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Favorite Finds at AMS 2015

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Favorite Finds at AMS 2015 Conference in Philadelphia

The teachers at Trillium all went to the American Montessori Society Conference in Philadelphia last week and we had a blast!  We loved meeting so many of you, our amazing blog readers!

If you missed the conference, you can order the audio recordings of all the workshops and download free handouts from the AMS website.

Here we are getting our booth ready in the exhibit hall.

Getting the Trillium Montessori booth ready at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

See all those binders?  Those are printouts of all the materials we have in our TpT store.  We had them available so people could see exactly what is included in the different packs.  Teachers could also purchase the “whole store” on a flash drive.   The flash drive is now available here (sorry, the conference price has expired!).  It will be available for shipping in the US only, but yes, it will still come with a school license so you can share with other teachers at your school (woohoo!)

One of my favorite things about going to the national conference is checking out all the new vendors in the exhibit hall.  The usual favorites were there of course, but here are a few new-to-me companies (and friends) that I discovered this time around.
My wish list has gotten really big!

Sewing in the Montessori Classroom
A Practical Life Curriculum
by Aimee Fagan

Aimee Fagan with her brand new sewing curriculum book at the AMS Montessori Conference in PhilapdelphiaGet the book on Amazon

Also on Kindle

I got to meet Aimee Fagan!  She’s the author of the Montessori Works Blog and has just published a fabulous sewing curriculum.  She had a few preview copies with her in Philly and she kindly gave me one! You can find her book on Amazon.

Wings Worms and Wonder
by Kelly Johnson

Wings Worms WOnder

Wings Worms and Wonder at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

I also got to meet up with my friend Kelly Johnson.  She’s a former lower elementary teacher who now spends her time helping schools and organizations implement a gardening curriculum.  Be sure to check out her blog and sign up for her free lesson plans and nature journal prompts.  (Psst, she did all the gorgeous illustrations in her book by herself!)

Music Box

Ok this one just blew me away!  I NEEED this!  It’s a simple looking wooden box with a button on it.  Place the special cards on the box and press the button to hear the sound of the instrument.  Isn’t this just perfect for your toddler or preschool classroom?  What a great shelf work.  And no need for an ipad!
It’s made by MFB Productions Inc. and is at the top of my wish list.

Where am I in the Universe?

Where Am I

Where Am I Cosmic Nesting Dolls at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

Where am I in the universe cosmic nesting dolls and book

I loved these gorgeous nesting dolls.  They come with a beautifully illustrated book that describes where a child is in the universe.  Judy and Elise also do teacher workshops.  You can get more information here.

Bloomz.net

bloomz

Bloomz free parent communication app at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

I met Melissa and Chaks from Bloomz.  They have a fantastic little app to facilitate parent communication at schools.  You can set up volunteer requests, schedule parent conferences, share messages and pictures, connect with other parents in your school/class, parents can arrange playdates or projects together and a lot more.  It’s like a little school social network.  Best of all, it’s completely free.  Yes, free.  I’m going to begin experimenting with it soon!  Check out the Bloomz.net website for more details.

Montessori Collective

Montessori Collective

Montessori Collective at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

The Montessori Collective has materials designed by Montessori teachers and hand crafted by artisans.  They have a number of items that can be used with Sonnie McFarland’s book Honoring the Light of the Child.  If you have a concept for a material, you should get in touch with Ariel and tell her we sent you!  More info at Montessoricollective.com

Lucky Learning Tunes

Lucky Learning Tunes

Lucky Learning Tunes at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

I loved the ladies at the Lucky Learning Tunes booth!  Terri is a Montessori teacher and has been teaching for about 30 years.  She wrote and sang all the songs in her collections.  She played her guitar for us right there at the booth.  In addition to making her wonderful songs about math, language, history and geography available to us, Terri also does workshops for schools.  You can find out more at LuckyLearningTunes.com

Virtual Montessori

Virtual Montessori at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

I was happy to finally meet up with Jean Chenai of Virtual Montessori.  She has the most beautiful classroom shelves setup I have ever seen.  She also makes lovely materials for the classroom.  Her chalkboards are so elegant.  She also has lovely wooden continent boxes.  This woman has a wonderful aesthetic sense.  I really want to go and observe her classroom one day!  Get more information at VirtualMontessori.com

Educational Resource Company

Educational Resources Company Clear Containers for Montessori Card materials at the AMS Montessori Conference in Philapdelphia

This company is not new to me, but I wanted to include it here because I get a lot of questions about how to store the number tiles for the Hundred Board.  I like the container in this picture and will probably order it.  I also love their small clear 3-part card trays.  They are the right size for many of my cards.  The wooden 3-part card trays from Montessori Services are beautiful but much too big for my materials.  Get more information about the Educational Resource Company here.