NSM Aides – A talented group of people who are making

 NSM Aides – A talented group of people who are making a difference!
Thanks to your generous donations last year, the NSM PTA was able to hire 10 additional hours of
classroom aide time per week. Having aides in the classroom allowed the teachers to better deliver on
the promise of individualized instruction. The aides were:
• Providing repetition and support for lessons that the students had previously learned with their
teacher. The teachers also taught the aides how to use certain Montessori materials learning so
they were able to check on children’s understanding by asking questions like, “tell me how you
got that answer”
• leading book clubs and furthering discussions about the books
• providing more targeted individualize time for kids to read out loud or practice math skills
• reviewing tests with students who missed questions on the test to understand what the students
didn’t get and figure out what support they need to learn those concepts
• facilitating the second language learners on the innovative DynEd computer program
When the teachers were asked about what our aides did best, they said that our aides are:
• Brilliant at managing the room
• Calm, respectful, and very “Montessori”
• Flexible and able to change their direction mid-stream to meet the needs of the children
• Coming into the classroom with ideas on how to improve the learning for the children and
respectfully suggesting them
• Sharp, conscientious, and are able to see what the students need with little direction from the
teacher
Our aides were able to work with students at all levels from the ones who were struggling to the ones
who needed additional challenge. Here are some of their stories from the classroom.
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There was one girl in the Middle School who had been struggling with math and had become selfconscious about it. After a few weeks of working with her, I witnessed a transformation. I was
working with a group of kids and had asked about a particular math concept. This girl who had
previously been hesitant answering questions confidently raised her hand and explained the three
important rules that were pertinent to this concept. Another student who had been absent the
week before and was walking by heard her and remarked, “You got smart while I was gone.” The
girl beamed!
Maria Montessori spoke of “sensitive periods” which are times in which a child’s learning in a
certain area can leap forward because the brain is primed to learn. I witnessed this the other day.
There was one Kindergartner who would not read out loud to anyone. I noticed this child was
sitting outside with a stack of six non-fiction books. The child proceeded to read all six books out
loud to the ducks (and to me as I sat alongside). Because I could spend the time with this child, I
could create a bridge for the child to begin reading to people.
Please donate online today at http://www.nsmontessori.org/donate to help fund additional aide time
again this year. Once again, NSM has been offered an anonymous Matching Challenge Grant, which
will match up to $10,000 of new or increased donations made before August 31, 2013.
Thanks for helping support our children’s Montessori education! Please feel free to contact us with any
questions.
Phyllis Harrison
NSM Principal
[email protected]
Holly Klingel
NSM PTA President
[email protected]