Pages

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Update

Hello my Montessori blog friends!

I can't believe it has been two years since I posted.  Crazy.  I still read everyone's posts, but life has been so busy, that I could not find the stamina to post.  Here is a quick update.

Lower Elementary Certification:

In June of 2014, I received my AMS Lower Elementary Montessori Certification.  I felt so much joy when I received the certificate in the mail.  When I first started my certification, Summer 2009, I had two kids and had not thought about having a third.  Once we decided on another child, I knew it would be challenging to finish but still doable.  We were blessed with Andres, March 2010.  His challenges changed my plans once again, but I persevered and completed!  I spent two years teaching part-time in the Lower Elementary classroom at my kids school.  This allowed me to complete my certification, keep teaching as Faculty at the College, and still support Andres’ therapies, which were many.

Fall 2015 - Middle School Montessori Teacher!

The 2014-2015 school year, I did not teach at the Montessori school.  I just taught at the College.  During my internship in Lower Elementary, I had the opportunity to help chaperone the middle school camping trips.  It allowed me to work closely with the middle school students and faculty and learn about the middle school program.  I fell in love with this age and the Montessori method used with adolescents.  After a couple of years of thinking about how to move jobs,  I accepted a full-time position teaching 7th and 8th grade at the kids Montessori School.  I am loving it!  This program is amazing. Most of the students have gone through our schools Montessori program from preK or Lower Elementary or have come into our school from two other Montessori schools close to us that end at 3rd grade.  We do have kids that enter our school from traditional schools at all age levels.  All wonderful kids.

This means that I now need to get ANOTHER certification!  I am definitely a lifelong learner, I would say.  I started my training in Houston, Texas this past summer, and I have been enjoying my new teaching role.

I am busy, busy learning, but I hope to have some time to tell you about our adolescent program.  If you have specific questions, please leave me a comment and I will start my posts answering those.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Last Day of School- Big Boy

Here is big boy on his last day of school.
The kids had a party with pizza and a bounce house.  I can't begin to explain the love he has for school.  There is pure pleasure when we say. "school!"

There he is in the orange shirt.  I forgot to put on his spirit shirt. :)

I love his toddler Montessori classroom.  It is just perfect.  I need to take a picture of their little toilet and sink, the area where they put their dishes, the entry area where they change their shoes, etc.  I will do that soon.

Big boy is so independent.  I love his guide and all of the assistants.  There is one guide and two assistants.  
Hope you are having a wonderful summer, if it is summer in your part of the world!





Summer Vacation


We are enjoying our summer vacation with my husband's family in South Padre Island, Texas.
Kids are wishing we could live here and so do I!  The weather is so pleasant compared to Dallas/FtWorth.



Digging a hole.

Here is big boy trying to climb to get in the carousel ride. 


Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Other Cabinets in the Room

1. Pencils, markers, crayons, in basket( table mats for table work and large clipboards)
2. Index cards, cards with the cursive alphabet, metal inset paper, painting tray, painting mats 
3. metal insets  
4. glue, scissors, recycled paper, small clipboards and old magazines and books that students can cut pictures from.

Botany and Zoology

History and Geography

Geography



Geometry

Music, Arts, Sewing boxes

 Nature trays, Yoga Cards, Spanish

Spanish


Peace Shelf and Student Portfolios

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Chore Charts in the Classroom

Here are some Chore Charts used in the Classrooms in our school.

From a Primary Classroom


From our Lower Elementary classroom

From the other Lower Elementary classroom
 In our classroom certain jobs are done on specific days of the week like Laundry.  We are assigned laundry days and times.  Most of the other jobs are done one day a week, usually on Fridays, before car line.
Our job chart is the middle one (the yellow one.) The first levels are paired with a second or third levels to complete the job.  Once everyone is done, the children sit in a circle and we go around each area and a child can give one compliment and one constructive criticism.  

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Language Cabinets



There are two cabinets of Language Materials in our classroom. 



  • Top Shelf:  Fish bowl with creative writing prompts – Grammar Symbols – Large Grammar Symbols for presentations, basket with parts of speech work for advanced students or 3rd levels,  3ring binder with how to write different types of letters and reports and the grammar symbols chart in front of it, SRA’s Box (SRA is a reading comprehension work.)  The child reads a story and answers questions based on the reading.  The stories start easy, one paragraph, and by the time the children are 2nd levels the stories get longer.
  • Second  Shelf: Grammar work for 1st and 2nd levels– Two baskets with color pencils  and grammar symbol stencils.
  • Third and Fourth shelves  – Sentence Analysis

  •  



  • Top Shelf:  Moveable Alphabet, phonics packets,  sight words
  • Second Shelf: Phonic packets and Dictionary Work
  • Third Shelf: Tackle boxes with Grammar Work



  • Monday, January 14, 2013

    Math Shelves


    Math Shelve One
     
      1. Shelve 1 – Addition and subtraction
                                                                  i.      Top Shelf – Number cards | Sand Paper Numbers | Addition Task Cards| Addition Flash Cards | Subtraction Task Cards | Subtraction Flash Cards | +,- Finger Boards, 100 Board, +,- Story Problems Notebook
                                                                ii.      2nd Shelf – Golden Beads
                                                              iii.      3rd Shelf – Snake games| Addition tiles | Addition Strip Board
                                                               iv.      Last Shelf – subtraction strip board | subtraction tiles | Stamp Games


    Top Left Number cards | Sand Paper Numbers
    Top Center - Addition Task Cards| Addition Flash Cards | Subtraction Task Cards | Subtraction Flash Cards

    Top Right-+,- Finger Boards, 100 Board, +,- Story Problems Notebook


    SHELVE 2

    Math Shelve 2 - Left Side
    Math Shelve 2 - Right side

      1. Cabinet 2 – Multiplication, Division and Fractions
                                                                  i.      Top Shelf – Task Cards | Flash Cards | Special Cases| Drill Cards | Story Problems and Finger Boards
                                                                ii.      2nd Shelf – Multiplication Bead Board | Pythagoras| Division Bead Board
                                                              iii.      3rd Shelf – Fraction Metal Insets(circles only) | Fraction Skillets
                                                               iv.      Last Shelf – Fraction Circles | Fraction Task Cards | Beads for checker board
    Checker Boards Stand next to math shelf 2.


    SHELVE 3

    Shelve 3 Left side

    Shelve 3 Right side


      1. Cabinet 3 – Division and Decimals
                                                                  i.      Top Shelf – File crate with worksheets of self tests | Word Problems | Bead Frames| Plant
                                                                ii.      2nd Shelf – Bead Frames |Binomial Cube and Trinomial Cube
                                                              iii.      3rd Shelf – Test Tubes | Division Bead Board | Place Value
                                  iv.      Last Shelf - Test Tubes | Division Bead Board | Division Beads and cups