Montessori Method | Montessori Musings

by Mareme Konare, Early Childhood Head Teacher

Scope and Sequence

In a Montessori classroom, the Language area fosters reading, writing, and oral skills, with phonics as the foundation for literacy. Reading and writing are closely connected, creating a seamless learning experience. A rich vocabulary is integrated across all areas of the Montessori Prepared Environment: Practical Life, Sensorial, Math, Language, and Culture. This ensures language development is part of everyday learning.

Introduction to Sounds with Sandpaper Letters

The journey of teaching children to read begins with introducing letter sounds using materials like the Sandpaper Letters. These tactile materials are designed to teach both reading and writing. When children are first introduced to letters, the focus is on the sounds they make rather than their letter names. For example, we say “/a/” for the letter “a” and “/b/” for the letter “b”. This learning process is guided by a sequential method called the Three-Period Lesson.

The First Period of a Three-Period Lesson is when the teacher introduces the sound (“This is /a/”) while tracing the corresponding Sandpaper Letter. This tactile and auditory connection helps children develop a strong memory of both the letter’s shape and sound. In the Second Period, the teacher asks the child to identify the sound (“Show me /a/”). And finally, in the Third Period, the child is asked to recall the sound independently (“What is this sound?”) while referencing the Sandpaper Letter.

Once children grasp the concept of individual sounds, objects related to the sounds are then introduced. For example, the teacher may say, “/a/, /a/, apple,” emphasizing the first letter of the word. The child is then encouraged to match objects to their corresponding sounds, reinforcing their understanding. Children practice these sounds independently, and the teacher reviews their work after completion, giving follow-up lessons if necessary.

Progression Through Sound Material

To ensure systematic learning, sounds continue to be introduced a few at a time, focusing on the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of phonetic words, using both objects and picture cards. This progression allows teachers to track students’ progress effectively, prior to Word Building.

Introduction to the Moveable Alphabet

Once children are confident with individual sounds, they are introduced to the Moveable Alphabet. This material bridges the gap between recognizing sounds and forming words. After receiving a lesson on how to use the Moveable Alphabet, children are given Objects (e.g., cat, hat, etc.) or Picture Cards and encouraged to “encode” the word by arranging the corresponding letters (c-a-t). This process, known as “Early Writing”, helps children connect sounds to written forms and fosters creative expression through “inventive (or invented) spelling”.

At the next stage, children begin to “decode”. Decoding involves blending the sounds they’ve now learned in order to form complete words. For example, when presented with “c-a-t”, the child learns to say “cat” and can independently match the word to the corresponding Object or Picture Card. This process of moving from encoding to decoding culminates in the child experiencing the “aha moment” of reading.

Advancing Reading Skills

As children’s skills develop, they progress through three levels of reading:

Level 1: Simple Words
~ The focus is on three-letter phonetic words (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC), such as “cat” and “mat”.
~ Learning is supported by the Pink Series reading materials.

Level 2: Words with Blends
~ Blends such as “bl”, “st”, and “fl” at the beginning or end of words (“blob”, “nest”, and “flag”) are introduced.
~ Learning is supported by the Blue Series reading materials.

Level 3: Complex Words
~ Work includes lessons on phonograms, irregular spelling patterns, and silent letters (e.g., “ai” in “hair”, “sh” in “ship”, silent “e”, and the silent “k” in “knight”).
~ Learning is supported by the Green Series reading materials.

Picture and Word Matching to Comprehension

Some Montessori Language lessons require children to match words to objects or pictures, enhancing their vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. As they progress, children begin matching phrases or sentences to corresponding objects or pictures, further developing their ability to understand context and meaning. For instance, when encountering the word “crust”, children use prior knowledge and contextual clues, such as a picture of a pie or the Earth to determine whether it refers to a pie crust or the Earth’s crust. This ability to connect words to meaning fosters vocabulary growth, critical thinking, and comprehension skills.

