Tier 3 Montessori

01/21/2026

For any behavior analysts interested in building true collaborative IEP advocacy for your students & families 🎉

I highly recommend Dr. Annie McLaughlin’s course!

Keep in mind, this is not the aggressive, intimidating type of student advocacy but one that centers a kind and connected long-term partnership 🫶 which is highly highly more effective in my experience! Thanks to Annie and her Pivot into IEP Advocacy groups!

Pivot into IEP Advocacy

01/21/2026

Pay attention! 🎯
This is important, and it’s FREE for Texas residents 🎉

I’m registered for the virtual, are you??

Join us in Galveston, Texas on January 26, 27 (& 28*), 2025 for the NTG's national model workshop on intellectual disabilities and dementia. Please see "About the Event" below for complete information. Livestream option available.

01/21/2026

🎯💯 Yes! And the same goes for schools - a child’s time is best spent in meaningful & purposeful activities; not mindless or frustrating busywork 🫶

Let’s talk about goal selection.

Puzzles can be a completely appropriate skill for some learners. But goals should always be selected based on meaningful outcomes, not just on whether a skill is listed on an assessment.

When a 10-year-old with a Level 3 autism diagnosis who is non-speaking is spending therapy time learning to complete a 3-piece puzzle, even when they still need significant support with hygiene tasks or engaging in self-injurious behavior (SIB), it is worth pausing to ask an important question: How does this goal meaningfully improve this child’s life?

Early in my career, I didn’t think to question this approach. I would take a learner’s assessment and build programs directly from it without fully considering the child’s context, family priorities, or values. I now see how easy it is to end up teaching skills that are measurable but not meaningful. This happens when assessments become the curriculum instead of the tool they are meant to be.

And, honestly, this happens because we are tired. We are overworked and, when insurance pushes back on goals, it is easier to pick skills that are easy to measure or check off the sheet. But measurable does not always equal meaningful.

Values-based, socially significant goals prioritize skills that increase independence, safety, dignity, communication, and access to joy. Teaching hygiene routines, supporting tolerance for daily care tasks, establishing functional replacement behaviors for SIB, and expanding ways to experience preferred activities directly impact a learner’s quality of life. Teaching a simple puzzle often does not.

Assessments are meant to inform our clinical decision-making, not replace it. When assessments are treated as the curriculum, we risk prioritizing easy-to-measure skills over skills that are truly meaningful to the learner and their family.

Our role as BCBAs is to each the skills that matter most: skills that support dignity, safety, communication, and joy.

01/14/2026

🤔 In case you're wondering why we have 2 separate programs - academic & insurance-funded (non-academic). There are way too many parallels within our work, and it really comes down to the child's needs, funding (insurance or private), and accessibility (to academic and therapy services) 🎉
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360632706_Montessori_the_White_Cross_and_Trauma-Informed_Practice_Lessons_for_Contemporary_Education

01/13/2026

🤔 Anyone feel like fact checking this rq?

"Historical data show that the early
Montessori schools were known internationally as healing schools, wherein children affected by adversity or trauma
were apparently healed on a considerable scale."

"Children have many kinds of sensitiveness, but they are all alike in their sensitiveness to trauma."
(Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, 1967, p. 131)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360632706_Montessori_the_White_Cross_and_Trauma-Informed_Practice_Lessons_for_Contemporary_Education

PDF | Childhood adversity and trauma are pervasive and have powerful, far-reaching consequences for health and well-being. Recent years have seen... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

01/13/2026

I would love to hear from parents of neurodivergent kiddos 👶

I’m passing this on to you because sleep is one of those first difficult issues that clue us in to our children’s neurological differences - at least in my experience with my kids anyway.

It seems like no matter what I did, fed them, scheduled, unscheduled, etc. nothing could save them from their own sleep problems (Yes! They were problems. No sweet euphemisms here 😅) I needed help, and no doctor was able to guide us in the right direction.

This will be worth the time and $20. spent. I hope to catch at least part of it. Let me know if you attend this!

What does sleep independence ACTUALLY look like in a real Montessori 0–3 community, especially at school? Join MINT online for our January Montessori Conversation! We will explore sleep during the first three years of life, with a special focus on napping in the classroom.

Tuesday, January 13
6:00–8:00 PM (CT)
Online via Zoom

Fast facts--
- Led by AMI 0–3 Trainer Molly Schayot, joined by Yazmin Alicea, Toddler Lead at White Rock Montessori
- A thoughtful blend of Montessori theory, current sleep science, and real-world classroom practice
- Topics include classroom setup, routines, collaboration, and common challenges
- 2 hours of professional development credit & certificate provided

🔗 Register here: https://tinyurl.com/MC-Jan13-2026
Registration fee: $20

Come for the science, stay for the practical strategies and community. Navigating sleep with young children is not work to navigate alone. We hope to see your face!

12/31/2025

Can you even believe Tier 3 Montessori is 5 years old! 🎉 and celebrating our 5th year on Facebook.

Thank you for your continuing support. We could never have made it without you. 🙏🤗🎉

12/28/2025

Thank you Dr. Megan for the wonderful intro to our work 🎉

Where would I even be without Dr. Megan and Do Better Collective? 🫶🙏💖

✨ REJECTED sponsor highlight: Tier 3 Montessori

Tier 3 Montessori is doing something really special. From the start, their work is rooted in empathy, dignity, and a deep respect for individual uniqueness 🤍 They focus on strengths, nervous system regulation, and real relationships—not compliance or “fixing.”

🌱 Using a whole-child, whole-family approach, Tier 3 Montessori blends Montessori philosophy with trauma-responsive, strengths-based ABA to support autonomy, joy, and meaningful skill-building. Through careful observation, collaboration, and small environmental shifts over time, they create space for children to thrive as they are.

This is education as an aid to life—honoring stimming as regulation, choosing belonging over normalization, and walking alongside caregivers every step of the way.

We’re proud to highlight Tier 3 Montessori as a REJECTED sponsor doing this work with so much integrity and heart. Follow on Facebook to learn more and support their mission.

12/24/2025

‼️🚨Spoiler Alert!
Even ABA is banning “ABA” 😱

Yes, just like in medicine, people spoke and we listened!

The pressure for compliance, and particularly blind compliance, is outdated and no longer being taught as best practice.

The new research and best practices are all about assent-based compassionate care and collaboration 🎉

The research-to-practice gap is real so it still may take a decade or so for schools and other fields to catch up to our behavioral sciences.

For now, keep directing your providers and schools to look up assent-based compassionate collaboration research to support you and your loved ones 🫶

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