Writing Before Reading

Every three-year-old child I know can sing their ABCs. Yes, it's good to memorize things, and yes, it's a good song (set to 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'), but knowing the names of letters at that age is pointless.

Montessori recognized that most people didn't put much stock in what tiny learners are capable of learning. Even now, after 100 years of knowing what children need, people still don't teach their kids the right things. Instead of focusing on the names of letters, teach them a skill they can use: letter sounds.

You see, Montessori teaches children to write before they read. She thought the first words they should read should be their own words, spelled phonetically. They can't do this without sounds. Three-year-old children (and younger, if they are so inclined) have the ability to learn letter recognition and the sounds they make. Pretty soon, with the aid of sensorial activities such as sandpaper letters, they are able to write their letters and before you know it, they can write.

Montessori observed that the traditional path of teaching 6-year-old children to read and 8-year-old children to write wasn't working. By these ages, the child must be taught to read and write if they are going to keep with cultural convention-- and it is at the risk of ignoring the child's interests (The Discovery of the Child, p. 185). If it was a problem back in 1907, why is it still a problem today? Well, I have some ideas but let's stick to the main point...

Montessori thought it prudent to break up the skills needed to read and write and teach them to children as they become able to learn them (buzz words: sensitive period). Then it isn't so difficult later.

I'm going to give you a personal example, and it's not because I think my daughter is the most brilliant and beautiful girl who ever graced us with her presence, but because she inspired me to write this post. She proves my point. She is in love with sandpaper letters. She goes over and over them with her fingers, saying the sounds.

She is also interested in painting and drawing and has gone through and entire ream of 500 sheets of paper in the past 3 months. To say she is in a sensitive period for writing is an understatement, but I waited until she asked if she could write letters. I asked her what letters she knows. She filled 3 pages of paper with the letter 'm'. Then 2 pages with the letter 'o'. Then she put them together on paper and exclaimed, "I just wrote 'mom'!" To the left is her first, second, third and fourth written word. I can't wait until she wants to write a different word!

Sure, I could have showed her how to write or read (maybe) anything, but I think her original discovery of her own first word is going to prove much more valuable. She wrote a word and read it at the same time! (This Montessori moment brought to you by, well, Maria Montessori.) I could be bragging about her, but the truth is, all children at her stage in development can do this if they are given the opportunity.

Before I get too far in lala-kids-are-wonderful-land, I want to remind you that Montessori believed in the power of the hand. If you can feel it with your hands, your brain will learn it better. This is why writing first is more valuable than reading first.

If the child is able to sound out a word on paper and then read it, please tell me why on earth that child needs to know the names of the letters. Anyone?

I'm a Pollyanna and I'm Glad About It

I always thought the best teachers were the old ones who had seen everything and knew what to do in every situation. But, my first year of teaching was the best year in my classroom regarding learning. I had it all figured out, even though I didn't know it at the time. After an intense summer of Montessori training, I told myself that I wouldn't focus on getting the lessons right, but that I would focus on setting up the right environment for my students to learn. I did this without the right materials, without adequate classroom furniture, and without experience.

My goal that year was to love each of my students. In doing that, I made a point to know each one of them and ended up making them comfortable enough to be able to learn. I spent oodles of time watching them and learned much about what they needed. I also spent a lot of time listening to their ideas and stories, which taught me a lot.

One student spent several minutes at the start of each day recounting everything he did after school the day before and that morning, catching me up on everything I missed. I almost always listened, and when I didn't make the time, it usually took me a day or two to make it up to him. That student needed the daily morning debrief and he would be set for the whole day. That's what he needed.

Another student needed to do her work standing up. She needed to walk a lap around the classroom about every 10 minutes. If allowed to do this, she had all of her work done by lunch and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon reading, giving lessons to others students, and working on new lessons and projects.

I could recount for you the 22 other unique situations that I had in my classroom that year. No two students needed the same thing. Some of the things they needed I wouldn't have ever figured out if they hadn't trusted me enough to tell me or if I hadn't taken the time to observe. (For those who are wondering, I set aside 30 minutes a day for observation, which means that I really got to do 60-90 minutes of observation per week.

