Elementary Montessori in the Home

Our teachers are hard at work, bringing Montessori to the home, connecting with their students, and continuing the Alcuin tradition of community.  Junior Elementary teacher, Nicole Cochrane, shares with us what the elementary team has been doing during this new normal...

Our elementary team worked tirelessly over spring break to produce a system that will best support our Montessori learners, while also understanding this unique situation we are currently facing. In talking with families to determine their needs, we found a wide variety and set out to develop a system that would support everyone based on their individual needs.

Another major goal was to coordinate our resources in order to enhance the ease of use for the children, parents, and staff but to do so in a way that most effectively replicates the effective nature of the Montessori environment, albeit, in a digital medium.
 
That said, we have developed a comprehensive program constructed of three independently useful platforms for the elementary community to center around.
 
1.  We have created a comprehensive library using Google Drive. It’s a one stop location for all your classwork needs and includes extensive work options, materials the children can create, passwords, Zoom links, parent resources, templates and more. This is a dynamic resource that the teachers are continuously working to expand and curate.
 
2.  We have upgraded our Seesaw subscription level which allows students and teachers to interact directly through assigned activities. The upgrade includes new features allowing the children to post from home making Seesaw into a 2-way interactive tool!
 
3.   We will be introducing the IXL personalized online learning platform as an option for those families who are comfortable with online learning.  As the third leg of our new educational structure, this platform will additionally support the children in their learning through a highly diverse, and personalized curriculum which automatically self-adjusts to the child’s level. The program allows the children to explore different concepts of interest, but also for the teachers to assign recommended works, providing along the way general activity oversight and guidance. The teachers will have to ability to see exactly what the students are working on and their level of proficiency within each skill.
 
Lastly, there are daily Zoom class meetings at 11:00 am for updates, expectations, sharing, and community.