Word Building activity using Pink Object Box
This activity is one of the best and sure ways to get young children to use their senses in listening to sounds in words. If this skill can be taught to them, learning phonics is a breeze. In fact, I dare say this way the child learns to read even faster and can attempt to read all on his or her own.
Read on...
This activity is done using the Montessori Language set, the Pink Scheme. Many Montessorian teachers skip this activity especially in enrichment-based programmes as the programmes are leaned more towards the academic side instead of the Montessori side... which is quite sad, because it means learning to read is rushed and cannot come more naturally to the child or to allow the child to comprehend at his or her own pace. This activity allows for children to really maximize the use of their senses when working with the material, which is what makes the Montessori Method of Education a holistic and a multi-sensory programme.
This is Object Box 5.
It contains small objects that spells three-letter phonetic words with the vowel "u" in them.
Let's say, the child takes out the bus from the object box...
You : Can you tell me what this is?
Child : Yes. It's a bus.
(You can engage the child in a short exchange about a bus trip, or if he/she likes travelling by bus.. etc)
You : Now, what letter sounds can you hear in the word bus?
Child proceeds to sound out the sounds on his/her own.
Child : b-uh.... uuuu.... ssssss
Child : I can hear a b-uh.
You : Great! Now this is the LMA. It contains consonants and vowels. Consonants are red and vowels are blue. Can you pick out the letter of the sound b-uh, from the LMA (large movable alphabet)?
You : Let's place that letter next to your bus.
*You : What other letter sounds can you hear in the word buh...uuuu...sss.
(You can drag the sounds a little)
*For children who can already hear the different letter sounds in the word, most times, they don't require any prompting at all.
In my experience teaching my students and my own children, they tend to hear the first and the last sounds first. It's okay.
Just continue asking for the next letter sound they can hear in that word, in this example... the word (of the object)... is bus.
You : We now have b-uh and ssss...
You : To form the word bus, we need three letters... two consonants and a vowel. Consonants are red, vowels are blue. Which one do you think we need next? (Yes, blue..)
Child : Blue letter (or an older child may reply that he or she needs a vowel)
You : Let's listen to the letter sounds in the word bus again. B-uh... uuuu... ssss... (pause and stretch at the "uh" sound of the letter u)
For my #3 (buds_chubs), he'd say, "I think we need an "uh"..
Proceed to take the letter from the LMA.
Place the letter with the first two the child picked out.
You : Very good, we now have 3 letters to form a word. Two consonants (point to the letters) and one vowel (point again). Let's check the letter sounds.
Together : (we have....) a "buh"...
Together : (we have.... ) "uh".. Hmm that's not "uh" is it? Can you put the next correct letter?
Child places the correct letter upon checking the sounds together in sequence.
Together : (and finally...) we have "sssss".
Together : Let's try putting those letter sounds together!
As you drag the sounds together, simultaneously drag the letters on the mat too.
You : You've listened to the letter sounds in the word bus. You can pick out another object and listen to more letter sounds in other words.
Be at hand to offer assistance but only on a need-to basis. Montessori Method encourages independence as much as possible. Children who begin this word building activity must have completed single letter sounds. ie. can recognize the letter shape that corresponds with all the letter sounds. It's understandable that children may forget the sounds sometimes and instead of giving them the answer, you may choose to prompt ... I'd like the mmmm as in the first sound in the word... mmmmat.
Let the child work through with the objects in the pink box according to his concentration limit or you can gauge his/her attention/interest level. There is no need to finish all objects in one sitting especially not at the point of the very first introductory session. The child can stop at any time at all if he or she is not up to it, tired, etc... Just say he's welcome to come back to it another day or that you would work with him/her again on another day. Request though for the child to help put it (the box) away and place it back where it belongs on the shelf. Chances are he or she will pick up that box again in no time at all.
We use the word cards to spell-check the words formed with the LMA.
This self-check is one of the special traits of Montessori Education. The self-correct feature in the materials offer auto-education. The child is always encouraged to be independent and more conscientious in his work and that it's okay to make mistakes because they are always welcome to come back to the materials over and over again. There is no stress and no shame in making lil mistakes. Montessori Education offers the child security in learning at his pace and to refine his senses and maximize his potentials at his own time. Which means children who grasp faster, may accelerate and children who need more time are welcome to it.
