Mary Nia Seale is an AMI 3 to 6 Trainer. She received her AMI 3 to 6 diploma in 1998, holds a B.S. in Education Studies and is currently pursuing a PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Virginia with a focus on Montessori research. Nia has worked in private and public Montessori schools in the U.S. and has conducted workshops for parents, classroom assistants, and Montessori teachers. She has served as a member of the AMI Scientific Pedagogy Committee. As a National Examiner for AMI, Nia has examined students in the U.S., Egypt, Morocco, and Nigeria. Nia has directed training courses in Lagos, Nigeria, Cape Town, South Africa, and is currently the Director of Training for the AMI 3 to 6 Diploma course in The Gambia.

Walking on the Line is a seemingly simple classroom activity that engages one of the most

fundamental forms of human movement: walking. It has the potential to support some of the

deepest aspects of a child’s development.

In keeping with the conference theme, Rooted in Montessori: Cultivating the Internal Landscape

of the Child, this interactive workshop will revisit the foundations and progression of Walking on

the Line and explore its potential relationship to purposeful movement, attention, balance,

coordination, concentration, and self-regulation.

Participants will complete a brief pre-workshop survey, implement or strengthen Walking on the

Line in their environments following the workshop, and complete a follow-up survey three

months later-contributing to a broader exploration of this enduring Montessori practice in

contemporary classrooms.

This workshop will leave participants with renewed appreciation for Walking on the Line-not

simply as an exercise in purposeful movement, but as a practice through which we can

intentionally prepare conditions that support the child’s developing internal life.