Reading & writing Stage 1

We all know that under the age of 2.5 the language work we do with our kiddos is purely natural, laid back and simple. • • Reading to our little ones is one of the greatest things we can do. Poems, rhymes, songs all those language rich materials are the very first ways our little one will be introduced to reading and writing. • • Around 2.5 or when your kiddo is speaking his native language with a considerable degree of accuracy in pronunciation as well as developed sentence structure you can move to stage 1. • • Before stage 1 is also a good time for us as parents to make sure we’re familiar with and use the proper sounds for each letter. • • Then we can officially move on to stage 1 of reading and writing mastery! I want to add that all kids are different, learn different and progress at their own pace. It’s our job as parents to respect that. This isn’t a race. It’s our job to follow our kids to help them master at their pace, when we rush them we do more harm than good. • • Let me start by saying in traditional Montessori they do not introduce any letters under the age of 2.5 no alphabet songs no ABCs etc. Montessori starts purely with sounds. Which I personally think is incredible compared to the traditional ways were taught in America. Sound is what we use, I don’t say “hi my name is D..A..N..A” I use the sounds and say Dana. So why we teach the letters first never seemed right to me and ironically we’re one of the only countries that does that. As Montessori itself was founded in Italy. • • Stage 1: the very first stage of reading and writing work is a simple I spy game. It’s recommended to play this over and over and over and over (lol) (repetition is a key to mastery) the more you do this the more mastery your child will have. I recommend doing this throughout the day for a while, even months until your child becomes familiar with all the sounds. • • How to play; You’ll hold ONE object in your hand for instance a spoon, you’ll say “I spy something that starts with an “s” (using the sound not letter) the key to this is you only have one item in your hand. The goal is to teach not confuse so the simplicity here is key. Since you only have one item in your hand, your child will say “spoon” and you simply reiterate “yes spoon starts with S” • • After much mastery of sound (months into your journey) your child will then be ready to choose which one of two different objects starts with a specific sound playing the same I spy game only with two different objects in your hand. But it’s so important to understand the importance of starting with one object and repeating that method for months in order to cover all sounds. • • Happy learning!