Ann Lewin-Benham was born in Quincy, MA into a family of strong women and determined men. Her mother acted in the early days of one-person theater and her father was in merchandising. She grew up in Manhattan and upstate New York and graduated from Bryn Mawr College. She first worked for a small welfare department in rural North Carolina. The birth of her son Danny in 1961 spurred her interest in education. When Danny was 3, her search for a preschool led her to a Montessori school where she became the Administrator, then trained and taught as a Montessori teacher. Since the mid-1960s, she has been teacher, teacher educator, school founder, and children’s museum pioneer. Recently she became an author. Her first two books, Possible Schools (2006) and Powerful Children (2008), tell the stories of a preschool she founded. Her current book, Infants and Toddlers at Work: Using Reggio-Inspired Materials to Support Brain Development, contains activities, guidance, and sources for materials, all based on current research on how the brain works. Ann continues to write, lecture, and hold teacher education workshops.
