Montessori education is driven by your child’s innate curiosity about the world around them. The main areas of Montessori are Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics, and Culture. Via this Montessori in a Minute series, we review how and why these areas are key components of a child’s development and education.
Language in a Montessori Classroom
Each child’s language development begins long before they enter the classroom. From birth to age 6, your child’s mind is like a sponge for new information—especially language acquisition.
Dr. Maria Montessori believed that before age 6, children are in the stage of the “absorbent mind.” Montessori education focuses on exposing students to as much oral and written language as possible from the earliest age. Exposure and immersion helps students understand the language spoken around them until they are able to independently express themselves. We don’t stop with English! Children as young as age 2 are also learning Spanish in our school.
The Value of Montessori Language
The Montessori curriculum has specially designed tools to help students grow their vocabulary and language skills. Essentially, every object in the classroom is a language tool for young children. Teachers introduce the item-specific names and use descriptive words like size, shape, and color to expand the child’s vocabulary.
Activities like the Three-Part Cards contain both pictures and written words to describe plants, animals, or objects. These vocabulary enhancing cards enable children to connect pictorial representations of items with oral and written language.
Montessori education focuses heavily on your child’s writing skills from the moment they enter the classroom—often much earlier than other educational settings. Our curriculum recognizes there is a time gap between a child’s ability to use a pencil and their understanding of using letters and words to express themselves. Tools like the Moveable Alphabet help children create words and sentences before they can legibly write them on paper.
More About the Montessori in a Minute Series
This “Montessori in a Minute” series regularly explores the unique benefits of fundamental materials and areas of the classroom. To learn more about Hudson Montessori School’s interdisciplinary, theme-based learning approach to education, the Montessori philosophy and methodology, or how the school fosters the love of learning for children in Jersey City age 2 to sixth grade, sign up for an open house tour or contact us directly for more information.