Hannah has been a Montessorian for over 20 years. She was trained as an AMI Primary Guide and spend 16 years teaching Primary students in (mostly) public and independent Montessori schools. For many years, she heard the phrase "trust the process" when children had academic challenges, particularly with reading. Knowing that literacy was an important component of ensuring readiness to go into elementary, Hannah immersed herself in learning everything she could about literacy, took Orton Gillingham training, learned about the Science of Reading and got to work. In her last years in the classroom on the south side of Chicago, she was able to ensure that every child leaving her Primary class was reading. When she moved into administration, she located, collaborated with, and hired the best literacy specialists in the country. They went on to write books, train others, and landed in roles leading literacy initiatives at the state level. She conferred with literacy experts who are leaders in the field. Hannah has supported Montessori teachers in literacy from the toddler level through adolescence. She has a passion for literacy and believes it leads to children being more independent and living liberated lives. She wrote and published the Montessori Decodable Books available on our site to fill a gap and is here to offer insight into the things she's learned along the way to help others support children on their literacy journey in Montessori.