Montessori Writing and Reading at Home

Writing and reading preparation the Montessori way at home start from preparing different parts of the body through the Practical Life and Sensorial activities.

The Montessori way of preparing the child for writing begins earlier than you might think.

I heard observations like why are children in a Montessori classroom have trays and play with bowl with something in it and transfer them with a spoon or why are they cleaning windows instead of practicing to write with a pencil.

That might be what we see but those practical life activities indirectly prepare the hands for writing by strengthening the pincer grip which is essential in writing and eventually reading.

Practical Life

As Amon helps a lot in the kitchen, she had practice with food preparation, tidying up (always a must), and it was also a good place to have a tray of salt to play or work with to draw lines and squiggles. It was the initial preparation for the sandpaper letter activity later on.

Like most activities, she drew lines on the tray of salt and then she ended up making something with it like a molehill or it ended up on the floor or the bin. As long as she did the activity, completed it some days and some days became creative with it and kept herself busy, I was fine with it.

Find more Practical life activity ideas here for the home setting.

Sensorial Activities

At home we had different grades of sandpaper, brown stairs and knobbed cylinders presented as sensorial activities. I splurged on the brown stairs and knobbed cylinders because I could not make them. The materials were used occasionally but not as often as I thought Amon would have used them.

Has anyone who had Sensorial materials at home had the same experience as I did? Did your children work with them a lot?

Homemade Language Materials

Sandpaper Letters

Recently, I unearthed the sandpaper letters and movable alphabet that I prepared for Amon for when she was ready to practice writing.

I remember printing and cutting out letter templates, traced them wrong side down on the sandpaper, cut them out and stuck them on cardboard. It took me three nights altogether to finish the project and voila! They were ready to use.

Amon had fun with them as she traced and sounded out the letters of her name.

We did not work a lot with the names of the letters because other adults like her Dad and Grandparents have named them already. She also had lots of reading time with them which was precious. In a home setting, especially when a child goes to a non-Montessori school, sees relatives who read and talk to him or her, he or she gets the best of both worlds.

The resources are boundless, the books, the personal stories, the salt tray, sandpaper letters, practical life materials all contribute to the preparation of the child to writing and reading.

Back to the sandpaper letters.

Initially of course, we did a 3-period lesson where I showed her how to trace the letters, said the sound and the names of the letters.

The second period was show me, where I asked her to show me a particular letter and the third, asked what the letter was.

Movable Alphabet

We moved on to the movable alphabet in quick succession.

We bought the wooden letters from the stationery store and used two coats of spray paint. The vowels were painted blue and the consonants red. Amon enjoyed ‘playing’ with them and claimed them to be hers.

There were times when Amon matched a sandpaper letter to a movable letter. Or matched them to the blocks and puzzles that had letters on them.

It might take some time to go through all the letters but she can take her time.

Montessori Writing and Reading at Home

As Amon is being raised bilingual, the Filipino alphabet was also introduced in conjunction with the English alphabet.

There are 28 letters in the Filipino alphabet which is 2 letters more than the English. And I did not prepare those two letters in sandpaper and movable letters. Filipino language is phonetic which was easier for Amon to grasp when introduced using the same materials.

Playing games like letter sounds helped in identifying the letters when the sandpaper letters were worked with. We played them in the car or while walking around the village or the park. But of course she knew the ABC song which she learned from school. That was also fun because when it came to naming the letters we had no problem at all.

This is our experience in using a few Montessori-inspired writing materials and activities. We started with practical life activities from cutting, transferring, cleaning, food preparation and used a salt tray. Then the sandpaper letters and movable alphabet were introduced.

The materials in the kitchen were already there to use. They indirectly helped to prepare the hands and pincer grip ready for writing. These materials were presented as early as 1 1/2 years and the sand tray was at 2 years.

I had time to make the sandpaper letters and paint the wooden letters at home. It was handy to have had them when Amon was ready for them. She showed interest in these at 2 1/2 yearsish. As Montessori said, every child is different and it is vital that the adult observe the child as to the readiness for any activities.

Montessori Writing and Reading

Montessori at home writing and reading was an interesting experience. I was able to see how my child acquired the skills through direct and indirect preparation.

Making our own materials was fun. It was also satisfying to see them being utilised and used in a fun and right way. Using resources available at home and inexpensive materials was enough for us in a home setting.

I needed to remind myself every now and then that writing and reading is dictated by the child’s readiness. The child will show at the right time that he or she is ready to work with the materials. And when that time comes the sandpaper letters and movable alphabet, will be presented to support them.

The Montessori approach could be incorporated at home. There are no schools around us that use the method. So, I incorporate Montessori ideas and use them as inspiration to support my child’s learning at home.

Having gone back to school recently, we keep in mind a few things the Montessori way of going back to school.

Why not choose with your kids something to cook for lunch or after-school snacks?

Browse for easy recipes for a dinner idea while you wait for your child to finish the school day.

Then have them help to prepare dishes to share.

Looking for ideas or inspiration? Browse more recipes here or head to Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for updates on life in the countryside and beyond.