Category: Language

Children Working

Children Working

Sometimes i like to go around the room and explore with the children what works on the shelf they chose. Of course, not everyone can do the lesson work from Circle Time, so it is important to have the shelves filled with works that reinforce those areas of the classroom like Geography, Botany, Math, Language, Practical Life, etc. It is amazing how, in the Montessori environment, the children are given these opportunities and they are allowed to explore to their hearts content. Many from traditional schools don’t understand this methodology because they are not used to relinquishing their perceived control over the childs progress. However, for us, we see that this allows them to blossom within the controlled environment of works we provide. One student may have interest for only a half-hour, while another may take an entire day, and return to it the next day. The child is 100% engaged and retains the lessons learned. I love it!

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Reading Program

Reading Program

I have been busy reorganizing my reading program and getting it ready for the new school year. There are three reasons for me doing this. One is because the shelf space at the school I will begin working at is limited so I needed to condense the many boxes somehow. The second reason is because it will be an older group of children and I realized I may need to provide more than one set of say, sentences to work with. Some of my things are very old and so a making them again has felt great! Another reason is

because I have been doing some Dyslexia Tutoring and I wanted to incorporate some of the ideas from those lessons. I think they could prove to be helpful and enhance the reading program.

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Read Across America

Read Across America

Read Across America Day is a highlight of each school year for me and the children. This is an annual reading motivation and awareness program to celebrate books and reading that many schools, libraries, communities centers, and homeschool families take part in. It is a nationwide reading celebration. There are many different ways to involve a child’s participation in the program.

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Initial Sound Boxes

Initial Sound Boxes

As children begin to learn letter sounds using the Sandpaper Letters, it is important to provide other materials that reinforce the letters and sounds they are learning. Initial sound boxes are a great way to do this. These boxes help to refine auditory perception of sounds, encourage development of concentration, and prepare a child for reading.

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The Sandpaper Letters

The Sandpaper Letters

The Sandpaper Letters are one of the main features of the language area in a Montessori classroom. They are beautiful and easily attract the attention of children. As children work with the Sandpaper Letters, their sense of site, touch, and hearing is involved. They can feel the sandpaper shape of each letter and begin to learn that each one has a name and a sound. Phonetic sounds are the foundation for the reading program in a Montessori classroom.

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Phonetic Reading Boxes

Phonetic Reading Boxes

The Montessori Language Program is designed for children to learn phonetically. Phonics is a reading method that allows a child to learn the sounds of letters by developing an understanding of how these sounds are used individually, in groups, and whole words. Phonetic instruction is the foundation of the Montessori Language Program. Once a child has mastered the sounds associated to each letter, they are introduced to the movable alphabet, which allows them to put letters together, sounding them out to spell simple, then progressively more complex, words.

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Pre-Language Activities

Pre-Language Activities

The Language area of the Montessori environment begins for young children with exercises that involve such things as matching, classifying, and sorting. Children are often seen naturally sorting out objects. These materials develop thinking skills and build the foundation for later problem-solving skills.

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Alphabet Sound Extensions

Alphabet Sound Extensions

If your looking for an idea to reinforce letter sounds, a fun way can be through books and art, especially for the younger child. The book set by Jane Belk called, My First Steps to Reading is a great resource.

I appreciate her use of the letter sound highlighted in each book as well as her use of lower case letters. If you decide to use them, keep in mind that they are fictional books, and a reminder of this will need to be brought out to the children in a Montessori classroom.

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