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.
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??
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Judith
Hi Judith!
ReplyDeleteThe 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
Dear Susana,
ReplyDeleteThank 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
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI 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
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.
ReplyDeleteHi, 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?
ReplyDeleteThanks also for a great resource! I'm glad I stumbled upon it!