There was one student who was smarter than me. He was six years old. Well, okay, there were two students there that first year who were definitely smarter than me, but I'm going to talk about the one who has really stuck with me. The first weeks of school as we were doing creation stories, he and I had several conversations about the meaning of life. He decided that his purpose was to figure out his purpose (to learn) and that mine was to love others. He actually told me my life's purpose. This kid was six years old and I was 24 and I didn't realize my calling until he told it to me. (He was right, by the way, and I try to not assume that I know more just because I'm older because a lot of the time, I don't.)

Some of my students were more difficult to love than others, and I admit that there was one that I never figured out how to love. She was intelligent but unmotivated and I spent an entire year trying to figure out what she needed. I never did figure it out. I should also take a moment to say that I was by no means an excellent teacher. I just felt inspired that first year and I believe it showed in the level of learning and interest of my students.


My second year of teaching was the worst year ever in my classroom. Two-thirds of my classroom was the same students as the previous year, but everyone suffered that year. I blame myself. I thought my goal should be different that year: to get students to learn something. I forgot to love them! Sure, I loved most of them anyway, but the atmosphere was so different, it's amazing we survived. Actually, by my third year, four students I would have had ended up in a different class, school, or city. This was totally traumatic for me as a teacher because it was a glaring wake up call that I had failed. There were four definite casualties who physically left, but there were many others who would carry with me into the following years. I didn't want to fail them again.

I got my kids to succeed through observation and love. The other part of my point is that the goal of teaching shouldn't be anything related to test scores. In coming blog post, I will talk about why worrying about test scores will actually make students dumber.

If you received this post via email or facebook message, it's because I really want you to read it. I think I'm going to stop posting these on my facebook page, so if you want to keep reading you can subscribe via email or follow with your google account. :)

The Spiritual Embryo of the Child... and You

Just because Maria Montessori was educating children over 100 years ago and you're not an Italian med-school grad working in the Roman slums doesn't mean she doesn't have things to teach you. Simply put, the child has the ability to learn and develop to his fullest potential given the right environment.

Spiritual Embryo* I hesitate to start with this concept first, because those words will turn some people off. But what Montessori meant by the spiritual embryo of the child isn't specific to a certain religion, or even religious in nature. Now, forgive me for getting all woo-woo on you in one of the first postings here, but you must understand this.

The child has certain powers. Not like Harry Potter, but powers that enable him to learn and grow and find his place in the universe. Montessori said, "We should regard this secret effort of the child as something sacred" (Montessori, p. 36). She also thought the child's actions have a purpose, even if you think what they are doing is silly or repetitive. You must provide the child with an environment where he can nurture these interests. Anything less will stifle the child's instincts and tear at the fabric of his being (p. 33). Check out The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori where she goes further into accusing adults of stifling the child and what you can do about it.

That's right, you stifle the child. And here's a bombshell: Adults aren't responsible for imparting all this wisdom that children have. Montessori said that if the adult gives respect to the process of the child's development, the child will figure things out on his own. Children have an "inner guide" which leads them toward development (Montessori, p. 16). This takes some faith because the child won't be acting like an adult when he does it. So here's a take-home message: Don't try to correct the child all the time! He is performing very necessary tasks to become who he is!

So, if you aren't supposed to correct them all the time, what the heck are you supposed to do? Montessori said, "The spiritual embryo needs to be protected by an external environment that is warm with love and rich in nourishment, where everything is disposed to welcome, and nothing to harm it" (Montessori, 34). Nurturing the child is paramount, but I also think modeling is an appropriate task for adults. Remember, you are teaching children whenever they are around you, whether you mean to or not, so if you haven't done so already, please change your attitude.

The child is more intelligent than you may realize (heck, he even has special powers!) and deserves your respect. Just because he isn't communicating or acting like an adult doesn't mean he isn't capable of quite a lot. Raise your expectations!

