“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” – Maria Montessori
At “Back to School Night,” parents had the opportunity to write down questions they had about the Montessori Philosophy or about our Elementary program. One of the questions asked was, “What materials made by Montessori are still being used today?” Surprisingly, the answer is almost all of them. While Montessori companies have continued to improve upon her designs, most of the Elementary Montessori works were invented by Dr. Montessori and her son, Mario, in the early 1910s. Below you will find photos from Montessori’s book, The Montessori Elementary Material, which you can read for free through the Gutenburg Project here, and explanations of how we use those materials!
This is a Grammar Box, which we still use daily! The Grammar Box helps students recognize different parts of speech and their functions in a sentence. Understanding parts of speech leads to greater comprehension and better writing skills. Recent studies have proven that learning grammar using color coded material and symbols is the most effective method and Montessori had this idea a century ago!Here you will see our Bead Bars and Multiplication Bead Board. Both materials encourage students to notice relationships between numbers to memorize their number facts while fully understanding what the equation really means. Coming to a realization about number families, instead of being told their relationship, leads to deeper understanding and confidence.Here a student is using the “Racks and Tubes” or “Test Tube Division.” This material allows students to understand the process of long division with manipulatives before seeing how to complete it on paper. As with the previous math work, physically manipulating numbers gives students a deeper understanding of how the process of division works. Students work with this material first, then with this material and paper, then moving towards paper only when they are ready.
Lower Elementary by Ms. Marlee
Our Elementary students complete a journal every Monday about any topic of their choosing. One third grade student asked another third grader if she could interview her this week. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to get to know one another while working on their communication and listening skills.This second grader is working on the Division Bead Board. While practicing this work, students become familiar with the ways in which numbers can be divided. Some dividends are evenly divisible while others are not. This work also helps them come to understand the relationship between multiplication and division. This work is closely related to the Multiplication Bead Board shown above!
Upper Elementary by Ms. Ashley
This fifth year student is researching the multiples of nine to find the rule for divisibility of nine. This student caught on to the rule that the units place in the multiple was going down one, while the tens place in the multiple was going up one! Another student noticed that if you add the digits of the multiples together, you will get a sum of 9!These students built “The Table of Pythagoras” using a lot of communication and teamwork! “The Table of Pythagoras” is a geometric representation of a multiplication table. If you are as interested as I was, here is a very brief history of the multiplication table (scroll to “History” section).
Enrichments by Ms. Erica
Upper Elementary had a lot of fun singing popular pop songs in music class. They are excited to show off their new tunes at Grandparents Day.
REMINDERS:
For information on what your child is doing daily, please check in on Transparent Classroom!
Ramseyer Field Trip Forms are due TODAY, September 13.
Ramseyer Trip for First and Second Year students – September 20
Typing lessons begin Friday, September 27. We could use more parent volunteers to continue to make typing classes possible. Please sign up here if you are interested in supervising!
