Montessori Primary School Curriculum
The Montessori Primary Program offers individualised instruction, which means that the
child may work and be helped on an individual basis. Individualised learning establishes
more intimate contact among the child, the teacher, and the work. The teacher can
become involved with the child in other than a ‘talk-and-chalk’ stance before an entire
class.
Montessori individualised instruction deals in the concrete. The program permits a
variety of approaches, using at every turn dynamic and colourful manipulatives, which
materialise abstract principles. These beautiful concrete materials are used throughout the
entire curriculum, including math, reading, grammar, writing, spelling, geography,
history and natural and Earth Systems science etc.
Language
In a Montessori classroom children learn the phonetic sounds of letters before they learn
the alphabetical names in a sequence. The phonetic sounds are given first because these
are the sounds they hear in words that they need to be able to read. The children first
become aware of these phonetic sounds when the teacher introduces the consonants with
the Sandpaper Letters, during the sensitive period for touch in the Children’s House.
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
begins on the day when the children want to know what a word says or when they show
an interest in using Sandpaper Letters. Writing- or the construction of words with the
movable letters- nearly always precedes reading in a Montessori environment.
Gradually the children learn the irregular words, and words with two and three syllables,
by doing many reading exercises which offer variety rather than monotonous repetition.
Also available in the Montessori classroom are many attractive books using a large
number of phonetic words. Proceeding at their own pace, children are encouraged to read
about things, which interest them. Their skills in phonics gives them means of
approaching almost any new word, so that they are not limited to a specific number of
words which they have been trained to recognise by sight.
The children’s interest in reading is never stifled by monotony. Rather, it is cultivated as
their most important key to future learning. The are encouraged to explore books for
answers to their own questions, whether they are about frogs, rockets, stars, or fire
engines.
In a Montessori community of learners, the children are introduced to grammar by
games, which show them that nouns are the names of things, adjectives describe nouns,
and verbs are action words. The activity becomes most enjoyable.
Language
Language is an important part of the entire Montessori curriculum. Its treatment as a
separate subject comes only at the points in which it is necessary to give clarity to the
child’s mind- that is, to give him or her conscious awareness of language in order that it
may be used more effectively. Once the child has an understanding that writing is a
graphic form of language, these special points centre on spelling, word study,
penmanship, grammar, punctuation, and capitalisation. The real experience in reading
and writing comes through the child’s work in other areas of the curriculum, such as
geography, history, botany, etc.
Because the children have different cognitive styles, they are provided with a different
means for learning to read within the environment. In the way, the child will be able to
select the components of reading which fit his or her cognitive style and put them
together in the way that is best for him or her.
Once reading is mastered, the child expands into reading quality literature and poetry and
into self-expression through creative writing.
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Question:
What is your approach for spelling and the teaching of letter sounds e.g er, ir and ur
all making the same sound?
The Montessori curriculum has great strengths in Exploring language through the use of
elegant equipment, which has been designed to take children from the first phonetic
sounds to strong grammatical knowledge.

Firstly spelling is developmental, and there is a time when a child almost has a
sensitive period for spelling and that it becomes very important to them to spell a
word in the, “standard way.”

Spelling schemes are often far too complicated

The children have a spelling dictionary that they write in words that they do no
know how to spell. They have these words with them all the way through school.

Children need to start with the words that each individual child cannot spell.
Spelling is very individualised

It is essential that there are a variety of beautiful Montessori spelling materials
available to the child, (repetition with variety). Phonogram Boxes etc.

The children need to know that certain sounds that are the same can be spelled
differently e.g. er, ir and ur all make the same sound. There is no easy way
around learning this other than working with the materials, writing the
phonograms, studying a different phonogram each week, being a phonogram
detective e.g. your phonogram for the week might be ir, and then the child looks
in lots of different books to find as many words they can find that contain the ir
sound. They end up with a long list of those words and then write sentences to
include those words.

Children will have a list of, “Commonly Misspelt Words,” (approx. 100) plus a
list of (over 400 high) frequency words at the back of their spelling notebooks,
which they can draw from for their spelling. They also draw from words in their
environment and words that they want to learn to spell.

They should be doing writing every week and this is where you/they will find
their spelling words (around 7) or depending on how many new words they would
like to learn for that week, and on abilities.

These words are written into there spelling notebook and can be either sent home
with the child to work alongside their parents (optional) or kept in the classroom
to be worked on each day.

The Spell Write book is a great resource for spelling words and also offers a
simple guide to teachers, parents and children to help learn to spell a word in the
standard way.

Self test in preparation for their Spelling Buddy test. It’s whether they are friends
and whether they trust one another.

Making a collection on their own time…the teacher is then in a position to look at
what is written down by the buddy test as it is taped into their book. The words
that go into their spelling dictionary are words that they cannot spell and are in
their own writing.

We are a culture who is loosing their handwriting.

The writing needs to be beautiful.

Cursive…if they only print (manuscript) they are missing out on something. We
are all about bringing to consciousness we need to be aware!

Muriel Dwyer’s work for spelling is a good prerequisite for this spelling
programme.
The following two books (below) are great resources to have.
The children use the Spell Write book in the classroom, so have several copies.
Spell-Write: An Aid to Spelling and Word Study
A Path for the Exploration of Any Language Leading to Writing and Reading
A Path for the Exploration of Any Language Leading to Writing and Reading
The NAMTA Journal 29:3 (Summer 2004)
This special issue of The NAMTA Journal provides the specific keys of a reading scheme
as an aid to the child's natural progression.