Pink Blue Green - Why It Is Not for Us

This post is back to just us - our journey through Montessori. Well, in this case it is my journey and the journey of my poor tutoring children in those early days. ;)


Years and years ago, I started doing Montessori at home and located a wonderful person online who shared her word lists for the pink/blue/green series. I had not seen this work done in the Montessori schools I had worked at, couldn't find it in Montessori's books, but I also knew that I didn't "know" all there was to know about Montessori and perhaps I'd just "missed" understanding what I was seeing. At this point, I was doing full-time daycare in my home and didn't have time for subbing or for observing; the few teachers I was able to contact told me they didn't use pink/blue/green but couldn't explain quickly what they did use - I remember phrases like "total reading" and "exploration of language keys" but I just didn't get it. One online acquaintance said, "There is something far better than the pink blue green series for Montessori language - I'll send you information." I never did receive anything :(

So I tried to sort it out with currently available resources online; the one album I had didn't explain it well; and the Montessori books I had didn't even MENTION it. (see update below). I tried combining Montessori Read and Write with the pink/blue/green ---- I was just not feeling comfortable with our odd blend - it didn't feel right - not in the same way our other Montessori work just felt right. I finally gave up and used the p/b/g cards as reading cards and modified the materials to suit the elementary children who came to me for tutoring - and made up my own activities.


When I got to AMI primary training (hoping to learn how to use this p/b/g material) I was not only astounded to learn it just wasn't used, but also that the trainer was adamantly opposed to it!!! The methodology actually used in AMI was SO simple - SO basic - SO straight-forward, that it was almost TOO simple! No wonder the p/b/g was developed I thought to myself - because we adults struggle with simplicity ;)

That conversation with my trainer was so freeing!


But don't you need all these word cards to learn to read?

If you might be offended by my answer, please come back tomorrow :) Really, it's ok :) I want to be totally honest and say what needs to be said, but I understand that it won't make everyone happy!

I respect the intentions of those people who created this pink/blue/green series; I respect them as people without having to agree with their outcomes. I also respect the people who learned this system and know no other way, thus continue to pass it on. I can respect them as people without agreeing with the use of this learning to read plan.

4/1/2015 UPDATE: The chapter on reading in The Discovery of the Child mentions an English language materials using a set of drawers. The way that AMI sets up writing/reading experiences and the way that PBG works - what Montessori describes could seriously go either way. I am awaiting hard facts, information, proof on the recently learned connection that Montessori worked WITH someone to create the PBG (The Discovery of the Child seems to suggest Montessori did not collaborate but gave blessing). 

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ALL OPINIONS AND FACTS EXPRESSED HEREAFTER ARE SOLELY BASED ON my own experience as a past homeschooling, Montessori-wanna-be mother; past/present AMI trained primary and elementary teacher, and continuing homeschool mother using pure AMI Montessori at home and in a part-time co-op. I AM NOT AN EXPERT. I can only express what I see through my own observations and experiences.




Do you  need all those cards? Those booklets? Those dials?
FOUR HUNDRED PUZZLE WORDS!?!?!?!?!?
(Correction 1/4/12: FIVE HUNDRED SIGHT WORDS - 25 that must be learned before starting the blue level; the rest to be learned before starting the green series)

NO.

Just because learning to read and write is less of a tedium at this tender age, doesn't mean we make it a tedium. Kids learn to read and write with a variety of programs but why strive to take the fun out of it?


I have recently been the grateful recipient of a set of album sections that thoroughly cover the pink/blue/green series. As I read I kept grimacing and thinking, "OUCH!". My primary trainer was SO right when she said "too curriculum" like. MBT and others online who have expressed their utter relief in finding Dwyer's booklet are relieved for a *very *good *reason.

It is my firm belief that the reason for the confusion and for the relief when finding an alternative Montessori approach, is that the pink/blue/green series does not utilize all the proper Montessori principles that should be applied to the area of language exploration at these ages (before age 6).

I was more appalled as I read along. I started creating a long detailed analysis, but I will stick to some main points for this blog post. My full list is a book in itself.

• There is far too much material. Classroom or otherwise. This ignores the need for essentiality - keys - simplicity - the Montessori principles of isolation of quality and isolation of concept. 
• The whole plan insults the intelligence of the child. It implies that they cannot move forward in any of the reading/writing areas without the adult to be there with him. Montessori principles mis-applied: independence; exploration; follow the child (not follow the adult). 
• Part 2 to insulting their intelligence: with p/b/g, when the children are allowed to begin work with the movable alphabet, they've not even been given all the keys. So, they've received too much of the wrong kind of "food" and not near enough of the right kind to balance it out - and they are stuck now needing to use lots of objects and pictures to create words with the movable alphabet, when work with the movable alphabet should be about them writing what is in their OWN heads and hearts - the movable alphabet should NOT require objects and pictures  Montessori principles mis-applied: Follow the child; independence; exploration; creativity; imagination. 
• Continuing on the same vein: the children are far too tied to the materials. Montessori principle missed: the materials should be helps/aids, not crutches. 
• SUMMARY: This whole system does not trust the child, or the innate depth of the few necessary materials. And with so many "levels" and "stages", it cannot possibly be following the child.

SPECIFIC CASES: 

• The aural development (sound games) are labeled as age 4 and are listed in the album after physical preparation of the hand for writing. To the contrary, the sound games can begin in older infancy or toddler-hood, definitely the moment a child walks into primary at 2 1/2 or 3. Sensitive periods are in use right now - let's use them! 
• I have to be careful how I say this, or the soap-box will start flying: if I am reading these pages correctly, there should be more green sandpaper letters (phonograms, digraphs, dipthongs), than pink/blue letters (individual letters). One word: NO! We have one green sandpaper board for one key sound; we have simple material later that ties those related letter combos together. Simple. 
• While there seems to be some leeway for not finishing up pink before going onto blue and then to green (child can be going back and forth), my experience over and over again is that children who learn to read with a "holistic approach" described by the teachers I mentioned above, fly from no reading to 2nd/3rd grade reading level within a week - somewhere around the 5th birthday (could be a bit sooner or a bit later) and within a year are up to middle school reading level - both in skill and comprehension (because they have continued on with reading analysis, word study, function of words, etc.). I am not seeing the possibility of that occurrence with the pink/blue/green. Oh - and these children have been writing for a long time already. 
• Indeed what I hear from many people is that the children are reading before they are truly writing, with the p/b/g series - and there is a minimal or very quiet burst into either writing or reading; whereas experience time and again with the AMI approach when done to its fullness results in a huge explosion very similar to what is described by Montessori. 
• The blue series (consonant blends - not even phonograms yet) is noted as ages 5-6. Yet, these are phonetic words - just "longer" than cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant). A child given the keys to the English language (40-44 key sounds depending on the dialect), he can work with these words with ease the moment he touches the movable alphabet at around 4 - 4 1/2. At 5-6, he should be beyond the need for a "learning to read scheme" - he should be actually reading! 
• The green series is also noted as ages 5-6; in the Dwyer booklet or the AMI primary language album, a child who has been in a Montessori prepared environment since age 2 1/2 will be well beyond this reading stage at age 5. Again - it happens SO FAST when the keys-based foundation is laid. When a normally-developing child enters at 4 or 5 or 6, they are still reading within a few months, not years. 
• Yet, interestingly enough, those people I know who do use the pink/blue/green series consistently from age 3 onward,  have children entering elementary at 6 1/2 and almost 7 who are not "done" with the green series. The parents feel totally worn out by the process, the child is not full of joy in reading. And the idea of using elementary albums that suggest "remediation" (which would actually return that joy to their work because it will ditch the pbg, pick up the real keys, and move forward) makes those parents cringe because of all the energy they've already spent. I don't blame them! I'd be upset too! But consider what is best for the child. 

