What's New

This past June, I finished my first year as a Montessori teacher at Chiaravalle Montessori School in Evanston, Illinois. Great kids, great teachers, great staff. I worked with kids ages 6 to 9 and had lots of fun. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this website are my own and do not necessarily reflect Chiaravalle's conception or implementation of the Montessori method.

During my M.Ed. in Montessori program, I wrote a couple of papers:

• Educational Research and Educational Practice
• Learning Math with Manipulatives

Kids

• Do online activities to learn about Turns and Sectors (age 7 and up)
• Download Circular Reasoning to learn about angles, explain what you've learned, and create art (age 9 and up)
• Learn to describe, measure and create angles and how they relate to turns and sectors (age 9 and up)
• Deepen your understanding of angles, shapes and rational numbers with Rational Numbers in Geometry online activities (age 9 and up)
• Learn about algebra using the online textbook Beginning Algebra and MSWLogo or Berkeley Logo (age 11 and up)
• Use NetLogo to explore Statistical Research (age 12 and up)
• Learn how to control turtle behavior, create cool patterns, and tell stories with MicroWorlds Logo (age 9 and up)

Parents

Expanded to include information on upcoming courses at the Center for Talent Development.

• Arrange private tutoring or enrichment sessions in math or computer science
• See the local and online classes I'll be teaching through Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development

Teachers

New information on my upcoming talks at NCTM conferences and a new article on introducing turtle geometry in the Montessori classroom.

• Read about an activity that helps young children distinguish the angle attribute from other attributes like area or length..
• Learn how to use Fraction Circles and Polygons. to help kids learn about external angles and prepares them to draw polygons in Logo.
• Understand the math behind the pattern found on the top of Montessori's binomial cube box.

Curriculum and educational software designers

• Mining Montessori Design Patterns
• Montessori Design Patterns
• Colored Sectors:  Applying a Montessori Design Pattern to the Problem of Angle Representation
• Circular Reasoning: Applying Montessori Design Patterns to Development of Software that Supports Explorations in Geometry for Elementary School Children

Researchers

Improved navigation.

• For my research, I start with the idea that Montessori's design principles can and should be used to develop educational software that helps kids understand geometry
• I'm planning a literature review of related background material.
• I'm also looking for ways to apply Contextual Inquiry in Montessori classrooms to educational curriculum, materials and software design.
• From a review of literature, Contextual Inquiry, and my own recollections and experiences, I'd like to collect a set of design patterns that others find useful.
• I also want to test out my designs, design process, and design patterns.
• Ultimately, this should help me refine and implement a number of lesson ideas.
• I'd also like to learn more about what other Montessorians are doing with computers.
• And I'd like to share outcomes of my own work, like my Thinking About Circles class.

Leone Learning Systems, Inc. (LLS) is a North Shore company that provides online courses for kids anywhere and local teaching and tutoring services for students in Chicago and the Northern Suburbs of Chicagoland. LLS also provides a free geometry software package for children age 6 and up, and free resources for teachers and parents. This site includes information about classes taught, availability for tutoring, learning activities for kids, lesson plans, and an ongoing software and curriculum research and development effort.

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LLS Downloads

• Circular Reasoning
• Tetrominoes
• Cycloids

Related Links

Center for Talent Development

• LearningLinks (Grades 4-12)
• Summer Program (Grades PreK-12)
• Saturday Enrichment Program (Grades PreK-9)

Montessori

• American Montessori Society (AMS)
• Association Montessori Internationale (AMI)
• North American Montessori Teacher's Association (NAMTA)
• Montessori Online
• Montessori and Technology
• The Montessori Teachers Collective

Logo

• MicroWorlds Logo
• Berkeley Logo
• MSWLogo
• NetLogo
• Logo Foundation

Math

• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
• Math Forum @ Drexel

Patterns and Design

• Interaction Design Patterns
• The Pattern Gallery
• InContext
• The Design Based Research Collective

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