Literacy is at the heart of every other content area, and therefore; holds a crucial role in the child’s learning experience. Because children from birth to six are in the sensitive period for language, Montessori classrooms dedicate an entire area to language enrichment. The aim is to immerse children with language-stimulating materials that prepare for receptive (listening, reading) and productive skills (speaking, writing).
The symbols (letters of our alphabet) are introduced through the tactile and visual senses using the Montessori Sandpaper Letters. Other phonemic awareness exercises can be presented to stimulate and further develop this skill. Through intentional practice and repetition, children become capable to decipher all sounds within words.
Based on the Montessori curriculum, we developed three comprehensive and consistent materials to aid children to develop phonemic awareness: Initial Sound Mats, ending Sound Mats, and Medial Sound Mat. Below, you will find some suggestions on how to introduce the materials.
The Montessori language curriculum is designed to introduce materials that progressively lead children to reading fluency. For instance, before age 2.5, children develop oral language through their personal experiences. They naturally absorb the language in their environment through meaningful interactions. Around age 2.5 and 3, children may show signs of readiness for Montessori intentional language exercises. They are introduced to a variety of materials that help with visual perception (figure-ground), concepts development (opposites), and sound games (I Spy…) Children begin to make connections between words and individual sounds, and eventually words and symbols.
Initial Sound Mats
Initial Sound Mats are the first mats of the series to be introduced. Prior to using the Initial Sound Mats, children will have played the “I Spy” game, and use the Sandpaper Letters. The set consists of five fabric mats with red background and alphabet letters down the left side, and 104 cut and laminated picture cards; four for each initial sound (letter combinations: abmst, ecghr, idfkl, ojnpw, uqvxyz). We have placed the letters to the left of the mat to visually imply that we are working with “beginning” sounds.
As a preliminary exercise, have children practice tracing and saying the Sandpaper Letters that will be practiced with the Initial Sound Mat of your choice. For instance, if working with the mat containing the letters “a, b, m, s, t,” children can trace and say the sound “ah” and place the Sandpaper Letter Card on top of the working space. It would be a good time to introduce the cards that illustrate the sound “ah.” You may show the cards one after another and name them with the children aloud. Place them in a column below the Sandpaper Letters “a” as you name them. Make sure to accentuate the initial sound, and ask children if they hear that the word begins with the sound “aaaaah.” Have the children repeat the names after you. Continue with all four letters remaining.
After that children had gone through naming the pictures, you can model how to match the pictures to the sounds on the mat. This ensures that children know the names of the objects on the pictures, and also that they know the sounds of the letters with which they will be practicing. Later, you can invite children to work independently by having all the cards mixed, and have the children name the pictures and match them to the corresponding initial sound. You can offer the same presentation for all five mats in separate instances.
Ending Sound Mats
The Ending Sound Mats follow the Initial Sound Mats exercise. It consists of 5 fabric mats with pink background and alphabet letters down the right side, and 68 cut and laminated picture cards; 4 for each ending sound (b, c, d, f, g, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, x, z). We have placed the letters to the right side of the mat to visually imply that we are working with “ending” sounds. Once children seem comfortable working with beginning sounds, you can introduce the ending sounds. This time, the principle is the same, but the complexity of the task increases. You may go through all the cards, name them, and pronounce them with the children. You may practice by selecting two cards, and ask children to guess the word that begins with the sound “j-” and that ends with the sound “-m” (as seen in the example below.)
You may provide more practice with two or three cards. Eventually, children are successful at guessing some cards. You may now introduce one of the mats, and model how to match the picture cards to the corresponding letters on the mat. Introduce one mat at a time, and the other mats on different days.
Because children will have revisited all the letters in a sensorial way when working with the Initial Sound Mats, you may use your own judgment to determine if the Sandpaper Letters should be used in conjunction with the Ending Sound Mats.
Medial Sound Mat
The Medial Sound Mat is the most difficult task in all of the exercises we have presented. In effect, children may take time to decipher medial sounds within words. For this reason, all our medial sound examples are also in the CVC format. It consists of one fabric mat with orange background and medial sound letters (a, e, i, o, u) down the middle and 20 cut and laminated picture cards; 4 for each medial sound.
You may introduce this work when children have shown mastery of the Initial Sound Mats, and the Ending Sound Mats. To introduce medial sounds, you may use two examples as seen above. Just like for the ending sounds exercise, have children guess the object or picture that begins with a certain sound, and that ends with a certain sound. Ask children if they hear another sound while you are accentuating the word in question. For example, say “I am thinking of an object that begins with the sound “L—” and that ends with the sound “G—.” Children may see the object of a log and say “Log!” That is when you can bring attention to the medial sound. After a few practice with two or three objects, you may introduce the Medial Sound Mat, and model how to pronounce the objects on the pictures, and match them to the corresponding vowel on the mat. We have placed the letters in the middle of the mat to visually imply that we are working with “medial” sounds. If children are not progressing towards independent work using the Medial Sound Mat, you may encourage them to continue practicing with initial and ending sounds, and revisit medial sounds at another time.
We hope this post has informed you of the ways to utilize our phonemic awareness materials. The pictures contain real images and backgrounds free of distractions. All sets come with precut and laminated cards. Our cloth mats are durable and can be rolled for easy storage. The cards may be placed in separate labeled containers. To make the materials completely autodidactic, you may use stickers on the back of each card with the corresponding letter. After sorting all the cards, children can simply turn the cards around to see if they are in the appropriate row.
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Montessori Sound Mats
Montessori Sound Mats
Montessori Sound Mats