Is it possible that those people stating they no longer seeing the explosion into reading aren't setting up the situation for it to happen? I see the explosion happen over and over and over. With the same results. An EXPLOSION - full of JOY! And EXCITEMENT! 

The pink/blue/green must work somewhere and create true joy in the children, but I've really not heard about those successes yet in homeschools. I hear about the tedium, the materials, the energy drains, all the angry-sounding statements from people "defending" pink/blue/green - yet they have children reading before writing, and doing so at later ages (even Montessori noted that children aged 5 and older who are just starting out, will READ first, and they have missed sensitive periods - so if a child is reading first, is it possible the child was older when beginning or was given the wrong keys?). 

And the whole situation fills me with sadness: the situation of this work not being appropriate. But when I am honest about it, I risk offending someone. It is so hard to be honest and not take flack, so I'm choosing honesty and am praying for peace!

Why am I so sad? Because now I understand why I just didn't "get it" despite my years in a Montessori school (almost none of which would have used something like this!), but there are SO MANY people out there who think that the pink/blue/green series is the only Montessori way to learn to write and read in English. It is just NOT the case! 

There IS a wonderful option available - it requires fewer materials, much JOY, much exploration, creativity and imagination, leads to successful writers THEN readers --- and, well, after being so sad today, I just can't say enough: there is ANOTHER way! 

It was developed by Maria Montessori and works for ALL languages, despite what the creators of the pink/blue/green scheme thought.


Click her for a link to the Montessori Trails page correlating Dwyer with AMI with Pink/Blue/Green - aligned next to each other according to stages. 

Speech Articulation and Sound Games

For several months, when my son was younger, I didn't do as much of the aural Montessori work as I had hoped to. I was kind of waiting for him to start talking again.

He was slightly delayed with speech, and then not all that articulate. But one day, for a particular person, he suddenly opened up into complete sentences and almost entirely clear. When that person had to depart, my son stopped talking for several months except for "Amen", "Alleluia", and "Mama".

He seemed intelligent enough and had no other issues. I did have him evaluated for hearing and for speech; the home visitor we had deemed him to be in the normal range and invited him to a play group that met weekly during a time we were already doing another social activity.

But he was getting to be 2 1/2 and I just wasn't comfortable. Second evaluation said he's fine. He could understand anything spoken to him and he responded in his own way (with actions). Still within normal range, despite having less than 300 words and short phrases !?

I decided I needed to crack his code. And start "teaching" him anyway (like we'd not been learning his whole life or something, right?). He'd been around for all my lessons with tutoring children, he'd spent time in Montessori toddler programs when I'd be subbing in the same room or nearby. But it was just "time".


One day, I sat down with him and a pile of colored circles. I gave him 3 of the colors and named them; then asked him to place a clothespin on "red" or on "blue" as I called out the colors. This was his first "official" three period lesson (although we parents are good at doing some variation on the 3-period lesson anyway, so I know it happened before - maybe I should say this was my first consciously intentional Montessori-style 3-period lesson ;) ). Clearly we did not get to the 3rd period because he would just look me and not say a word. Or he would find something else in the room of the same color.

Well, it hit me with a big 90s DUH that he quite possibly knew all the colors! So I pulled out ALL of them (instead of adding 1-3 at a time as in the AMI style 3-period lesson), spread them all out on the floor and asked him to place a clothespin on each color as I called it out - completely out of order and entirely random.

We mixed them up and did it again.

And a 3rd time.

He got them all right, every time, perfectly.

4th time - well, the kid has always had a bit of dry humor. He intentionally placed the clothespin on the circle to the RIGHT of the correct circle, with the ones that should have gone on the right, placed on their corresponding circle on the far left. He even knew enough to figure out THAT pattern! On the one hand, I am proud of him; on the other hand, I have to roll my eyes and say, "really!?"


Well, the story of his speech articulation issue is a story for another day - or a series of other days. For now, I will say that from that moment on, we played sound games HEAVILY. He could hear them and he could respond. He knew when I mispronounced words (I would speak in the same manner of his own mispronunciation and he'd point out that I was incorrect, but then say exactly what I had just said! - it was just his mouth that couldn't say what needed to be said - his brain and intelligence and ears were all working just fine!

Over the coming weeks and months, we went through all those 3-part cards I'd made for him and others - and had him orally tell me the name of every time. In this way, I was able to discover his particular patterns of speech and articulation concerns, as well as begin to understand him so that we could have some "success" with speech and hopefully move forward. Again - the rest of this speech journey is another post; suffice it to say, if I'd known sooner the importance of the sound games from an early age (and if all those early evaluators knew the depth of the Montessori method and what it reveals about the inner workings of a child...), perhaps he would not be in speech therapy today!

To this day, he can write and read beautifully and he is still working on speech articulation. Definitely should not have stalled on those sound games!!!


And that, my readers, is the point to this point: DO NOT DELAY the sound games - just work with the child where he is at and find another way for your child to respond if he's not speaking well. Now, for a child who can't *hear*, modifications would have to be made, in consultation with someone more experienced than I am in working with deaf children.

Primary Reading - Phonetic and Phonogram Command Cards

In elementary, we get into a certain amount of command cards for the children to work through various language presentations, biology and geography experiments and a bit more.

But it all starts in primary!

When the children are learning to read, there are two places in which we introduce command cards.

The phonetic command cards are short phrases with commands. The child reads the commands to himself (we don't ask the child to read out loud - but he can if he wants to), and then perform the action. The performance of the proper action is the sign that the child has decoded the reading!

By this time, the child has had the movable alphabet, can write out decently with it; has been reading phonetic words and matching them with objects (phonetic object box) and has MAYBE read a couple of books with a word and a picture matched together. From the first day of the phonetic object box, it might be a matter of hours or it might be a week until the child gets to do some of the command cards. It is NOT a slow tedious process!

