a community-focused virtual conference for parents & educators

THE PEACE SUMMIT

Each year, Mariana collaborates with Montessori-trained educators from around the world to offer an annual conference, The PEACE Summit, and a Montessori podcast.

As Montessori practitioners, we are grounded in the liberation of the child from the oppressive systems that constrain their ability to develop as they are trying to do. Constraints to their movement, speech, and choice are of particular concern as they are primary features of the child’s inherent development and markers of a free society.

Join Mariana and her international, Montessori-trained team for workshops and discussion about how we use the Montessori Method toward the liberation of the child in our classrooms, homes, and everywhere in-between at The PEACE Summit!

Here’s How It Works

  • Preview Panel [Oct. 12th 9-10am PST]: We started the conversation on Saturday, Oct. 12th with a panel discussion on White Supremacy & Montessori.

  • 2025 PEACE Summit [Jan. 26-Feb 2nd]: The PEACE Summit will start on January 26, 2025 with a live webinar and a week of pre-recorded workshops to watch at your own pace. The week will culminate in a 2-hour live panel in Feb. 2nd with our whole team to answer questions and be in discussion and community with each of you. Every workshop is designed to be actionable & engaging.

  • Tickets are Now Available! We are committed to keeping our parent and teacher programs accessible by having sliding scale options for each of our programs, in addition to our free podcast! 85% of families in our parent education programs and 43% of teachers in our mentorship programs are able to access lower access fees because of our conference ticket sales. Please contact Mariana Bissonnette at mariana@thepeaceprogram.org if you need help accessing this conference. Thank you!

“Incredible conference! Thank you each for sharing and being so honest. It helped me connect, and realize that I’m not alone.”

— Syleste

THE PEACE PROGRAM

Upcoming Summit

Montessori & White Supremacy

How These Characteristics Show Up in Montessori Spaces (and What We Can Do About it)

Workshops on: Perfectionism, Right to Comfort, Belief in One Right Way, Sense of Urgency, Individualism, Power Hoarding, Either/Or Thinking, Quantity > Quality, Defensiveness, and Fear of Open Conflict.

Past Summits

Liberating the Child

Ways to Find Liberation for the Child Across Our Spaces

Workshops on: Indigenous Perspective on Exploring the Outdoors, Inclusivity & Belonging, Movement & Independence, Early Literacy, Bilingualism, Mindfulness, Oppressive Parenting Styles, Nurturing the Whole Pueblo Child, and Montessori vs. Conventional Education

Education for Peace

How Montessori is the Work of Peace (and How to Bring that to Your Home)

Workshops on: Order as a Foundation for Peace, The Child’s Path to Independence, Parenting in an Uncertain World, The Attitude of the Adult, The Fours Planes & Peace, Building Empathy in Young Children, Preparations for Perinatal Life, The Toileting Journey, and Guiding Instead of Teaching

Montessori for All, From Birth

Working Together In Service of the Child for Collective Liberation

Workshops on: Movement and the Newborn, The Problem with praise, Montessori Materials from Birth to Three, Limits in the Environment, Intentional Parenting, Brain Development in the First Year, Your Inner Child, and Freedom & Self-Discipline.

  • The PEACE Summit presentation were fantastic. They were all so clear, insightful, and practical. Really excellent conference!

    Shawna

  • Even though I am Montessori trained, I think the way she delivers information has summarized the core principles in such a clear and easy way to understand.

    Shraddha

  • I hope an increasing numbers of families can benefit from her work!

    Sheila

  • Mariana is amazing at giving a solid framework to approach different situations, so you aren't left only parroting helpful phrases, but really learning how to take on the situations yourself.

    Shawna

  • I am just continually grateful for Mariana and the support she provides for parents and our children. She has made the Montessori approach feel possible for our family.

    Tanya

  • Marina offers extremely helpful and supportive services for new parents. I wish more people had access to this kind of tailored listening and feedback.

  • Everyone is always asking me why I take parenting classes because it seems like I’m so good with my kid. And I always tell them, ‘I’m good with my kid because I take parenting classes!’ I don’t know why more parents take advantage of these programs!

    Britt

  • Mariana is always excellent. She is so helpful in how she talks about limits and freedoms.

    Shawna

  • Whether a seemingly small or larger issue, Mariana seems to provide flexible and tailored suggestions to guide parents based on their specific situation.

    Tanya

  • I feel empowered with some additional skills that will truly make us better parents. I tried some of it out last night at bedtime and I'm happy to report my toddler responded to it REALLY well.

    Virginia

  • Mariana has an incredible amount of expertise that I am sure has helped so many parents get through what is a lonely and difficult period.

    Sheila

  • I am grateful for Mariana and her program's places emphasis on reaching BIPOC families- thank you!

    Hana

  • We really appreciate the balance of offerings the Mariana has. Both the time in group coaching and the online courses, we have had lots of opportunity to learn and grow.

    Lindsay

  • I love that the group coaching and 1:1s have video recordings of sessions so that my husband can playback the videos to catch up on what we discussed. It's so helpful also if I ever miss a class!

    Nina

  • I have had a great time learning from Mariana both in reading her book and asking questions in the group coaching lives.

    Beth

  • I LOVE the examples Mariana gives as they help me connect to the big ideas so easily.

    Shraddha

  • The open-mindedness and compassion that Mariana brings to her work is invaluable.

    Sheila

  • We've already started implementing some of the tips and strategies and are seeing improvement already. Thank you, Mariana!

    Lindsay

  • It's so wonderful to feel like there's someone who is there to answer questions from a child development perspective without trying to rush or judge you.

    Beth

  • I spent 30 days with Ms. Mariana and I call them 30 days of transformation because this course changed my thinking. Concepts that seemed very familiar in Montessori, under her teaching seem entirely new. I just listened and wrote about 50 pages of notes every time she spoke.

  • Our son napped BOTH days this weekend due to your guidance...SO helpful!

    Whitney

PODCAST & CONFERENCE

The PEACE Team

EACH YEAR, MARIANA COLLABORATES WITH MONTESSORI TRAINED EDUCATORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO PUT ON OUR PODCAST AND ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

Mariana started The PEACE Program in 2016 with a free, drop-in play group for families in her local area to be with their babies and learn a thing or two about the child's development. The success of the program led Mariana to serve over 1200 families in the first three years of the program alone! However, Mariana was the only facilitator available to families. 

In response to listening to and learning from Black and Brown activists in 2020, Mariana recognized that she would not always be the right parent-educator for all familie. To address this, Mariana created a Scholarship Program (now called PEACE Mentorship) where she supported four aspiring Montessori teachers during their training with mentorship and financial assistance. 100% of the PEACE Scholars were Black and/or Indigenous. From that program and in pursuit of supporting more teachers, Mariana began building a team of Facilitators to help her deliver parenting education in addition to supporting the mentorship of upcoming Montessori teachers.

About the 24/25 PEACE Facilitation Team:

  • 67% of 24/25 PEACE Facilitators are Black, Indigenous, or of the Global Majority.

  • 100% are multilingual

  • 89% are experienced classroom teachers and are parents themselves

  • 44% are experienced parent-educators and are cross trained in 0-3 and 3-6

  • 54% live outside the United States (including Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America)

PEACE Facilitators work closely with Mariana and share responsibility for contributing to a culture based on our communal values of self-reflection, self-care, responsiveness to being/becoming Anti-Bias / Anti-Racist and a deep commitment to the whole child within the whole family.