Dr. Maria Montessori’s Language Environment, like the rest of her intricately designed philosophy of education, was prepared with the child in mind at every turn. Each nuance revealed by the child, every detail of their interests, the idiosyncrasies of their development, noted and embedded into her practice. The language environment being unique in that it is perhaps most readily pervasive in daily life. For our Cultural and Math studies, our pedagogy and practice as Montessori educators are primarily aimed at bringing the outside in and relating learning out into the world. Language, however, is as universal and equally necessary for all students regardless of background or experiences. Everyone has the experience to tie a verb to. Where math reveals the patterns of the universe and culture shows the people and places who’ve interpreted it over time, language is that common struggle across all of time and history for connection, community, and communication.
As you enter our bustling classroom filled with chatter, you may hear sounds of distraction, excitement, or pondering. I hope, that regardless of the content, you will choose to hear learning. Language in the Montessori Environment looks like colorful cards and big black spheres and maybe even a miniature bathtub, but above all else, it looks like everyday communication. Every verbal or non-verbal message between my students builds the rapidly ever-growing sense of communication for your child. I am honored to be in the presence of their thoughts every day, whether they make it perfectly onto paper or not, and I’ll ensure the Mechanics, Word Study, Grammar, and Sentence Analysis skills are ready for when they do. In addition to being in alignment with, and often exceeding Ohio State Standards, our language curriculum is child-led and aimed at the joy of learning. Joyful learning leads to meaningful work. Perhaps you have noticed your child making developmentally appropriate spelling errors or flipping letters backward. It isn’t that we aren’t aware, it’s that we’re celebrating the effort along the way. If we aren’t addressing the spelling error, we are probably focusing on another skill, like capitalizing the first letter in a sentence or remembering that pesky end punctuation. The best writers of all time received those accolades, not for their perfect grammar on the first try, but the authenticity and vulnerability of their writing. To build that kind of confidence, we must make sacred space for the child to safely express their creative thoughts. Dr. Maria Montessori is well noted for many contributions, her most well-known being her theory of Sensitive Periods within different Planes of Development. Many parents find themselves in great company to discover that the 3-6-year-old child is in their sensitive period for order and is developmentally appropriate in losing it over a broken cheese stick or a particular toy out of place. The 6-9 child, however, develops into a new social being, one wherein “The direct teaching of handwriting in a low- stress, positive atmosphere is effective when the children are still sensitive to the joys of movement” (Woods, 2001, p. 41). It is essential that we, both at home and school, support that joy of movement. When joy is fostered from the beginning, improving and correcting towards exactness will naturally follow. The love of learning is followed by the love of improvement and correction, we need not harshly examine their first attempts at writing. Whereas, "Later on the children themselves will tend to become careless in the exact performance of their movements. Their interest in developing the coordination of the muscles will begin to decline. The mind of the child will press on, he will no longer have the same love that he had before" (Montessori, 1967, p. 88). This is not to say that your third year child is headed for a loss of the love for learning, but they will never again have the precise and immense joy of writing for the first time. The longer we can stretch this passion and joy, the greater the possible learning outcome. Assist me in assisting your child by celebrating their attempts at writing and reading. Promote storytelling in the car ride home, listen to their questions about the world, collaborate towards those answers. Ultimately, the role of communicating with your child, at this special stage, is to sculpt an environment for their natural explosion into a language to thrive. Perhaps most universal to the 6-9-year-old experience, regardless of class, culture, or continent is the inevitable and unavoidable question: where do babies come from? Laughable as it seems, your child is at the exact age for questioning the origins of our universe. At the core of answering, “Who am I?” and “Where did I come from?” It is the innate desire for children to answer their great cosmic call back to cosmogonic origins. The language enigma, in the mind of the child, is no exception. Where and how language developed is at the core of exciting the child about its modern usage and understanding its very human beginning. The need and desire to communicate which spurred on ancient peoples is that same urge inside of you and me. How incredible to realize, for the very first time, that you are a part of a world not only so