Some people have downloads available for one word commands - these could be great as an introduction, but are unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. "Jump". Ok. That could be part of other language work. We want them to "run and jump"! "Run and stop"! "Hug mama"! This is REAL reading!

The bonus? They get to do SOME things for which they don't ordinarily have permission - run INSIDE!?
Yes! But only if you READ it first! (the phonetic command here is "run and stop" - the word "inside" would be in the phonogram version).


Shortly thereafter (hours? days? no more than a couple of weeks unless you have a child with special learning needs), the phonogram object box is introduced with the phonogram alphabet; then the shadowbox - and within a couple more hours or days: the PHONOGRAM COMMANDS!

Now, they can "Jump up and down" - they can "kiss mommy six times" and other assorted tasks :)

Have FUN with these!



Elementary children just learning to read? Having two baskets - one for phonetic and one for phonogram - making it a game that last just a few minutes each day and yes the children will start reading quickly!

Elementary Language Materials: A Photo Journey

You may notice some matches to the primary level - you should! Many of the materials transition over from primary to elementary but are used in different ways. 

Legoboy made a booklet of the rules.

Sentence Analysis is FUN!

Sorting all those nouns!

grammar box work - he wanted *real* items -
no miniatures this time!

Wood grammar symbols - worth buying the wood ones.
They are SO NICE!

small movable alphabets for word study, dictation,
spelling practice, and SO much more!
We have three at home: black, blue, red

Grammar boxes are worth having, but could also be
made of posterboard with cardboard strip "trim". 

Beginning definition stages for elementary
(moves into the definitions cut into strips)
Don't have these for just every topic - but a few key ones
 to develop analytical thinking skills and extend previous work. 

Impressionistic charts tend to inspire copying and research.
(do not require the copying or tracing -
let it be a true work of the child - but you can model it! 

Analysis of Dwyer Booklet - compared to AMI Primary Language Album

I am short on time, but I have several people interested in my analysis, so here are my notes. If I have a chance I will freshen these up in the near future with a bit more narrative.

Please DO ask if something doesn't make sense!



In Complete Agreement: 

0+
Developing language at home - absorbing it
speak, sing, poems, rhymes, read books
REAL language - diverse vocabulary
explore with the sound games (spoken language section of the language album - can begin when a child starts speaking, maybe even before - attune his ear to sounds)

2 1/2 +
Development of vocabulary
Primary Language album: spoken language - heavily emphasized (there are a lot of games in the spoken language section that are excellent for the children's exploration!)
Stories, poems and songs

Emphasis on key sounds - but not on early sandpaper letters! Be sure to have those sounds down pat! But also start them when the child is very young. I add that starting with an older child (4, 5, 6), it may be necessary to introduce some sandpaper letters very soon into it, so that the child "sees the point". Otherwise, the earliest introduction of the sandpaper letters is between 3 1/2 and 4, after just about the all sounds are known.

When sounds are known, quickly go into the sandpaper letters - 2-3 weeks should see them all mastered (AMI says "less than a month" so corresponds). Remember, the child KNOWS the sounds; he is just learning a graphic symbol and tracing it right now. Nothing more.


There are many references to "proper" presentations; full exercises; all the stages (of handwriting for example); children "lucky enough" to have had it all done right for him.... The booklet does not provide these details; the details are found in the language album. Some sample stages of the sound games, which seems sufficient to get the heart of the matter; other stuff too lightly touched on to be in-depth.


DIFFERENCE: 
Up until the booklets/folders, references of activities are to those found in the Primary language album. Activities are very similar, with Dwyer providing few details that are then found far in-depth in the Primary Language album.

DIFFERENCE: The primary language has a "photo album" filled with a set of phonogram card. There are no folders such as described in Dwyer's booklet. They may have been at the time this booklet was originally written. The booklets described are stage 1 of the booklets described in the primary language album. There are two more stages of booklets, which can be hand-made or suitable sets purchased.

SIMILARITY: For the dictionary of phonograms, the album page in the primary language album is "Research".
Dictation is done with the materials at hand - and is done in similar manner - the child can either handwrite or use the small movable alphabet to spell out the words.


SUMMARY OF INITIAL THOUGHTS: 
All in all, the Dwyer pamphlet seems to be summarizing and providing the framework for what was possibly AMI's specific approach at that time. In the meantime, only the minor differences noted above have made their way into AMI; these differences based on observation and needs of the children.

I feel that her approach is straight-forward, but knowing what I personally know, it leaves out a lot of details and leaves me hanging! Understandable given the format she was working with as compared to the size of the language album! I do NOT know how I would have felt about this booklet if I had found it before I had AMI training. I think I would have loved it for the framework it provides along with the bit of details to help me be looking for the right resources to fill in the pieces. I think I would have appreciated it and I do know that I would have mostly understood it better than the p/b/g scheme. But I do think it would have left me with a lot of hanging questions (like what are these activity word games!?).

I highly recommend this booklet for parents homeschooling their 0-6 year olds, but with a caveat: since it is only the structure AND the points of emphasis, it should utilized along with the AMI Primary Language album. The booklet will provide the necessary introduction and practical application, while the album will provide all the details on the materials and presentation styles.

The album can feel overwhelming and for a non-AMI-trained parent definitely could use more of a "guide". It seems that together, this booklet and the AMI primary language album fit well together to provide the homeschooling mom (or other adult) what they need to know to work with their child(ren).


(I have received some offline questions on this topic and am putting them all together in one post - it will go up on January 3rd, but please keep asking questions and I'll keep editing that post as needed so everything is in one place :) How to Use Dwyer with AMI Primary Language (linking to post ahead of time - it will be available on January 3rd). The post includes a chart with each step in Dwyer aligned with the corresponding section of the Primary Language Album.)




Click her for a link to the Montessori Trails page correlating Dwyer with AMI with Pink/Blue/Green - aligned next to each other according to stages.

Primary Language Materials: Photo Journey

In no particular order, language-related photos I have - some with materials we've made - some with materials we've purchased or borrowed or were gifted:

Zoology and Botany classification cards
with definitions
A few samples of these are nice to have in the classroom or homeschool
focus on keys, then add an interest or two
Thereafter, find outline pictures online and invite the child to
"do research" to find the names of the parts
(so books on the subject would be great!)

small movable alphabet -
punctuation marks are missing from these boxes
the backsides of each letter should have the capital as well
perhaps if I'd made them with the capitals,
Legoboy wouldn't have struggled with them as much ;)
****This material carries over into elementary -
have blue, red, and black on hand for sure*****

wooden grammar symbols - genius!
****Carries over to elementary!*****

Our original handmade metal insets
Not so metal - they are foamboard
do it again? I would either buy them or cut from wood
or from mat board (picture frame backing)
***ALTERNATIVE: just get the geometry cabinet and use
the shapes from those drawers!****

Now, we also had beautiful living books, focused on reality - with a variety of beautiful artwork (nothing cartoon-like).