* The development of the spiritual embryo is seen easily when you know more about The Sensitive Periods and the Planes of Development, which, you betcha, will come in another post at some point.

Read This:
Kramer, Rita. Maria Montessori: A Biography. Chicago: Da Capo Press.1988.
Montessori, Maria. The Secret of Childhood. New York: Ballantine Books. 1972.
Mooney, Carol Garhart. An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erickson, Piaget, & Vygotsky. Saint Paul, MN: Red Leaf Press. 2000.

Ellipse & Rhombus Masquerading as Oval & Diamond

There are two shapes with which I have a beef. Oval and Diamond. Maria Montessori did not take issue or have confusion about these shapes, and neither should you. Now, if we could just tell American curriculum writers and Mickey Mouse and the people who made my Target shapes puzzle, we'd be all set.
This is something that has bothered me ever since my high school geometry teacher tried to teach me how to do graphing problems involving an ellipse. And e-what? Had I been able to continue my Montessori education through the elementary years, I would have known what an ellipse was. I would have had that picture and name in my mind, having a full understanding of what an ellipse looked like, felt like, etc. Unfortunately, I was told the wrong name in school for a decade.
Look closely at the picture. What are these shapes?



Surely, they are not both called the same thing! The one on the left is an oval. Did you get that one right? The Latin ovalis means egg-shaped and the Greek ovum means egg. Please tell me you see an egg shape.
Now look at the shape on the right. Oval? Heck, no! That's an ellipse! Do not argue with me about it too being egg-shaped. Maria Montessori and dictionary.com have spoken.

Next, take a look at these two shapes:



The one on the left is not a diamond. It's a rhombus. The Latin and Greek won't really help you remember this one, but know that a parallelogram with four equal sides is a rhombus as long as it's not a square. Okay? So what the heck is that shape on the right? A diamond? No. It's a square, silly! Maria Montessori didn't have a geometric shape called a diamond, and I'm thinking, neither should you.
So, if you have the opportunity to purchase a Circo shapes puzzle or any other mislabeled shape puzzle, I suggest the following corrections:



And just for fun, what the heck are these?

I simply cannot keep quiet any longer. I know something that not everyone knows but everyone, at least those with children or who interact regularly with children, should. Montessori is not perfect, but it’s the best way to educate children that we have. Aren’t we lucky? There is something out there that can actually inspire learners to, well, learn. It provides your children with an environment where they can thrive, and it does it without toys, punishments, or a prize box. The gimmick? Learning to love to learn.

I used to pride myself on being able to see other points of view. But, after having kids, I became more opinionated, nay, selective. After all, who doesn’t want what is best for their kids? I am AMS 6-12 certified. No, I don’t have the 3-6 training, but I did get enough philosophy in my training to realize that I should get it. Soon. I taught in a public school Montessori program in a 6-9 and then a 9-12 classroom until I realized that I am not meant to be a working mom. At least not now. Or maybe ever.

I recently left that Montessori-rich community where there were both public and private Montessori options for infant through 8^th graders and moved to a community 2000 miles away where the Montessori option (and yes, there is only one option) ends at Kindergarten and does not seem to have the inclination to reach into the elementary years. In fact, my 3-year-old daughter is on the waiting list and admission looks bleak.

At first, I was heartbroken that my kids aren’t going to have access to the best education possible, but now I realize that if it wasn’t my responsibility to teach my children before, it is now. Literally. Homeschool. Starting now.

I’m not recommending that everyone homeschool. In fact, don’t. I’m also not recommending that everyone choose a Montessori school for their children just because it says it’s Montessori. What I am saying is so many things I should probably write a book, not a blog.

Montessori is the best option we have. You can do better than what your traditional public school education department hands you. Yes, public school is free and a lot of people do it, but you should take a hard look at what you are getting in return.

Stay tuned a future blog on ‘What is Real Montessori?’ and ‘What is My State Department of Education Doing for Me?’ Other suggested topics are welcome.