The Montessori Approach

In summation, the Montessori approach to teaching reading is a carefully structured, hands-on process that nurtures each child’s natural curiosity and ability. By emphasizing phonics and providing tactile, auditory, and visual experiences, we create a strong foundation for literacy. Through systematic progress from encoding to decoding and from concrete to abstract, children learn to read and develop a lifelong love for language.

by Camilla Nichols, Senior Director of Montessori Development
and Tori Inkley, Executive Director

The very first official Montessori training course was held in Rome, Italy in 1913. While the course attracted international attendees, the majority were from America. Maria Montessori taught the theory lessons in Italian at her home and the practical lessons/demonstrations took place at Casa dei Bambini (or The Children’s House), the first Montessori School, which she had established in 1907 in Rome.

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During this time, Dr. Montessori experienced significant changes in her personal life. Her mother, Renilde Stoppani, passed away in 1912, and Montessori was reunited with her son, Mario, who had been raised by a foster family since infancy. Maria Montessori had never married, and due to societal expectations and her professional ambitions, she had arranged for Mario to be raised by others. He later became an integral part of her work, continuing her legacy.

Interest in the Montessori educational approach was particularly strong in the United States, where prominent figures such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, and Margaret Woodrow Wilson (President Wilson’s daughter) supported her work. The American journalist Samuel McClure convinced Montessori to travel to the U.S. for a three-week lecture tour in 1913, which he described as a journey “for the conquest of the world”. Dr. Montessori boarded the SS Cincinnati in Naples for a 12-day voyage to America, where she delivered lectures, including two at Carnegie Hall in New York. It has been reported that President Woodrow Wilson and his daughter were so impressed by the Montessori Method that a Montessori classroom was installed in the White House. During her travels, Montessori kept personal and inspirational notes that have since been translated into English and published in Maria Montessori Sails to America: A Private Diary, 1913, by Carolina Montessori, Dr. Montessori’s great-granddaughter.

Dr. Maria Montessori and
Journalist Samuel McClure, 1913

The Evening Star newspaper published an article in 1913 highlighting Dr. Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel’s advocacy for making Washington, D.C., America’s headquarters for Montessori education. Anne George, the first American graduate of Dr. Montessori’s training program in Rome, helped introduce the Montessori Method to the U.S. She was the Director of an early Montessori school in Washington, D.C., with the support of the Bell family. Montessori’s ideas ignited a debate in America about traditional education versus the Montessori approach, which emphasized children’s independence and self-directed learning rather than a rigid, teacher-driven curriculum. Her visit to the U.S. made such a profound impact that she was urged to return as soon as possible to lead more lectures and training programs, as unauthorized training centers were emerging. If Maria Montessori was unable to come herself, it was requested that she send someone who was qualified to train teachers in her method.

In 1915, Maria Montessori returned to the United States, this time accompanied by her son, Mario. She addressed thousands of educators in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego and participated in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (“World’s Fair”) in San Francisco. One of the most famous moments of this visit was the “Glass Classroom”, a demonstration where 30 children worked independently in a transparent, glass-walled environment, allowing spectators to witness the Montessori Method in action. During this visit, Montessori wrote letters that have since been preserved and published in Maria Montessori Writes to Her Father: Letters from California, 1915, also translated by Carolina Montessori. Dr. Montessori’s California lectures have been archived, with English translations by Robert G. Buckenmeyer, who also compiled articles she published in various newspapers.

After Maria Montessori’s passing in 1952, her son Mario continued to spread her educational philosophy. In 1960, he appointed Nancy McCormick Rambusch to establish the American Montessori Society (AMS), which played a crucial role in expanding Montessori education in the United States. Rambusch founded Whitby Montessori School in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1958, and today, there are more than 15,750 Montessori schools worldwide.

Maria and her son, Mario Montessori, India, 1939

At The Montessori Children’s Academy (MCA), we continue to honor Maria Montessori’s legacy by celebrating “Montessori Education Week” alongside schools around the world. During this special week in February of each year, MCA students demonstrate Montessori Practical Life exercises for parents and visitors, sing Montessori songs, study Italy, review the timeline of Dr. Montessori’s life and work, and practice the “Silence Game”, a mindfulness exercise inspired by Montessori’s teachings on peace. For Montessori Education Week 2025, parents were also invited to observe their children’s classroom activities, and the celebrations concluded with a pizza party at Nonna’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant in Florham Park.