Montessori language for kindergarteners is an addiction of mine. It’s one of my favorite things to have fun with, adding in new activities and shaking things up as much as possible. Lucky for me, Peanut loves it too! He’s been flowering, really showing interest in learning letter sounds and even starting to write them on his own.
To be honest, we started working on this months ago. You can see how we started learning the ABCs in this post here.
So, when I started homeschooling more officially, I knew Peanut would be into it. Here’s what I included to get started:
Rice Tray
Here’s how I presented the rice tray to Peanut:
- First I traced the paper letter (we’re getting REAL sandpaper letters with Grandma and Grandpa’s upcoming visit…but in a pinch it works to trace the shape). At the end of the trace, I said the letter sound (not its name! – for example “sssss” for an “s” or “eeeeh” for an “e”).
- Then, I drew it in the rice.
- Peanut’s turn! I helped him trace on the paper, reminding him where to start the trace if necessary. Then, he traced in the rice.
Here he is in action:
Sound Pouches
Sound pouches are probably my favorite piece of the Montessori language for kindergarteners curriculum. Children love small objects and can manipulate them, experience them.
I must confess, I haven’t made the cute little pouches yet, but we’re using objects that begin with certain letter sounds. I found plenty of objects to work with in our toy basket. I only made them up for the letters Peanut is currently working with, so “m, a, s, e, t, c, o”. {EDIT: I have now made the pouches! Learn more about how to make and use them in this sound pouch post]
Here’s an example of what you can include. For “s” I have a spider, snake and star. For “e” I have an envelope, elephant and egg.
To present one pouch:
- I start by showing him the letter (in my case, just the letter written on a piece of paper, ideally it would be the sandpaper letter). We trace it and make the letter’s sound.
- I say “We’re going to look at some objects that start with the sound ___”
- Then, we say each object’s name and place them below the letter.
Once two pouches have been presented, we mix the objects up. We then say each object’s name and return it to the correct letter.
Whiteboard
We have a whiteboard in our school room. Peanut loves getting out his box of letters that I wrote out for him and observing them, tracing them, and then writing them on the whiteboard. The other day at church he even wrote out some pretty impressive letters rather than drawing as he normally would. The interest is high!
Games!
Games are great fun. I invent new games as I see Peanut work. I always try to involve movement as much as possible. We had some extra empty labels to use, and what’s more fun than stickers for preschool/kindergartener aged children? See what we have been up to almost every day at school since I introduced this game:
Fine Motor Practice
Peanut has pretty good fine motor control. He enjoys drawing and practicing writing his letters, and we’ll continue to work on this. I’ve also ordered the metal insets for him to continue working on this. These are essentially stencils that children use to trace different shapes. Then they practice filling them in, first using straight lines, and then you can use curved lines, zig zags, etc. I’m looking forward to working with him on this.
Reading
We read books daily with Peanut (and his little sister!). Whether it’s a bedtime story or an afternoon relaxing activity, he loves to hear stories. I think this is so important for literacy and growing his interest in language. We also work on story retelling skills. He’s become a great storyteller himself. His stories usually end in a fit of laughter – funny is usually the key ingredient. As his interest grows, we’ll work more on reading activities.
That’s what we’ve been up to so far! I’m excited to make more materials and start having him form words using the letters he knows. I also think he’s ready to start adding some more letters to his list, so we’ll start on that too.
What is your favorite Montessori language for kindergarteners lesson?
Looking to get started with Montessori homeschooling? Find out how we started off with this helpful overview of materials and some ideas for how to get set up.
Katherine
22 Feb 2017These are all fab! My daughter goes to a Montessori school and I love all the hands on activities 🙂
suzie
22 Feb 2017Hoping to do some of these with my grandson.
Great post (and a great site). Keep up the good work
#familyfun
Volcano Mama
23 Feb 2017Thanks Suzie! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Hope you have lots of fun with your grandson with this.
Andrea @Topsy Turvy Tribe
23 Feb 2017Wow, this is brilliant. Will definitely be trying this with our nearly 4 year old. In sure he will love it! #familyfun
Karen | TwoTinyHands
24 Feb 2017I love the idea of Montessori led learning all Hands on and outdoorsie too. I’ll definitely be adding this type of learning as my son gets older. Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky
Helena
24 Feb 2017It’s great that the little one is enjoying these activities and learning. #FamilyFun
Michelle
25 Feb 2017Great ideas, thank you #familyfun
Meredith
7 Feb 2018This is one of the most helpful blogs I’ve seen on homeschooling my son. Thank you.
Volcano Mama
7 Feb 2018Thanks Meredith! Glad to help 🙂