The Joyful Child: Montessori, Global Wisdom for Birth to Three Paperback - 2013

The author's books are always about making the lives of children, and their families, happy, interesting, satisfying, and geared to the stage of development of each child. Her experience in this area is broad and international. In 1963-1964 Susan Mayclin Stephenson spent four months aboard the first university on shipboard, now known as The Semester at Sea, traveling and studying the cultures of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This awakened a life-long interest in the differences and similarities in cultures, specifically in parenting. After earning a degree with a double major of philosophy and comparative religions, at San Francisco State University, Susan worked as a counselor in a detention center for juvenile offenders. It was the experience with these troubled young people, from both the poorest and the wealthiest communities in the San Francisco area, that convinced her that in order to fulfill the potential of individuals and of society, it is best to begin as early in life as possible. In 1971, Susan earned a 2.5-6 diploma at the Maria Montessori Institute (MMI) in London, England and the 6-12 diploma at the Washington Montessori Institute (WMI) in Washington, DC. After teaching children from the age 2-13 for twenty years she earned the 0-3, or Assistants to Infancy (A to I) diploma at The Montessori Institute (TMI) in Denver, Colorado, completed a masters degree in education at Loyola University Maryland, and took as course on multiple intelligences from Howard Gardner, Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Her two daughters took the Montessori Assistants to Infancy course in order to be the best parents possible. Susan has traveled in over 60 countries and often shares her experiences in these countries through her art, most often oil paintings which can be seen on her website. She has worked with parents and teachers, documented children's developmental stages, consulted with schools, and served as an examiner on Montessori training courses. Susan is also the author of "Child of the World: Montessori, Global Education for Age 3-12+"