Thursday, July 16, 2009

NAMC 6-12 Classroom Guide!

My husband and I just bought the whole set of Lower Elementary manuals from NAMC. It was a big purchase and pretty exciting to get the stuff in the mail. I will have to tweak some of the curriculum to fit in with our Catholic Living education.

So far, I'm halfway through with the NAMC 6-12 Classroom Guide. This guide is so awesome! I'd also like to get the 3-6 guide if it is significantly different. I totally recommend the NAMC manual as I have not come across the practical day to day function in the Montessori classroom anywhere else. I am so glad we got this now that it is summer so I can be more prepared when our school year begins.

6 comments:

  1. I'm so glad to read your post as I have debated for months whether to invest in the lower el curriculum from namc. Is it worth the $1600? Were you able to find it at a discount someplace??

    Many thanks, Judith

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  2. Hi Judith!
    The classroom guide alone has been so valuable to me. The whole program is pretty expensive, but my husband and I did the math and we figured it would be cheaper to buy the whole set. If you are a very visual person, like me, I think these manuals will help. If you don't need a lot of visual aids, then maybe a program like Montessori R&D would be for you. Those manuals are less expensive, but don't have the color photographs to help you out from what I hear. Some of the NAMC manuals are not necessary or relevant to me. Once I finish with the 6-12 guide, I will go ahead and look more closely at the curriculum manuals to see which one's I can sell. One thing I can tell you is that the lessons in the NAMC manuals are not necessarily in sequential order. I will have to look at this more closely. If you are interested in reading more opinions on the NAMC manuals, check out these threads at the 4 real learning forum:
    http://4real.thenetsmith.com/search.asp?KW=namc&SM=1&SI=PT&FM=0&member=&selectMember=&OB=1

    Also, check Ebay often and the Montessori Swap group on Yahoo! Elizabeth Papandrea is AMI trained and has elementary and primary albums for sale at Montessori Swap.

    Hope this helps!
    -Susana

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  3. Dear Susana,

    Thank you so much. I came across a blog by a lower elementary teacher and he recently posted his math album online (freemontessori.org) which does have some visuals. BUT, I had trouble understanding some of the lessons/materials. I am a certified primary teacher and hoped it would be easier to understand the lessons at a lower el level. I have invested in many of the lower el materais and am loath to spend too much more... However, I know I need really good albums, and I, like you am very visual. Thank you so much for the links too. I thought I had seen namc manuals on ebay but when I tried to find them again they were gone! I suppose, as you say, I can always sell what I don't find useful. Thanks again, Judith

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  4. Hi,

    I am wondering about your thoughts on the NAMC curriculum now that you have had more time to use it. Have you found the entire curriculum to be useful? I am considering the teacher training as well. Any thoughts? Would you recommend?
    Thanks. Abby

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  5. I came across your blog searching for info on NAMC's lower elementary curriculum. I would love to hear an update now that you're a year in. We are considering starting this next Fall.

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  6. Hi, I am a bookseller who happens to have a daughter in a Montessori (which is fantastic). I came across some of these manuals (2007 edition) and was just about to post them on eBay. Would you mind if I pasted your review there?

    Thanks also for a great resource! I'm glad I stumbled upon it!

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