Montessori Language Development
Maria Montessori developed her method of teaching more than 100 years ago. To this day, her techniques are still being employed in schools all around the world. One area that she pioneered was a method of teaching language skills to children, starting from a very young age. Montessori language development activities harness a child's sensitive periods for learning language, and use hands-on learning to develop skills.
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Montessori Language-Sensitive Period
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The sensitive period is the time when the child will most easily learn a particular skill. Montessori identified the sensitive period for language development at 2 to 3 years of age. Montessori advocates say this is the time to introduce the child to the sandpaper letters and the phonetic alphabet. Use of the material will also lead to the development of writing.
Language and Phonics
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Children begin to learn their phonetic sounds with the Montessori sandpaper letters. They are lowercase letters cut out of sandpaper and mounted on a wooden background. Usually the consonants are printed on red or pink, and vowels are printed on blue. During a lesson, the teacher models tracing the letter with the first two fingers of the dominant hand in exactly the same fashion the letter is written. At the same time, the teacher makes the letter's phonetic sound. The child then mimics. The focus is on phonetics. When they are mastered, the child learns the letter names.
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Early Reading and Writing
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When the child has mastered the sounds of the alphabet, he starts putting them together to spell (encode) words. This lesson is usually given first with the sandpaper letters and then with a smaller wooden movable alphabet. The child practices spelling simple words with three sounds and short vowels (cap, sit, rut, hog, men). Then he often spontaneously starts writing them, as he is familiar with letter formation from his work tracing the sandpaper letters.
Progression of Phonics
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As the child becomes more comfortable spelling these simple words, she also practices reading them in simple forms. Next she will start adding consonant blends (such as "bl," "cl," "st" and "pr") and consonant digraphs (such as "ch," "ph," "sh," "th" and "wh"), while still focusing on short vowel sounds. Next, other phonograms and long vowels are introduced. The child initially practices with the movable alphabet, isolating one new sound at a time, and then moves to reading the words on cards and in books.
Creating Phrases and Sentences
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The child also begins to learn about nouns, verbs and punctuation. He then starts to diagram sentences, using the Montessori grammar symbols. For example, a noun is represented by a large black triangle and a verb is represented by a large red circle. The child starts with a two-word sentence, such as "Jane sits." He places the triangle over "Jane" (the noun) and the circle above "sits" (the verb). The other symbols are as follows: article, a small light blue triangle; adjective, medium dark blue triangle; adverb, small orange circle; pronoun, pink (or purple) isosceles triangle; conjunction, horizontal pink rectangle; preposition, horizontal green crescent; and interjection, a yellow upside-down keyhole kind of shape.
Across the Curriculum
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Montessori uses language all across the curriculum. Vocabulary is emphasized in every activity. Children learn new vocabulary through nomenclature and definition activities. Especially at the elementary level, children have journals in which they write for every curriculum area. The language foundation, started in the early years, builds as the child progresses.
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