We read from the Bible - not from Bible storybooks.

We did a lot of artwork, which helps with handwriting and strengthening those muscles, thus the fraction insets (circles, squares and triangles) were utilized in various setting (we did not have these at home at the time, but I wish we had!). The circle fractions begin in primary and continue into elementary mathematics, with the squares and triangles presented in elementary geography.

We spoke whole-language - real words, full sentences. Yes, we played silly word games at times, but our usual conversations were imbued with respect for the child's intelligence - something hard to fight against in our culture that uses the wrong verb tense and pronouns for the youngest children. Mother-ese is WONDERFUL - but it shouldn't be used on a 2 year old except briefly in silly-snuggle time for just a moment. ;) "Him so beautifuls" being not quite right for a child over a few months old who is absorbing the rules of language. hehe.


These things (pretend stories, awful artwork, poor language) won't destroy a child, but they sure won't build him up and they could certainly slow him down. Everyone who asks my advice because they have been doing these things and have older children - just adjust now. Slowly purge the old books by adding in or emphasizing the good ones; remove the least loved of the others first, and faze out the usual favorites. But save the good literature for elementary! (Beatrix Potter, Wind in the Willows, Fairy Tales --- these are all moral tales and have a profound place in elementary!) Speak in whole, rich language, with a large vocabulary - provide very simple and short explanations only when obviously needed (child asks). If the child says the wrong thing, such as "pretty kitty" instead of cat or kitten, you say, "Yes, this is a lovely cat (or kitten depending on the age of the cat!). So you are giving another name for pretty, teaching its meaning in context without needing a definition, AND providing the accurate word for the age of the creature. No correction necessary :)

Language - An Early Book

Going through some of our previous work and found this booklet in its earliest stages - on the city of Ancient Rome:

"Hello, I am (Legoboy),
I will a(ccompany) you t(hrough) Rome."
Note the lack of spelling, thus abbreviation ;)
I did edit out his name which he had beautifully
written in all lower-case cursive ;) 

Some tracings - some free drawing

He is hiding on every page in addition to his spoken blurb. 

on the left is a helmet - he says "scary!"

This was entirely free work - not directly related to any particular school work at the time. It could have been connected and if he went to school, and did it there, it would be "school" but at home we have re-define what is school and what is home ;)   So this one was personal interest work, thus I did not critique spelling, etc - instead mentally noting what needed work during our regular school time and presenting the appropriate album pages (lesson plans) for those skills in our usual fun Montessori way :) 

Starting Montessori with a 2 year old

How to start Montessori with a 2 year old is a very popular question.

The Pink Panther at age 2

Regardless if you have been doing infant/toddler Montessori, the child will be transitioning into the primary age somewhere around 2 1/2 and you'll do the same things with the children regardless if they are new to Montessori or have had a Montessori environment already.



For a 2 year old, the best places to start are:

• practical life
• sensorial
• language

Practical life:

You may or may not want an album right away for the Exercises of Practical Life. If you do, look for the following in the table of contents: preliminary, care of self, visual art, control of movement (walking on the line and the silence game), grace and courtesy, care of the environment. Interspersed are skills for food preparation, care of animals, etc.
Otherwise, just consider those areas and apply them to YOUR practical life :)

Introduce a new activity every couple of days in a variety of areas. These materials do not have to be fancy (ie learning to button might be a vest or jacket with large buttons, hung on a hanger such that it faces out towards the child - work with it on the hanger, or lay it on the floor or a low table to work with; teach the skill of hanging hangers on the rack; shaking out small rugs (we have a rug in our home where shoes are placed when we come in - a small child can easily take that outside and shake it out - even take some muddy shoes and knock them together outside to get mud off)).

The main thing in practical life is: keep it REAL. You might have a few trays of sample skills to practice, but keep the it REAL. A real banana to slice (not a wooden one with velcro - this can be kept in the toy area); real dishes to place on the table.

And you want to have practical life practice areas in their appropriate areas - in a classroom there is an EPL area; in the home, it is nicer to keep food in the kitchen; laundry folding where YOU do laundry folding; etc).


Sensorial: think textures, colors, sounds, etc. A good sensorial album for the primary age is good to get for age 2 1/2 and older - the very beginning work with the pink tower, color tablets, etc. can start with the 2 year old, but will also contain extensions for 5 and 6 year olds (see if you can check that part before making a purchase). The sensorial album should also include beginning music activities, so check for those in the table of contents.


Language: you want to work on real vocabulary and sound awareness. So you'll play sound games, listening for sounds at the start of words, end of words, and eventually the middle of words; play games like I Spy or very similar with objects around the room, the house, the yard, etc. First you will give the language in a 3 period lesson ( 1) give the name of 3 items 2) play games with asking the child to touch, move, hide under, hide it behind his back, etc. 3) when period 2 is successful (might be that day, at that sitting; might be another time), point to the object and say "What is this?" if period 2 is not successful, point to each object and say it's name - and be done for that sitting - come back to it later).

A language album is not necessary until age 3, but if you get one, be sure it lays a SOLID foundation of the sound games and spoken vocabulary building. The spoken language portion of the album is ALL you will need until age 3 1/2; then you will start introducing the sandpaper letters, etc.


If you start just those things at age 2, you will be laying a very strong foundation.

In the meantime, pick up a primary level theory album and Montessori's books for your own reading pleasure and to fully prepare for the primary ages of 3-6 :)

The not so Pink Panther;
with clean bed and wall behind him

Etymology - and Dictionaries

Our family has not yet found the all-time personal favorite in etymological dictionaries, but that does not slow the love of learning the origin of words!

Just ask any boy to study the history of the word 'toilet' - he'll be so disappointed (but have fun along the way!). Or what about calling it a 'john'? In this area, we can actually let our boys have a bit of "potty-talk" and work it out of their systems!

Then connect those words to modern usage in a variety of languages: toilet in our language; eau de toilette in the French. The French call the bathroom a WC (water closet - an English phrase - but why "water closet" to begin with?) while the British use a French term.... I'm not giving any more hints ;)


Amazon Affiliate Link to Etymological Dictionaries

A quick glance at that list reveals MANY options. You can even study Hebrew etymology in the Bible (fascinating even for non-Christians - what does the Bible really say?).

The best bet for finding one your family or classroom will like and use is to go to a bookstore and actually flip through them. Look for words you may have concerns regarding, especially considering lower elementary children. What will entice your children?

In the end, you may find yourself purchasing 2 or 3 to provide a variety of viewpoints and styles, or even ages.


What are you looking for?

