Past projects 2
Working for the Future: 3-D Printing Manufacturing.
Funded Feb 18, 2024We are so appreciative of your generosity and the 3D printer has gone right to work. We used it to create a bracket to add larger wheels on our Lemonade Stand delivery cart to help our students learn the valuable workforce readiness skills. They are currently learning how to use Computer Aided Drafting applications to design things the build with the 3D printer. The students have been reenergized to work in the classroom as the school year winds down.
We are also excited to be working with other academies and support each other with manufacturing parts or using specialty tools to complete our designs. The students look forward to working with our industrial and automotive classes to design and build parts their students may need for their own learning projects.
We have been working on printing mathematics manipulatives and have some other manipulative ideas to help with language as well as students with visual impairments, to help them reinforce their braille learning with physical manipulatives.
We are extremely grateful to have this opportunity afforded to us by you generous donations. Mahalo nui loa for supporting our keiki reach their highest potential.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Abe
Montessori for Special Education: Meeting the Needs of Exceptional Children
Funded Oct 30, 2023As an AMS certified Montessori Teacher, I have seen first hand the benefit to learning that concrete materials bring to the classroom. The Montessori Method fosters independence and self-directed learning through the free choice Work Cycle. Through the careful observation of the teacher, students learning is guided based upon their own interests.
In a classroom with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) students may be at all different levels of learning in the classroom. Not only do the concrete materials meet the needs of the student at their individualized level, they help build a solid foundation of learning various concepts in academic areas, especially Mathematics. The hands-on aspect of the materials allows students with disabilities and neurodivergences to have that concrete experience before they move into the abstract. Something that they can see, they can touch, they can feel, they can manipulate—really aids learning.
No other learning system that I am aware of more thoroughly breaks down concepts into manageable steps and parts than Montessori. Each new concept, or part of a skill has its difficulty isolated so the child can focus on mastering only one thing at a time. Isolating the difficulty in this way can enable children with special needs to experience success buy not overwhelming them with a multitude of steps, or needing to use multiple skills they may not have mastered. This tends to reduce frustration and math anxiety.
Being the decision maker in their learning is significantly important in the Special Education classroom where many students require (and have been accustomed to) prompts to direct every action they do. Students learn by doing and are free to move about. This is an advantage for those who require a high level of physical activity or may have difficulty sustaining attention in a more traditional classroom setting. Additionally, the organization and structure of a Montessori classroom helps children develop organizational and time management skills that lead to independence. This is especially important for students with executive functioning deficits.
We truly appreciate your generous support in helping our students reach their highest potential.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Abe