To be able to write, a child must develop a two-fold skill. He must commit to memory the shape of the letters and their corresponding sounds, and he must develop the muscular skill necessary for using the pencil with control.
To clarify this distinction, look carefully at what happens when either phase of this skill is not perfected. A child may wish to write
dog. He has good control of his hand, but his perception of the shapes of the letters is hazy. He writes
bog very neatly.
On the other hand, a child may know all the letters perfectly, but his hand is not practiced. He wants to write
dog but he actually puts
dog on the paper.
For a child to try to acquire both aspects of this skill at the same time is often discouraging and frustrating. It is extremely difficult for him to try to learn the path for making the letters at the same time that he is trying to learn how to move the pencil with control.
The materials that Dr. Montessori designed offer the child the opportunity to learn the shapes and sounds of the letters in a way that is completely independent from his perfection of the motor skill. Therefore, the child in the Montessori classroom learns to write not by writing per se, but by performing a number of purposefully structured activities that prepare him both indirectly and directly for success in handwriting.
THE SANDPAPER LETTERS
The child learns the alphabetical symbols by using the Sandpaper Letters. Each letter of the alphabet is cut out of sandpaper and mounted on an individual tablet, the vowels on blue and the consonants on red. The teacher shows the child how to trace the letter with two fingers following the same direction in which the letter is normally written.
Use of this material gives the child a three-fold impression. He sees the shape, he feels the shape, and he hears the sound of the letter which the teacher repeats when introducing it. The fact that the letter is made of sandpaper, rather than ink, invites the child to trace its shape. This is an important step in learning to write. The repetition of this exercise fixes the path of each of the letters in the child's muscular memory.
In a Montessori classroom the child learns the phonetic sounds of the letters before he learns their names used in the alphabetical sequence. The phonetic sounds are given first because these are the sounds he actually hears in words. For example, a child can hear sss at the beginning of the word stop. He cannot hear the alphabetical name of "s"in this word.
The child first becomes aware of these phonetic sounds when the teacher introduces the consonants with the Sandpaper Letters. For example, when presenting the letter m, the teacher makes a humming sound rather than saying em. She suggests words like mommy or muffin that begin with this sound. The child then repeats the sound and usually adds additional words in which this sound is used, like man or mitten.
In the first introduction of the vowels, the teacher gives the short vowel sounds such as those at the beginning of the words, apple, egg, inset, ostrich, and umbrella. As soon as the child learns a few vowels and consonants, she is ready to begin constructing three-letter words that have a short vowel sound.
THE METAL INSETS
A child in a Montessori classroom learns to control a pencil by filling in outlines-an activity that does not weary him because he enjoys it. To make the outline, he uses equipment known as the Metal Insets. Each inset represents a different geometric shape. After selecting a figure and tracing it on paper, the child fills in the outline with a colored pencil of his own choosing.
At first his strokes are erratic and often extend beyond the outline. By degrees they become more accurate and uniform. Progress in muscular control can be noted by comparing the child's designs from week to week and from year to year. Eventually he makes more intricate designs by superimposing two or three other shapes on the original figure. When colored, this effort resembles a stained glass window.
The designs shown above, made by children using the Metal Insets, illustrate various stages of progress in this activity. Although work with the Metal Insets gives the child an opportunity to experiment with color and design, it is not considered creative art. Crayons and paints are not used for this activity because the purpose is always pencil control.
WRITING
Sometime during the year when a child is in a Montessori class, an exciting thing happens. After he has worked for a while with the Metal Insets and the Sandpaper Letters, a day comes when he realizes that he is able to make words and numerals with a pencil. Montessori called this phenomenon the "explosion into writing."
When writing begins in this spontaneous way, the child is spared many tedious hours of forced effort. Writing is fun. Because he has already learned control, the repetition necessary for developing neatness and style does not tire him.