much bigger than you but older, too. The Great Lessons, the backbone of Dr. Montessori’s Cosmic Curriculum, includes the History of Language, a thrilling tale on early communication. Storytelling is used, in this instance, to peak initial inquiry and spark the inevitable conversation. Although this Great Lesson kicks off our language curriculum, Dr. Montessori’s employment of the miraculous power of storytelling on children didn’t end here. The grammar many of you were raised on has transformed into a story-telling, interactive game your child will love. I don’t say this merely as their teacher but as the personal beneficiary of the Montessori Method of being taught grammar. While we may hold onto the old faithful School House Rock songs, or other pneumonics, Dr. Montessori’s gift to perhaps the world’s driest subject, the parts of speech, ignites children towards the kind of joy in learning you’d expect to see when they learn about their favorite Pokemon, stuffed animal, or song. It ignites the light in their eyes only visible when a personal touch has connected with the innermost part of the child. Storytelling capitalizes on the captivating power of the human narrative. The universal draw of our methodology is precisely that: how do we tell living, breathing stories, present impressionistic lessons, and make a lasting impact not only on the child’s long-term memory of the content but of the joy that they felt. How can we, as frequently as possible, tie learning to play? By preparing the environment for it. Preparing the Montessori environment for all of these seemingly silly stories about noun pyramids, or magic compound word baskets, of course, requires the teacher to prepare countless baskets full of the necessary materials for the grand show, but it also requires preparing the community culture. A literacy centered environment is text-rich and full of environmental text (words labeling things outside of books or on the language shelf, something you could find in a grocery store even), as well as a variety of books. Do not shy away from allowing your child, especially as an emergent reader, to explore a variety of genres and styles of writing. For some students, wordless books and graphic novels are precisely what is needed to spark a love of reading. Furthermore, parents are better equipped to motivate their children to read. Parents provide excitement about reading that only a parent can. The emotional bond promotes connection and deeper learning. Students who read the most, read the best, achieve the most, and stay in school the longest. Homes with print-rich environments (such as newspapers, magazines, or books) can help ensure success for children (Trelease, 2009). Overall, the home is where children learn who they are and where they come from. We want to help children see themselves as readers and authors of literature. Just as the child’s definition of self comes from the home, thus so does their love for language. Language is a representation of culture, “Not only does it fuse men into groups and nations, but it is the central point of difference between the human species and all others. Language lies at the root of that transformation of the environment, we call civilization” (Montessori, 113, 1995). In this way, language makes us human and enables us to teach and to learn. Language is the conduit through which humans attach with each other and our ideas, it is the heartbeat of connection. Mechanics, Word Study, Grammar, and Sentence Analysis, the four pillars of our instruction, all weave in and out of the reading and writing happening inside and outside of our classroom. Grammar, the backbone of logical thinking about the way we speak, is perhaps most paramount in the 6-9 Montessori classroom, “By teaching grammar, we help him master perfectly the spoken language that he is absorbing” (Montessori, p. 174, 1995). We support students inside the classroom, and eagerly await collaboration in continuing the joy of reading and writing at home. Writing connects the hypothetical knowledge in the brain to the physical realities of paper, “writing is a double gain. It enables the hand to master a vital skill…and to create a second means of communication that reflects the spoken word…Writing is thus dependent upon mind and hand” (Montessori, p. 131, 1946) Language is aimed at communication, connection, and community, and I, for one, am ecstatic to build this new collaboration with you. Works Cited Montessori, M. (1946). Education for A New World. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Montessori- Pierson Publishing Company. Montessori, M. (1967) The Discovery of the Child. Notre Dame, Ind., Fides Publishers. Montessori, M. (1995). The Absorbent Mind. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Trelease, J. “Why Read Aloud to Children?” 2009. Woods, C. (2001). Handwriting Doesn't Have To Be a Lost Art. Spotlight: Language Arts. Montessori LIFE.
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AuthorHi! My name is Brittany Wells, and I am a Montessori 6-9 major. I was born and raised in Cincinnati and attended Xavier University Montessori Lab School, Mercy Montessori, McAuley High School, and now Xavier University! Archives
May 2020
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