• usability
• readability
• suitable maturity level (some are meant for adults; some are actually intended for immature older people)
• balanced viewpoint
• provides language origin (and trace if the word jumped through languages), part of speech, and description
• illustrations are less important, but nice to have for certain clarifications
• cite their sources (sadly, many are missing this - so one wonders if the book can be trusted - remember, we want the children to go to original sources as much as possible, so they need to see the trail back to the source whenever possible)

Literate Environments

When I was working on my child development degree, there was so much talk about "literate environments." Most of it made sense; but I have to admit, a good deal of it was so utterly contrived.

And then I met a little girl. She was this sweet little thing with something of an "uppity" attitude. The other teachers at the daycare were relatively annoyed with her, but they "put up with her". This sounds worse than it was; let's just say they didn't think much of her personality most of the time. She was 3 when I met her and 5 when I last saw her.

And now that I know many homeschoolers... she reminds me of homeschoolers!

NOT because of the "uppity-ness" which was mis-construed. In reality, it was a sign of normalization among children who were not normalized.

She reminds me of homeschoolers because she had a VOCABULARY. She didn't say "kitty and doggie" - she said "kitten and puppy" (and even those words she said in a sweet little voice that just made your heart melt!).

She used the word "persnickety" to describe another child's bristliness after nap-time. She was 3 1/2 at the time. And she was spot-on!

She could describe nuances of color to you - if it was gold, it was NOT yellow; and it wasn't just gold either: there could marigold, antique gold, tarnished gold, pyrite gold.... these were HER descriptors.

She loved play on words (sounds, rhyming, songs), was trying to start reading at age 5 (hindered by the environment we were in).

She had little interest in "pure fantasy." It truly turned her off (this is where part of the uppity label came in. She would say very politely, "This book just isn't for me; thank you."

Honestly, I can't believe the child didn't go to a Montessori environment.

But she did.


She had parents who developed an environment at home that centered on the following:

• observation of the child
• following her needs
• fulfilling those needs 
• respecting freedom and responsibility at appropriate times
• providing limited choices so she could take "safe risks"
• did not hand over all control to the child
• did not hold back all control from the child
• encouraged role-playing - not "fairies" but real-life-style situations. 

Included in all of that, as part and parcel: 

• They spoke to her in REAL LANGUAGE. They did not give her the birds and bees sort of talks, but they did speak to her as a real person with a real love for real language. 
• As she started having interest in reading and writing, her parents responded by playing labeling games at home. So things were not labeled already in the environment (as in a contrived literacy-based environment), but labeled at the time she would actually care - and get it. And she was part of it. 

So yes, she had a Montessori environment at home. And it was language-rich, and rich in so many ways, because it was an intentional environment that met her needs. 

Not because it was contrived. 

Now, her mom was an artist and her dad a musician. So, before we start worrying about lack of creativity because she didn't want anything to do with pure imagination, let's consider that she was still in the first plane of development where she's not supposed to be drawn into those things of her own accord; and that her parents certainly would have been encouraging creativity and imagination in appropriate ways. 

I wonder if they ended up homeschooling her.... :) 

So how do we create literate environments as Montessorians? 

• real language - BIG words; WIDE vocabulary - don't dumb down the language because a child is not yet speaking. 
• real-life situations
• lots of real-life role-playing (grace and courtesy comes in here; but also letting them be creative and play)
• solid foundation in reality
• oral language games starting very young (1, 2, 3 years old)
• continue oral languages games indefinitely
• invite writing skills when the child is interested and at the right sensitive period
• as they start with the movable alphabet, invite them to label items around the room
• invite reading skills when the child has been writing for a while and you see signs that they are on the verge
• now they can read labels and place them - with small objects, with items around the room, with items they need to illustrate themselves
• read-aloud to them every day
• have conversations with them
• have lots of experiences - occurrences they can TALK about, that they will want to WRITE about, that as they learn to read, they will want to READ about to expand their knowledge in that area and build into even more experiences. 
• Under experiences: garden, have pets, paint, listen to music, go for walks, go camping, travel on occasion, include the child on grocery store trips and other errands, visit family and friends
• TALK (just not during a presentation that needs few words and more gestures ;) ). 

Calligraphy

It has now reached the time for my son to start calligraphy. It's just that age.

How did we get here?

He's been studying ancient civilizations for 2 1/2 years now, starting with Ancient Egypt and Old Testament peoples and branching out (and back and forth) from there.

He has also moved into the love of Medieval times: feudalism, knights, castles, magicians, dragons, valor, chivalry.

That was in history.

We incorporate art into all of our subjects, but he also does a program called "Christian Heritage Art" which has 6 lessons per "level" that are historically-based - recently he created his own coat of arms (and a few weeks later "updated" it to ensure it was an accurate portrayal of his life).

In language, we have recently reviewed the Great Lesson on the Story of Communication in Signs - he'd already been creating Hebrew, Egyptian, Greek and Chinese alphabets, among others.

Also in the area of language, his beautiful handwriting has become a bit... sloppy-ish. Yes, we Montessorians keep the children on lined paper longer than typically thought necessary because it helps to train the hand, but he was doing great with both types of paper...

but that is a sign.

It is all coming together (hint, hint: cosmic education - nothing is studied in isolation).


As part of his other studies, I finally pulled out the Book of Kells (we have two) for its historical value and for inspiration - and I purchased a book called "The Illuminated Alphabet: An Inspirational Introduction to Creating Decorative Calligraphy".
I also already have a calligraphy how-to set that I'm not altogether pleased with, but it does come with ink, pens with various nibs and markers.

I'll be honest - there is NO how-to calligraphy or how-to illumination book that is "perfect" - you'll have to find one or a small number that work for YOUR purposes. For my purposes I am in the process of creating calligraphy command cards similar to the Montessori geography command cards, biology command cards, etc. to take children through the process step-by-step - and then they have these other guides to expand or just provide some ideas for where their work can go.


And the child is inspired.

He is creating his own mini-version of the Book of Kells - and has been a boy on pristine behavior-run so that he can EARN the right to begin the early steps of calligraphy.

What BOY do you know wants to EARN the RIGHT to do calligraphy?

This is a Montessori child, through and through!


He has been studying the history of illumination (and has been allowed to "doodle" (embellish) his paper-works since he was 4), recognizes the similarities of European calligraphy with Chinese and other far-eastern cultures' writing styles, appreciates the historical "lack" of paper and how precious anything written was (not like today where you can buy a grocery bag of books at the library for $2), therefore appreciates calligraphy and illumination as the beautiful art-forms they are --- and he wants to participate in this long history.

Note on the sloppy hand-writing - it is generally sign, that if the other preparations have been made, the elementary child is ready to learn calligraphy as an historical "grown-up" form of writing. He is now participating with his ancestors. Not to mention that the first stages of calligraphy (shaded writing) require slow, careful control - so it brings more attention back to the hand and regular hand-writing should improve as well.

