Angel
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Joined: April 22 2006
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| Posted: May 31 2008 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
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montessori_lori wrote:
The drawings, when there are some, are just sketches to help you know how to present the material. They are not meant to be used as materials in any way. I'm not familiar with the blackline masters from NAMC, but that's different from their albums, right? I would never look to NAMC for materials.
During the training, we draw our own pictures on the left-hand side of the pages, with colored pencils, so that we see exactly what the trainers are showing us. That's what makes the albums so valuable. I'd grab mine in case of a fire :)
The math album probably has the most drawings, but the others wouldn't have many. The idea is that you see the materials presented during the training and draw your own pictures.
ETA: When you think about it, the math album is really the one you need drawings for. You don't need picture after picture of how to present the botany nomenclature cards, for instance. So that's why there's not as many pictures in the language and cultural albums. |
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I think I need to qualify my previous post a bit in the interest of coherency. (Not my strongest suit.) 
Yes, the blackline masters *are* different from the albums. They're sold on CD and billed as "supplemental material". What was frustrating about the Math blackline masters CD is that the sample given on the website is of the geometry nomenclature cards. I expected there to be fractions cards, maybe the multiplication charts -- that kind of thing, mostly because the History Blackline Masters CD contains the Timeline of Life, etc. But the Math blackline masters CD is definitely not as helpful.
Also, when I talked about needing visuals... Lori's right; this is much more important in subjects like math, which use a lot of the more complicated apparatus. I think the elementary language activities (which I haven't done and am on the fence about, considering that my 9 and 11 yos like their workbooks) could also benefit from some visuals.
The reason I, personally, do need visuals in certain areas is twofold: 1) I don't have any Montessori training. In fact, I've never actually seen Montessori in action. So, for example, I could not get my mind around the Snake Game when it was just presented in words, but when I saw a picture of how it ought to be done, then I understood it. Which leads to the second reason I, personally, need visuals in some areas:
2) I am a very, very visual learner. When I say I need the pictures, I mean it. I'm also on the quite disorganized end of the spectrum, and I have very little time to wade through lots of text in search of what I need for tomorrow.
For the record, I don't have all NAMC's manuals, and I won't be ordering all of them. (I have this terrible fear that I am coming off as a commercial for them, and that's not what I intended!!  ) And I don't think R&D's are bad, not at all. Most of the R&D albums just didn't work for me. If you are more organized than I am, or have more time, or can follow written directions  , R&D albums (or others) would probably work just fine.
Actually, I just ordered the Language Matters book from Nienhuis, so it's funny that this conversation came up.
You know, I was thinking about how Lori said she would grab the albums she created herself in a fire. In a perfect world, we would all be able to visit each other in person, observe some homeschooling in action, and tour the set-up, so to speak. (And drink tea and eat cookies, as well.  ) But in the area I live, I am the only homeschooler in my homeschooling group who does not use a boxed curriculum. If I say "Montessori", they say, "Monte- who?"
So, in an imperfect world, I am really grateful for the people who hang out in this forum!  A lot of the fumbling I've done in the past is because there wasn't as much support and/or information out there, and I was just striking out on my own. It's nice to be able to pool knowledge.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: more on the namc vs r&d debate
