Some people wonder when the appropriate time is to start teaching children how to write and how this works in Montessori since we are supposed to be learning concepts with concrete materials. This is a great question that we will explore together.
The Montessori Explosion into Writing
In Maria Montessori's writings, she speaks of an explosion into writing. The children
spontaneously discovered that they knew how to write and started writing every word,
everywhere. She insists that she never taught them how to write, she just prepared them to
write, indirectly. I agree!
The Montessori environment is full of opportunities, from tweezing and tonging to working with the dressing frames, to manipulating small knobs on the geometry, botany, and geography cabinets. Maria Montessori believed that the hand is the tool of the mind and she believed in giving the opportunity to write.
Maria also discovered that introducing writing before reading is the most efficient and effective way for the student to learn how to read. She also discovered an explosion into writing occurs before the child can even read what he or she has written. Formation of the script letters help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Cultivating Beautiful Handwriting in Montessori
Personally, I believe Montessori children should have the most beautiful handwriting because of the various opportunities that the children have to strengthen their pencil grip.
How do we encourage writing in Montessori? How do we teach writing INDIRECTLY?
Indirect Preparation for Writing The lessons we give in all the other curriculum areas prepare the children indirectly for writing. As the guides, we are trained to give lessons in a way that the children’s fingers - that will eventually be used to write- are fully involved in movement, allowing the child to strengthen the muscles of their fingers.
An Organized Mind An organized mind will be the first on the list. The exercises that we present involve task analysis; they are doing work in steps and this in turn this helps their minds to be organized.
The Role of Spoken Language You may also be amazed to know that spoken language is key to writing. All handwriting work begins with spoken language experience. Before children have something they are interested in writing about they will have something they are interested in saying. Even if a child cannot physically speak (maybe due to a neurological disorder, for instance) they will be thinking about words. It is this motor expression of language (spoken externally or thought internally) that precedes all other language work. Once these foundations are set, the logistics of handwriting can follow.
Encouraging Writing Activities Offer writing activities such tracing letters, copying words, name practice. These activities not only help children develop their writing skills but also boost their confidence. Use sandpaper letters: This is a tactile exercise that helps children with their fine motor skills.
Writing is an essential skill for young children to learn in the Montessori classroom. It not only helps them communicate effectively but also helps develop their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and cognitive abilities. Young children love to explore and experiment with different materials. You can offer them pencils, crayon, markers, chalk, etc. The children should be provided with plenty of opportunities to make marks and scribble.
Incorporating Writing into Other Activities Incorporate writing into other activities- you can encourage them to write their names on their artwork or write notes to each other. Kids trace inside of a set of metal insets to develop their pre-writing strokes - They master tracing with different shapes. In the Montessori approach we teach the shape of the letters along with the sound that the letter makes. This approach not only develops muscle memory for how to write a letter it also creates meaning for the child. Children may be interested in writing letters on their own using a chalkboard. Our training taught us to introduce chalkboards first and this comes after they have worked with the sandpaper letters and moveable alphabet. Once they have success writing on a chalkboard, primarily by copying the work that they have created with the alphabet, we introduce the baseline chalkboard. The chalkboards allow children to easily erase and correct any errors they see. They correct the errors by themselves. We do not introduce paper at this point because the child cannot fix errors elegantly on paper. They will erase so fervently that they tear their paper just because they love perfection- so the chalkboard allows this human tendency to be expressed elegantly. At some point, you will notice more consistent handwriting success on the chalkboards and usually around the same time a significant progression in the complexity of their metal inset work. This is the time to introduce paper and from here you are free to explore all the possibilities of handwriting.
I hope this helps clarify how handwriting skills unfold in the Montessori early childhood
classroom. It is not at all like the traditional handwriting curriculum. We give children the
tools and they discover they know how to write. When your 3 year old starts writing, it is
absolutely okay to put the blame on the Montessori method. We do not make them learn it- we all know and agree that this is actually a great thing.
Thank you, Maria Montessori, for your groundbreaking work and insights into early childhood education.
Mrs. Bunmi
Mrs. Bunmi began her Montessori teaching career in Nigeria in 2006. She joined MSF in 2008 and has been a cornerstone of the Montessori School of Franklin for more than 16 years. With an Association Montessori International (AMI) Certification and a BSC in Microbiology, Mrs. Bunmi's expertise is both vast and profound. Her unwavering dedication to the Montessori philosophy is a testament to her belief that "Montessori is not a trend; it is a philosophy and it works. The method is consistent, and the materials are beautiful; the materials are the same in any Montessori classroom around the world." Beyond her professional accolades, including being named The Nashville Scene's best private school teacher, Mrs. Bunmi’s life is enriched by her love for cooking and cherishing moments with her husband and two daughters. Her passion for nurturing relationships is as profound as her impact in the classroom, making her a truly exceptional educator.