by Fiorella Benson, Early Childhood Head Teacher
(edited by Tori Inkley)
“So, the child, it is clear, does not inherit a pre-established model for his language, but he inherits the power of constructing a language by an unconscious activity of absorption.”
~ Dr. Maria Montessori (The Absorbent Mind)
Maria Montessori explained that human beings are born with a special mechanism that allows them to learn a language by interacting with people around them and from experiences within their environment. She believed that this period spans from birth to the age of six; a period during which children have an “absorbent mind”. Montessori observed that during the first three years, children follow a pre-determined plan in a process that is primarily unconscious, allowing them to absorb the structure of language and express themselves in sentences with the right syntax. The results of this first phase become evident during the period of the conscious mind between the ages of three and six, when children develop a sense of awareness, explore their environment through independent purposeful movement, and continue their development of language in reading and writing.
The Montessori Method in the Language Area takes into consideration this “sensitive period” of language when a child has an absorbent mind and highlights the importance of creating an adequately prepared environment to help the child’s individual ability to construct his or her own knowledge through work. The Language Area in the Montessori classroom combines the progression of a series of steps with appropriate materials to help the child develop language.
Children work with the Sequencing Materials first, as this helps to develop self-expression, communication, and classification. Sandpaper Letters follow, as they help the child explore the physical construction of the sound, as well as its phonetic importance. Children are introduced to sounds using the Three Period Lesson: “This is…”, “Show me…”, and “What is…”. They use their first and middle fingers to trace the letters while repeating the sounds they make. This activity prepares the child to write when she or he can hold a pencil properly, and it also helps the child to visualize the similarities and differences between the letters and to memorize sounds, which is another crucial step in reading. Following a multi-sensory approach, the child will then trace the letters on a chalkboard before progressively writing between two lines on paper using a pencil.
“Touching the letters and looking at them at the same time, fixes the image more quickly through the co-operation of the senses. Later, the two facts separate; looking becomes reading; touching becomes writing.” ~ Maria Montessori (The Montessori Method)
During this time, writing is also introduced so that the child develops an association between words that are being read and words that are written. One of the first steps is to strengthen the hand muscles and to familiarize children with the precision of movement used in writing by working with the Metal Insets. The child traces a pink metal frame with a colored pencil, and later, traces parallel lines from left to right.
The materials and activities in the Practical Life area improve hand-eye coordination and require the children to work from left to right and top to bottom, as they will do when writing and reading. Materials in the Sensorial area, such as the Touch Boards, the Touch Tablets, and the Knobbed Cylinders, help the child when preparing to work with the Sandpaper Letters and indirectly with handwriting.
On the road to reading, Montessori students work with the Large Movable Alphabet. They first receive lessons on building three-letter phonetic words using objects and picture cards, followed by building four-letter (or more) words using objects and pictures. Once this is mastered, the child will continue through the phonetic series of reading materials. From there, children progressively move on to more complex, non-phonetic words using the Small Movable Alphabet. Here, they learn consonant blends and phonograms and make booklets using both.
Teaching grammar is also part of the Montessori Method. Grammar exercises in the Montessori classroom that focus on Parts of Speech use different symbols and colors to represent nouns, adjectives, articles, verbs, and adverbs. Through various materials and activities that utilize cards and objects, children learn the function of the Parts of Speech and the correct order in which to place them in a sentence.
As with writing, the Montessori Method not only utilizes Montessori materials to help children learn how to read, but also exposes them to other meaningful experiences where reading is involved, such as listening to stories being read aloud that range from fiction to nonfiction to poetry and so on. These experiences allow the children to discover that language is a way to communicate ideas, understand the world around them, and be part of a community. This directly corresponds with Maria Montessori’s concept of Cosmic Education and assists children in developing a sense of gratitude for the Universe and their role within it. Children, unsuspectingly, discover that language is simply a foundational step on their individual educational journeys.