Maria Montessori ~ “Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.”
This activity is one of the best and sure ways to get young children to use their senses in listening to sounds in words. If this skill can be taught to them, learning phonics is a breeze. In fact, I dare say this way the child learns to read even faster and can attempt to read all on his or her own.
Read on...
This activity is done using the Montessori Language set, the Pink Scheme. Many Montessorian teachers skip this activity especially in enrichment-based programmes as the programmes are leaned more towards the academic side instead of the Montessori side... which is quite sad, because it means learning to read is rushed and cannot come more naturally to the child or to allow the child to comprehend at his or her own pace. This activity allows for children to really maximize the use of their senses when working with the material, which is what makes the Montessori Method of Education a holistic and a multi-sensory programme.
This is Object Box 5.
It contains small objects that spells three-letter phonetic words with the vowel "u" in them.
Let's say, the child takes out the bus from the object box...
You : Can you tell me what this is?
Child : Yes. It's a bus.
(You can engage the child in a short exchange about a bus trip, or if he/she likes travelling by bus.. etc)
You : Now, what letter sounds can you hear in the word bus?
Child proceeds to sound out the sounds on his/her own.
Child : b-uh.... uuuu.... ssssss
Child : I can hear a b-uh.
You : Great! Now this is the LMA. It contains consonants and vowels. Consonants are red and vowels are blue. Can you pick out the letter of the sound b-uh, from the LMA (large movable alphabet)?
You : Let's place that letter next to your bus.
*You : What other letter sounds can you hear in the word buh...uuuu...sss.
(You can drag the sounds a little)
*For children who can already hear the different letter sounds in the word, most times, they don't require any prompting at all.
In my experience teaching my students and my own children, they tend to hear the first and the last sounds first. It's okay.
Just continue asking for the next letter sound they can hear in that word, in this example... the word (of the object)... is bus.
You : We now have b-uh and ssss...
You : To form the word bus, we need three letters... two consonants and a vowel. Consonants are red, vowels are blue. Which one do you think we need next? (Yes, blue..)
Child : Blue letter (or an older child may reply that he or she needs a vowel)
You : Let's listen to the letter sounds in the word bus again. B-uh... uuuu... ssss... (pause and stretch at the "uh" sound of the letter u)
For my #3 (buds_chubs), he'd say, "I think we need an "uh"..
Proceed to take the letter from the LMA.
Place the letter with the first two the child picked out.
You : Very good, we now have 3 letters to form a word. Two consonants (point to the letters) and one vowel (point again). Let's check the letter sounds.
Together : (we have....) a "buh"...
Together : (we have.... ) "uh".. Hmm that's not "uh" is it? Can you put the next correct letter?
Child places the correct letter upon checking the sounds together in sequence.
Together : (and finally...) we have "sssss".
Together : Let's try putting those letter sounds together!
As you drag the sounds together, simultaneously drag the letters on the mat too.
You : You've listened to the letter sounds in the word bus. You can pick out another object and listen to more letter sounds in other words.
Be at hand to offer assistance but only on a need-to basis. Montessori Method encourages independence as much as possible. Children who begin this word building activity must have completed single letter sounds. ie. can recognize the letter shape that corresponds with all the letter sounds. It's understandable that children may forget the sounds sometimes and instead of giving them the answer, you may choose to prompt ... I'd like the mmmm as in the first sound in the word... mmmmat.
Let the child work through with the objects in the pink box according to his concentration limit or you can gauge his/her attention/interest level. There is no need to finish all objects in one sitting especially not at the point of the very first introductory session. The child can stop at any time at all if he or she is not up to it, tired, etc... Just say he's welcome to come back to it another day or that you would work with him/her again on another day.
Request though for the child to help put it (the box) away and place it back where it belongs on the shelf. Chances are he or she will pick up that box again in no time at all. We use the word cards to spell-check the words formed with the LMA.
This self-check is one of the special traits of Montessori Education. The self-correct feature in the materials offer auto-education. The child is always encouraged to be independent and more conscientious in his work and that it's okay to make mistakes because they are always welcome to come back to the materials over and over again. There is no stress and no shame in making lil mistakes. Montessori Education offers the child security in learning at his pace and to refine his senses and maximize his potentials at his own time. Which means children who grasp faster, may accelerate and children who need more time are welcome to it.
Maria Montessori ~ “Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.”
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