori teaching without stepping away from the life you already have.
When parents and schools go looking for a Montessori guide, they ask for AMI training by name, and that instinct is well founded. AMI keeps alive the standard that Dr. Maria Montessori first established, and every part of this Primary Diploma is accredited by AMI and MACTE. Graduates leave with a credential that Montessori schools respect internationally, along with the option to keep going toward a master’s degree through Loyola.
The AMI Primary Diploma draws people who cannot uproot their lives to train. Students come to us from all across California, Carlsbad and Encinitas included, from the cross-border community that links San Diego and Tijuana, and from other states and countries as well.
Montessori Stoppani works to keep the AMI Primary Diploma priced below most programs of its level, and the price shows up as soon as you ask for our program details, with nothing tucked behind a long form. Look over the format, the schedule, and the payment options, and apply whenever you feel ready.
