THE PEACE PROGRAM

community & education, that’s PEACE!

The PEACE Program provides critically needed access to developmental information and a community during the most critical years of the child’s development.

As an educator, Mariana Bissonnette knew how critically important the early years were, but it wasn’t until she became a parent, that she realized that the key to supporting children was to support the adults around them. Mariana founded The PEACE Program in 2016 as a drop-in play group for local families that provided both community and developmental education.

Mariana’s weekly playgroup supported over 1200 families in just the first three years alone! It turns out—not surprisingly—that parents with babies are often lonely, craving community, and seeking developmental information about their children. Mariana’s non-judgmental and developmentally-focused approach brought many families into Montessori education and even saw one parent go on to become a Montessori educator herself!

The PEACE Program (Parent Education and Child Empowerment) evolved over the COVID-19 pandemic into virtual programming and now serves families and educators globally with community and education geared toward the adults supporting children from birth to six. In addition, Mariana now works with a team of Montessori educators in her facilitation and mentorship programs.

Find a Program

“What I love about Montessori education is that it both centers the child’s development and has a deep commitment to ending oppressive parenting and teaching styles. This method is as effective as it is revolutionary and I am here to show you how to do it in your home, your classroom, and everywhere in-between.”

— Mariana

BUY THE BOOK

Babies Build Toddlers

Babies Build Toddlers is an illustrated guide to parenting through a child’s first 18 months. With its casual and accessible tone, this book gives readers clear developmental timelines, practical suggestions for how to support the child’s development, and the basics of Montessori Education from birth.

Montessori is an approach to education as an aid to life; a life whose critical foundation is built in the first three years. Author, Mariana Bissonnette brings her experience as a classroom Montessori teacher, her two AMI Montessori trainings, as well as her experience parenting her own children to the design and content of this powerful book.

Wow. This was so. good. This is just a really thoughtful, well-done book with so much knowledge and goodness packed in. It’s something I return to again and again as my child grows. - Lauren

  • Mariana offers such unbiased listening and helpful advice as you want it and in a format you can use right away (or whenever you are ready). It's such a gift!

    Beth

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THE PEACE PROGRAM

mission & vision

Our Story

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.