Playing with Language

You know when you've been doing Montessori very well in your home, specifically the grammar boxes and sentence analysis, when your child speaks in transposed sentences without even thinking about it - no hesitation. Just as natural as can be.

"Son, what are you doing right now?"

"Apple cutting core and it Mommy peeling an." With a big bright smile :)

Nouns: Singular and Plural

My son asked me to share a sample of his singular and plural noun booklet from last year.

With the study of the grammar boxes, there are many follow-up presentations for the article/noun box (grammar box 2), the adjective box and the verb box in particular.

For nouns, we have noun number (singular and plural), noun gender, noun classification of abstract, concrete, material, collective and the 3 types of abstract nouns. Number and gender can come just before or after presenting grammar box 2 (usually after), while noun classification comes at around 7-7.5 years old or at least a few months after presenting the other noun material, giving the child time to assimilate and an opportunity to come back and review those nouns.

As my son can attest, it is not necessary to do ALL the sets in a particular album page, let's say noun number, before moving on to noun gender, the next grammar boxes, and other language studies. Just exposure is necessary - there is plenty of time for review and follow-up. He likes to do things to completion in order, but even with these, I think we moved on to noun gender before finishing up the number cards.


Without further ado, here is something my son put together of his own accord - a booklet describing the rules for singular and plural - 1 rule per page or pair of pages. The translation (since he abbreviated) is in the caption. I tried to keep his punctuation and style - just writing out the words he abbreviated.

1: for some words add -s. (for example desk becomes desks) 

2: some words add -s. the difference is that
these words end with "e."
(for example ledge - ledges.)

Other things I've seen children do: create a chart or list of the rules; just state them aloud; explore more nouns that fit within each rule (we do NOT give them every example within a particular rule); create booklets of words; create additional card material.

For our material, I broke with the rules a bit. You are supposed to have a few sets of cards, then the remaining noun number sets are in booklet form for the child to study. I found it easier on me as a work-at-home single mom to just make cards of all the material; then my son (who loves booklets) makes his own and illustrates - so the singular is on the left side of the page and the plural is on the right side, and there might be two words and pictures on the left, with the corresponding words on the right. He then extrapolates the rule and writes it on the last page. If you make booklets, you'll make them as I just described, and still invite the child to extrapolate the rule (not necessarily the first time through, but they tend to be pretty quick with these).

How was the booklet made?
Take a regular sheet of printer paper (you don't want paper too thick for this or it won't fold right).
Fold it in half, unfold and fold it in half again the other way (making 4 section on your paper).
Now take the short side and fold it into the middle line; repeat with the other short side; unfold everything.
You should now have 8 sections - if you are holding the paper vertically (as if reading a printed letter), you will have 2 columns of 4 rectangles that are horizontal (longer than they are tall).
The tricky to describe part: see that long line you folded down the middle? On either side of that line are 4 pages; you are going cut ON that line just in the middle 2 section. So if you are still holding that paper vertically, your top row will be uncut, your bottom row will be uncut, but your middle 2 rows will be separated on the crease with a vertical cut.
Now fold the paper in half ON that line that you just cut. If done right, those middle pages want to "poof" out. Let them.

Ultimately you have 4 double-thick pages kind of in the shape of an x or a cross. Just fold them along their creases (don't create any new ones) and you have a book. I find I have to flip the pages around a couple of times to find the most "comfortable" fold so that nothing is sticking out at an odd angle.

Want a longer book? Make two or three of them, and glue them front to back. My son used two for his Singular and Plural Book.

Grammar Boxes - Objects

When doing the grammar boxes with your children, you want to have objects that match all the words in the boxes, so that the children can actually *bring* those objects - this is a movement work, not a sit-still-read-and-copy work.

Got a little boy? Legos work for a lot of the pieces!

Grammar Boxes without the Boxes

There was a time before we had the grammar boxes but my son was totally ready for them. 

I have NO images for what we did, but I can describe it! 

I took the images of the grammar boxes from photos taken when I was in classrooms. 

I then diagrammed them all onto posterboard (cardboard would have been better; covered with posterboard perhaps). I then cut little strips of cardboard to glue on as "edges". 

NOTE: the compartments were intentionally made just a bit wider than the cards, but not as tall, so that cards lay at an angle against the back edge. 

The back of each compartment was covered with an appropriately colored piece of construction paper (hint: don't use construction paper - it tends to FADE - I ultimately colored over each one with colored permanent marker). 

I then proceeded as usual with the presentations, except the cards were placed mostly flat within each "compartment" (leaning against the back "edge"). 

Interesting tidbit: the original grammar boxes as imaged in the Advanced Montessori Method book also do not have tilting insides. The compartments were vertical and the card fit in them such that they lay flat against the bottom of the box. If I were to make ours from wood, with my simple scroll saw, I would make ours similar, but with the compartments narrower from front to back, so that the cards tilt against the back of the compartment. I could have made them out of cardboard that way too - but had made the poster boards already; then was gifted with the modern style wood ones. 

Grammar Boxes - Review

Just for kicks, my son and I are reviewing the earlier grammar boxes - mostly to check out the material I've recently developed, make sure there are no errors.

I figure we'll do videos of this work another time.

Even though I am *not* requiring him to bring each object for grammar box 2 (the first grammar box), he is bringing EVERYTHING! I actually told him to stop and he just really doesn't want to. He is giggling SO hard!

What a hoot!

he brought a box for the table, since we were working on the floor :)

Oh the humor of little boys!


(note: please ignore the colors of the cards - my printer is out of some colors and this is just review for my son - we're just assuring the proper words and sufficient amounts :) )

Sneak Peek - Montessori Nuggets on Grammar Boxes

There is a series of Montessori Nuggets coming up on the grammar boxes.

The one I include here is not scheduled until June 9 - but I am fielding so many questions about this material, so thought I would share it here.

UPDATE: There is one coming up on June 9 but I have changed that upcoming Montessori Nugget to provide a more detailed *suggested* outline for presenting the grammar work (the entire "Parts of Speech" section of the elementary Montessori language album).


The original post:

The child in question is not my son - he is another little boy I once knew. My own son loves to do things sequentially, so wants to do all the grammar work grouped together as much as possible - so all noun/article; then all adjective. Now, he does plateau at times and we move on, returning at the appropriate time to review previous learning and build more on the nouns and verbs. (in the between times, he chooses the work for his own follow-up, so he is reviewing in between presentations; as well as participating in my large group presentations with the co-op children).

Homeschools will have to consider the best method of ongoing review for their particular situation. Classrooms have other children working on the material, so it is reviewed by mere observation and by jogging the child's memory - "ah yes, I remember working on that! that is the "past simple tense" work" - and this keeps review going by keeping it in the forefront of their minds.