FROM WRITING to READING
WORD BUILDING
Dr. Montessori always pointed out that a young child has a natural sensitivity for language development which follows closely on the years when she learns to speak her native language. The child at three, four and five has a unique fascination for words, both printed and spoken. This fascination often enables her to begin reading and writing before the age at which it is traditionally taught.
The individual presentation of language materials in a Montessori classroom allows the teacher to take advantage of each child's greatest periods of interest. Reading instruction can begin on the day when the child wants to know what a word says or when she shows interest in using the Sandpaper Letters. The construction of words with movable letters nearly always precedes reading in a Montessori environment.
THE MOVABLE ALPHABET
After a child has learned the Sandpaper Letters, she is ready to make words with the large Movable Alphabet. For this activity the teacher prepares a bag of miniature objects representing three words with the short vowel sound, such as a bed, a lid, a fan and a cup. First the child selects an object, such as the bed, and says the name of it very slowly so she can hear each sound-b...e...d. She then selects the letter to represent the first sound and places it beside the object on a mat. Next she selects the letter for the second and finally the third.
Dr.Montessori called this activity "word building." The fact that the child is manipulating material at this stage is important because she still concentrates best on something she is doing with her hands.
The child usually continues the word building process for a long period of time. The classroom offers a wide variety of small toy-like figures and pictures for which she can build the names. Gradually the difficulty of the nouns increases from three-letter words like pig. to four-letter words containing a consonant blend, such as flag.
MATCHING WORDS AND PICTURES
Reading very naturally follows the word building exercises. After making lists of words for several days, or even weeks, a child gradually realizes that he can go back over the list and pronounce the words he constructed. However, pronouncing words that he has constructed himself is not really else has constructed. The opportunity to take this step comes when he matches a set of objects with a set of cards on which the names of the objects are already printed. To place the correct card with each object he must read the word on the card. Later he matches pictures and words-still using his hands while doing a reading exercise.
THE COMMAND CARDS
Verbs are introduced to the children with a set of red cards that have an action words printed on each one. The children enjoy these because, as they read each Command Cad, they must perform the appropriate action. Words such as run, hop, skip, clap and jump appear in the beginning set. Later the children follow directions that tell them to "Set the map on the desk"or "Sit on the red mat." The teacher increases the difficulty of the commands according to the progress of each child.
PHONOGRAMS
Two different colored Moveable Alphabets are used for building words containing phonograms. A phonogram is a special combination of two or more letters that produces a single sound different from the regular sequence of sounds of these letters. Examples of phonograms are oy as in toy, ch as in chin, and tion as in action. The particular phonogram that the child is learning is constructed in a color different from the rest of the word.
For example, when learning sh, the child can make words like ship, shell, and fish. Each time, he puts the sh in one color such as red, and the remainder of the word in another color, such as black. The teacher then uses two colors to print small phonogram and has a different word printed on each page. For example, the booklet illustrating the phonogram oa might have coat on the first page, boat on the second page, road on the third page and so forth. On each page, the phonogram oa is emphasized by a color different from the rest of the word.
READING DEVELOPMENT
Gradually the child learns words with tow and three syllables by doing reading exercises that offer variety than monotonous repetition. Also introduced at this time are the Puzzle Words (usually called Sight Words) such as one, does, sure, and the, that do not follow the phonetic rules and must be memorized. Because his skill in phonics gives him the means of attacking almost any new word, each child is encouraged to read about things that interest him. This introduces him to the longterm pleasures of reading.
Some children read at four, some at five, and some at six. The actual age is not as important as the right moment of readiness. If a child begins too early, he will be discouraged. If he is forced to wait until he has passed his initial period of interest, then he will miss that golden opportunity when he is propelled by his own natural enthusiasm. The freedom of the Montessori classroom allows each child's own interest to determine his progress.
The child's interest in reading is never stifled by monotony. Rather, it is cultivated as the most important key to future learning. He is not asked, "Why did Jane run"" which may not interest him at the moment. He is encouraged to explore books for answers to his own questions, whether they are about frogs, rockets, stars, or fire engines.
