How to Use Montessori Sandpaper Letters to Introduce Phonetic Reading

This is a set of sandpaper letters. Students first become familiar with the letters by tracing them with their fingers.

Montessori sand paper letters are large cards with the letters of the alphabet on them in a raised, grainy script. They are used at many different learning stages in the Montessori curriculum, and are familiar to children as young as three in many schools. These letters are first used to help children learn the alphabet and prepare their habitual motor skills to be receptive to learning to write. Later, sandpaper letters can be incorporated into introductory lessons for reading, by associating the sounds that the child knows that the letters make with words that are familiar.

Things You'll Need

• Sandpaper alphabet

Instructions

1. Sit with the child at a table or on the floor. You should be side by side so that you have the same perspective on the letters.

2. Have the student trace the letters. This should be a familiar exercise. As the child is tracing the letters, you, she or both of you can make the sound that the letters make. For example, if she is tracing the letter r, then it should be accompanied by a "ruh" sound.

3. Point out familiar things that use the r's sound. For example. you might say, "Listen, can you hear 'ruh' when I say rug or when I say rat? How about when I say art or bar?" Make sure that you emphasize the r's sound, but not to the point where the word becomes distorted or hard to understand. Start out with examples where the "r" is easy to identify, then move to words where it is in the middle or at the end of the word.

4. Point out that the child can also think of words that have the "r" sound in them. It is important to remember that many children in Montessori know the sounds but possibly not the names of the letters. This is to make reading easier and less confusing. However, you must remember to phrase your questions so that you are referring to the sound of the letter rather than to the letter by its proper name.

5. Work your way through several letters that have very different sounds. For example, you might use t, n and s. Do not introduce letters that make the same or similar sounds in the same lesson. For example, c and k should be introduced separately and so should m and n. You can build on the letters that the student is using with each successive lesson.

Tips & Warnings

• Some children come to montessori school already knowing their alphabet. In this case, you will need to work with the child to make sure that he knows the difference between the name of the letter and the sound of the letter. This is a good exercise to help with this distinction.