Without further ado - the (original) June 9 Montessori Nugget:


There is no ONE proper sequence for presenting the Grammar work at elementary, except perhaps to do anything that kills interest ;)

The grammar boxes with all language work should be presented before the child's 9th birthday - this does NOT mean the children need to have mastered it all. It just means the child has other things that require grammar as a strong foundation.

But what about all those exercises? 

Well, "all those exercises" really refer to the noun and the verb. The remaining parts of speech (grammar boxes) do not have so many associated activities. And those exercises are mostly the *contents of the remaining filler boxes* - therefore can only come AFTER the grammar box has been presented.

While I have personally seen many Montessori schools presenting the grammar boxes in the 1st and 2nd years of elementary and I have not personally witnessed a new introduction of the grammar boxes in the 3rd year (unless the child is altogether new to Montessori elementary) and I have never seen the grammar boxes presented as the "capstone" of all grammar work, I do see these references online in various places - in charts and diagrams on how to present what/when.

That method might work too.


This Montessori Nugget is focused on two things: Follow the Child - and Have Fun.
Grammar is a fun game - keep it that way! :)



Let's take a look at one particular child:

He received all the grammar work at primary; he moves into elementary and has quick review with those parts of speech and even begins hearing the name of the part of speech. The noun activities by themselves do not have a grammar box (it would be grammar box 1 as the boxes are labeled by compartment number) - so this child moves right on to the article, where he may have an oral introduction to the noun, some noun activities, and then immediately do Grammar Box 2 on the article (which includes the oral introduction given in primary).

Now he MAY do some of the noun activities; but he needs time for them to percolate, so he goes on to the adjective (grammar box 3) before finishing all the noun activities.

He has an oral introduction (a review of what he learned in primary); does Grammar Box 3 with the first filler box; then proceeds through some of the associated activities; alternating between more noun work and more adjective work.

In the meantime, he is exploring the other parts of speech as well - like an introduction to the verb followed by that grammar box; then more review work; then another grammar box. And suddenly he does 3 grammar boxes in the same week and he's done with "new" presentations - now he just keeps working with the previous filler boxes (not all children need all filler boxes; but they tend to be fun enough for the children to WANT to do most of them - just don't require them to copy out the phrases).

This all happens rather quickly - within a few months at the most. And well-run Montessori classrooms have at least an introduction to every grammar box with some activities long before the end of the first school year the child is in elementary Montessori. With plenty of work left for review in the 2nd year. By the 3rd year, many children might have received everything; and those who haven't (because they have been focused elsewhere in their studies or are new) will receive the remainder. There is time for percolation, and those who are ready can move into logical analysis in usually their 3rd year, sometimes starting in 2nd year and some children not until 4th year of elementary.


And again - those later grammar boxes don't have as many associated activities; and some of those few activities are best done AFTER the grammar box presentation. So things DO move rather quickly as you reach the final grammar boxes (and again, there may be more activities in nouns and verbs even after a child has done ALL the grammar boxes).


A good deal of the verb work is intended for approximately 8-10 year olds - after they've worked with ALL the grammar boxes and are simultaneously working with the sentence/logical analysis material - it means more to them now as they are evaluating those different parts of speech, trying to classify them.


The grammar boxes and associated activities lay the foundation for further work in language analysis.

Language analysis extends the work of grammar into practical use.



I hope this is not overwhelming. The point is this:

FOLLOW THE CHILD.

Follow the child's interests and abilities. The child is using interjections and conjunctions every day, why wait until age 7 or 8 to introduce them? Why turn a fun interesting game (the grammar boxes) into a tedium of a series of exercises that may or may not be beneficial at this time (and can be harmful if it kills the child love of language study)?



Have fun with it! 

Our Journey to Reading

What did we use for learning to read?


The longer post: ;) 

I originally found the pink/blue/green series before I went to AMI primary Montessori training. I printed out all the cards from a site that offered them for free (thank you to all you WONDERFUL resource providers out there! low-cost or free - I owe each of you so much!). I had some instructions for their use and several blogs and sites with further ideas; but since I couldn't combine that information with anything in any of Montessori's writings, or any other Montessori-topic books I could purchase at the time, I was LOST. It just didn't connect with any Montessori experience I'd had and I didn't have a chance during that time period to get into a school to see what it was I missing.

So I took the printed words and sorted them out by the lessons I did have in books like The Advanced Montessori Method - and tried to adapt them to fit what I could grasp at the time.

It worked, but I still found myself combining it with learning-to-read series like Catholic Heritage Curricula's Little Stories for Little Folks, graded readers and other non-Montessori reading lessons. I was not entirely satisfied. And I was SO looking forward to learning to use the "real Montessori learning-to-read materials (aka pink/blue/green series)" when I got to primary training.

Was I in for a shock!? They didn't have it! NO pink/blue/green!? I asked about it and my trainer said, "Well, I have looked into it and considered how to use it within our environments, but we find it to be too curriculum-like, too scheduled, too much for the child; therefore too slow and inappropriate." Well, that explains why it wasn't in any of the writings I'd read - because Maria didn't develop it! It was developed later to deal with our English language rules; and AMI considered it and passed it by. Interesting.

I couldn't discuss it in detail with her to get more specifics, because I still didn't have much experience with it at the time. And I had to set it aside because AMI training is intense (and I was a single mom and working part-time at my son's school). What I DID discover while I was in training is that my daycare children had received from me something that looked VERY much like the AMI layout for reading. Both my methodology and Montessori's methodology as laid out in the AMI albums were based on careful observation, providing the keys, and providing real life experience - no dumbing down, no graded stages.



So where did things go askew with my own son? ;)

My son followed the AMI way perfectly his first year in primary. He began reading (and writing) at home and at school, until a little girl told him, "You can't read; I'll read this book for you." She was playing around, he took her seriously. And told me at home, "I can't read yet." Uphill battle until the following summer we worked through some of the issues and he was reading again.

The following school year, we were far away from any Montessori school and he was attending a part-time very non-Montessori preschool. The children LOVED that he could read to them. Until one girl said, "We're not supposed to read until we're in Kindergarten!" So he told me just that line at home (he did not know I was in the room next door to the preschool and heard the whole interaction). We spent Thanksgiving RE-training his confidence. But it just didn't really pick up again.

We started again that summer just after he turned 5. He was picking it up. Then for 2 1/2 months he attended a lovely AMS Montessori school that used a very nice combination of reading strategies, but my son's confidence was shot at this point, so he would do the minimum requirements for the day and no more - he was busy in other areas. When we were back home full-time and I was actually home with him full-time, we delved into the reading sequence, starting at the beginning of the AMI language album.

There were some struggles - because he was honestly far beyond the work I was presenting; but his confidence and BELIEF in himself needed to be nurtured, as well as conquering his insistence that he would not be "ready for Kindergarten until I'm 9 or 10" (a bit of confusion set in when the one girl told him that children don't read until kindergarten). Yes, he told me that when I told him he would be starting Kindergarten at the one Montessori school. He has his hand up, palm-forward, and everything - so serious! Speaking to me like I was the child! Well, he got over that in a hurry!


