“Montessori language education
requires faith.” --Liz Hall
Montessori Language Development
Workshop
What happens when children come to
the primary class at 2 ½ or 3?
• He has already created a functional
language that can be understood by adults
other than his primary caregiver; a directress’
job is to assist the child in expanding and
developing their language.
• 2 ½-3 year olds should spend half of their
school time on spoken language experiences.
Children who join a Montessori community after
or late in primary often have little or no 3-D
environmental experiences due to the “cages”
imposed by society:
Cribs
Playpens
Car seats
Swings
Followed by the “cage” of 2-D experiences:
TV
Computers
All day kindergarten is essential for them.
Two Streams of Spoken Language:
• Vocabulary
Development
– Words, words,
words!
– Concrete objects in
the classroom first.
– Logical groupings
from general
categories to more
specific.
• Language Training.
– How words are used:
• stories
• poems
• songs
• conversations
• questions and
answers.
Stream One: Activities for
Vocabulary Development
Naming the environment
• Furnishings in the room.
• Everything in your room
must have a specific name.
• Another day, do areas of
the room.
Word games:
I Spy, the distance game,
matching games and
grading games.
Picture Cards (3 Part Cards)
• Not for picture matching!
– If they are matching
pictures, they aren’t
building vocabulary;
matching is for sensorial
exploration, not the language
area.
• Most Montessori
classrooms do not have
enough sets of pictures,
there should be a shelf with
15-20 sets of picture cards
out at a time ~ rotated on
a regular basis.
•
Sets of cards should be separate from the word
sets; get the words out for the beginning
readers
•
Use different sets of cards for different groups
of kids: fruits w/one, veggies, animals or
insects with others.
•
If children don’t take to language cards:
–
–
Ask yourself, “Have they had enough experiences with the
real items first?”
Try using larger pictures; they are more interesting as a
first step.
Stream 2: Language Training
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Told stories
Read stories
Longer reads (Chapter book reading)
Questioning during reading
Conversations
Poetry – primary children love to memorize and
write poetry.
Self expression – I am interested in what you have to
say, but NO SHOW AND TELL! If you have something
of educational value, you may bring it in and present it
to a small group of children.
Questioning Exercise
Show the children an object.
Who, what, when, where and why?
Ex: postcard
What is this?
Who sent us this postcard?
When did they send it?
Where did it come from?
Why did they send it?
Models what a conversation around a given topic looks like.
Begins modeling for story writing.
Objects are preferable for lessons with pictures for follow up
activities.
Sound Games
Give sounds
Beginning sounds
Ending sounds
Middle sounds
Give the children time to answer!
I Spy : “I spy with my little eye, something
that starts with the sound ‘b’.”
Sand Paper Letters
Children must be familiar with the sounds letters make before you
begin SPL; this builds interest.
If you get a 4 ½ year old in your class, parallel sandpaper letters with
sound games; they need the experiences, but are past the sensitive
period for tactile exploration (2 ½-3 ½ yrs.)
Each child gets their own letters; don’t do all letters with all kids.
Presentation of SPL:
Select 3 contrasting letters, preferably beginning with letters in their
name.
Always include a vowel so that when moveable alphabet work begins
they will be able to build words.
Young children should know about 15 sounds before they begin
moveable alphabet work.
Older students should start moveable alphabet as soon as they know
10-12 letter sounds. They are behind and need to catch up; they
cannot afford to wait until they have learned 15!
Moveable Alphabet Work
Once it has been introduced, the moveable alphabet should
be used every day.
Dictate:
Words (ex: “hat” - “h” “a” “t” - “h-a-t” “hat”)
Try to personalize the words to the interests of the children.
Short stories
Cultural stories ~ “research”
Personal stories
Questions ~ student answers the questions with the
moveable alphabet.
Phonetic objects can be used for moveable alphabet work if
you have a large number of carefully selected objects.
Be sure to include: cvc, cvcc, ccvc and compound
words
Moveable alphabet increases the analytic
processing of writing before children are
physically able to write.
Personalize language and writing as much as
possible – don’t categorize the teaching of
letters into groups or teach them in a
sequence. Categorization of letters is for the
ease of the adults, not for the benefit of the
children.
Primary children should be able to write short
stories and read at least fifteen phonograms
before they move to elementary.
Reading
Reading usually begins about 6 mos. after
moveable alphabet writing.
• Writing = 1 step analytical process.
• Reading uses writing skills but requires
blending and the ability to recognize it as a
word he knows.
• Reading is a process of synthesis that requires
a certain level of intellectual maturity.
• If a child can sound out the letters, but isn’t
blending them, you need to go back and do
more moveable alphabet work.
Phonograms
• Introduce the first
phonograms (sh, ch, oo, th)
with objects.
• Object box 2: All the objects
but one, presenting are
completely phonetic.
• Phonogram booklets
• Phonogram lists
• Phonogram sentences: He
rushed off to the shop that
sells shells.
• Goal at primary level is to
get all phonograms
presented ~ different
phonograms to different
children at different times
because “It is so much
easier to teach these
phonograms to primary
children than it is to teach
them to elementary
children.” --Liz Hall.
Word Cards
• Use a set of picture cards the child has used
before.
• Put out the cards
• Name them
• Give the child the tickets to read and match
This is the “drill” for word reading to get them
to the point where they are almost instant.
Books?
• Don’t make children struggle through
books; go back to word work. Children
think of themselves as readers once they
have read a book from cover to cover, but we
don’t use books to teach children to read;
they are our reading drill. We use
function of words exercises (age 4-6.) The
grammar symbols help a child classify
each word sensorially.
Function of Words
Single words
Nouns

(girl)
groups of words  whole sentences 
Noun families  Sentences
(a tall girl)
reading analysis.
(A tall girl sat.) (action, subject, D.O., modifiers)
Older Children Who Are Not Good
Readers
• Use beautiful literature (Owl Moon)
• Read beautiful literature to a small group
• Do reading analysis on sentences from the book
together
• Do art work about the book
• Brain gym may help make-up for missed practical
life and sensorial activities if a child started
Montessori later in life (4 ½-6).
• Books on tape can be beneficial to struggling first
or second graders.
Handwriting
Advantages of cursive before
print:
Flow
b, d, p & q are
differentiated
Helps with reading
synthesis. (The flow of
the letters aids this.)
Whether you teach cursive or
print first, both cursive
and print moveable
alphabets should be
available.
In order to write, children
must be able to:
• have a tension free pencil
grip
• form letters using
lightness of touch
– fabrics work (matching)
– touch boards
• fit letters onto uniformly
sized lines
• properly space letters
• form letters properly
– writing in all lowercase and
not slipping into capitals
when they can’t remember
how to form lowercase.