If you attended our Language Workshop today, you left with
an impressive view of a Montessori Language Curriculum in an Early Childhood
Classroom.
I never cease to be amazed, not only at the wealth and depth
of language skills available to every student in a Montessori classroom, but to
the fact that students do not have to wait until a certain age or time to work
on a specific skill. I observed one of
our Early Childhood classes recently and in the space of an hour I saw three,
four, and five year olds engaged in a multitude of activities that had to be
seen to be believed. The children were actively and productively engaged. They chose and carried the work out with
pride and purpose: no pressure, no worries, simply realistic expectations and a
desire to learn.
Learning in a Montessori classroom is as natural as learning
to walk and talk. Children learn to do
these things when they are developmentally ready to do so. So it should be for all learning. The
prepared environment, the teacher who understands and supports each student’s
developmental level, the engaged student and supportive parents are key to
successful learning. I watched a four year
old read an amazing list of sight words because she could, a three-year-old
build three letter “a” words with a moveable alphabet, and a five year old independently
completing a comprehension exercise. The
list goes on; matching sounds to objects and to visuals, booklet making, medial
vowel activities, story writing. But you get the picture, endless
possibilities!
It is well researched that learning to read and write is
critical to a child’s success in school, as well as later in life, and the
early years are the most important years for literacy development. This is the developmental stage when children
can absorb information from people, ideas and tools within their
environment. The preparation and
precursor skills are offered from day one in the form of the practical life
activities, vocabulary development, and lessons using concrete materials.
If you missed our presentation, come visit a class and see
for yourself. A visit to a Montessori
class will make you wish you could go back to school and learn to read and
write the Montessori way!
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