The first "book" he truly read independently at this time was not a booklet from any of the reading activities (AMI, Dwyer, etc.), but it was the first of the Biological Classification booklets - about living and non-living matter - he just went in to his room (the school room was in his bedroom), picked it up and started reading it. Prior to this, during his bouts of reading, he had made up some words as he went along, but it always sounded good, even if not correct. The story or narration made sense. But now he was really reading! Word for word, entirely accurate! And it wasn't lesson time!
(interestingly enough, his "mis-read" words from before not only made sense in context but were ALWAYS a synonym-of-sorts of the same word - so he would exchange feline for cat; God for Jesus; Jesus' mother for Mary; fled instead of ran; leap instead of jump - usually using the more "complicated" version of the word - this was EVERY TIME he mis-read a word --- clearly he could truly read the words in his mind).

But by January of that school year, the frustration level was high, because he just kept having an attitude about "I can't read" (even when he was!); attitude was a serious issue. Then he really wanted to read Magic Tree House and I kept holding him back, because I wanted him to be successful with them (and I didn't like them to begin with). And the attitude continued, until finally I said (not so nicely, I must be humble and admit), "Fine. You may read one chapter. You may not ask me for pronunciation, you may not ask me for help. If you want to read any additional chapters you will need to work through x-amount (I actually specified at the time) of the other work, including y-number of the booklets."

He took the book into his room and I sat in the living room wondering if I was really cut out for this. Whatever "this" is.

He read his chapter.

He calmly returned to me and requested the next booklet. He completed the expectations I laid for him. He read the next chapter. Within 48 hours, he had finished the book and 4 months of typical language album work.

After finishing everything else in the primary album over the course of the next week, he picked up The Oz Chronicles Volume 1 (set of 7 Land of Oz stories written by L Frank Baum - 5th grade reading level - NOT the paperback Oz Chronicles you might find on Amazon). And ate it up.

He then proceeded through the Narnia series.

He then read through a pile of books I can't even list.

And 2 1/2 years later - he hasn't STOPPED. At last "testing" he was reading at an 8th grade level.

For his 6th birthday, just a couple of months after bursting into reading, he received a set of "readers" from 2 friends of his, that were far below his reading level (they'd read them at age 7 so thought they'd be at his reading level ;) they meant well! and the stories were lovely! But the readers were read in a matter of an hour or so). 

This experience is typical. Children who learn to read the Montessori way, will READ. There aren't levels; there aren't experiential steps; they just READ. They need some additional cues now and again in specific areas, but when they start to read, they READ. This happened with my daycare children, my tutoring children, other children I've worked with; it happens throughout Montessori's books and books about Montessori. They go from no reading level to 3rd grade in less than a week or two; then steadily increase from there.

Mama's lesson learned: don't hold them back. Yes, build the foundation; but don't let strife enter into the picture. BEFORE strife sets in, allow them to move forward while making an agreement of continuing to build the foundation.

LESSON FOR EVERYONE: do not make the child read the words aloud until they are ready. There are times it is natural to read the words aloud (phonetic object box, the child will end up saying the name of the item while placing the ticket with the object, for example), but even then, the child has "read" the word in his mind at least a few times before saying it.


If I had it to do all over again, I would utilize the AMI sequence to a T, supplementing only with the Little Stories for Little Folks because of our family's faith, OR (with other children) utilizing a series of books I need to re-find. One Montessori school I worked at had them, and they are the perfect supplement for those who need the "comfort" of a graded reader without unduly burdening the child. I'll post them here if and when I find them!


Now the main point is not for the child to parrot back the story; but to have a logical discussion about it. They should be able to not only tell what happened, but think through the story or the reading - how does this apply to another experience, or what can we learn from it, or how was it interesting/boring/funny/mind-boggling.

• When children are free-reading, we let them just read; but bring up something from the book in a casual conversation at another time. 
• Use sentences and phrases from their reading selections when doing language work (sentence/reading/logical analysis, etc)
• Use artwork in other ways throughout the room - bring out materials to create a particular art form seen in a book. 
• Experience something in the book (does it have a new food? Redwall books are GREAT for that!)
• Talk about the author and his style. 
• Etc. etc. etc. 
• Keep it natural and integrated into the rest of life. 

Now the funny thing is, he loves to read the Clifford books at the library. Right now, he has taken a break from his bird studies (he drew out some birds he saw, brought the drawings and notes to the library to use bird books to identify their names, what they eat, and types of nests; wrote up some charts on them - some serious deep work), and why take a break from such excellent work? to read Clifford's Christmas. It's "candy" - it's a fun break ;) And he's elementary so I don't have to worry he's going to confuse reality with fiction (no dogs bigger than human houses around here!). I just think it's funny that my 8 year old wants to read Clifford books. 

;) 

Learning to Read - Montessori

I've been asked a lot lately about learning to read the Montessori way.

Well, there are two lines you could follow (and could partly overlap) - I tried both and ended up sticking with just one. It was easier to choose one or the other ;) Besides, with Montessori, you provide the keys, the main tools, and then there is the rest of the world to explore based on particular needs, interests and temperaments, using whatever individual components of anything else that make sense, fit and enhance the provided keys.

We officially tried:

• AMI (similar, not identical to Muriel-Dwyer)
• Pink/Blue/Green/Purple

and dabbled in others, including non-Montessori (this was a partial requirement, ie for my tutoring children).

Short post: We do not use the pink/blue/green (now purple too) series; my son never used it, though my daycare/tutoring children were my experiment with it. We used the AMI approach, which is more similar to Muriel-Dwyer but NOT identical, and we used the pink/blue/green cards in other ways.

The AMI way is a combination phonics/whole language that gets the children reading for real, very naturally. The lack of emphasis on 3 letter CVC words is FANTASTIC - as, if a child can read phonetically, he can read 10 letter phonetic words with the same ease as a 3-letter word. And once he knows some puzzle words - he is off and running!

I just could not wrap myself around the pink/blue/green/purple series. I do have some album pages now (thank you to the kind soul who shared them with me :) ), but I've not had a chance to really comb through them as carefully as I would like.

Now, I want to be clear - I am SURE it works for others. I think it is SO widely known because of AMS and other Montessori groups utilizing and promoting it. I am SURE it works! It just didn't fit for us, specifically me ;)  For ME, I have to agree with my trainer on this one, now that I'm further down the line (see tomorrow's post!).


Ginni Sacket has a GREAT series of YouTube videos that lead from the beginning activities for language into the first activity with the phonetic object box when the child makes the realization that he can read. I wish it went further than that, but I LOVE the content of these videos.