Early Montessori Writing Exercises and LOLZ

A bit of info on Montessori for those who are not teachers: one distinct difference between Montessori and traditional education is that writing comes before reading. This may sound crazy, but makes perfect sense when you consider that the process of writing is encoding, a process much less complicated than decoding, which reading necessitates. The children learn the sounds of the English language and their corresponding symbols, and soon learn that they can put these together to make words. Later on, they have what is often called an "explosion" into reading. They know all the sounds, understand concretely what it means to put letters together to make words, and for this reason are quite well-prepared for reading, and as soon as they realize that they have what it takes, generally take to it quite easily.

When they do begin to write for the first time, however, they write phonetically, and without having been exposed to the correct spelling of many common words through reading. (You would be surprised how easily they adapt their writing later, however.) Children in Montessori classrooms are encouraged to put letters together to make words, without being bothered with the tedious task of making sure all of the words are spelled correctly. For the young child just beginning to write, the main concern is that they can express ideas in written form, and that they gain confidence in writing. This is fascinating and exciting to watch, and fills the teacher with great pride.

The material used for writing in primary classrooms is called the Large Movable Alphabet (pictured). Children take out the letters needed to form words from the box and place them on a rug or a table. Children are not corrected when they choose the wrong letter, but encouraged to write whatever they desire. As they practice, and are exposed to more written material, they begin to write more perfectly, usually without even realizing it.

This process is absolutely incredible, and is often a source of great pride for the children. I love reading what the children have written in the way they saw fit to do so, and sharing their excitement over this accomplishment.

However, as a member of a generation where proper grammar and spelling are often abandoned for the sake of brevity, internet culture, or lolz, it can be quite amusing as well.

Vowels are often omitted, as they are much harder to pick out than the consonant sounds. So, sorry is often written as sry, and please as pls or plz.

Third person verbs and plural nouns are often written with a z on the end instead of an s, as in runz, livz, walkz (more commonly wokz), and catz.

My often becomes mi, your ur, and our if often just r. Love is almost invariably written early on as luv.*

Perhaps lesson plans for the LMA box should be adapted to include the indirect aim of preparing the child to communicate via text message and the internet(z)?

Very young children who do not yet know the sounds, but do know what some letters look like often try to write as their older peers do. One favorite thing for children to write is their own name, and many very young ones insist that they know how to write their name simply because they are so determined to do so, whether they have learned to or not. I have learned to memorize many strings of shapes and squiggles as the "name" of particular children on their art and other work to take home. One of my favorites, however, is one girl who always writes her name (in all caps) as LOL. L is actually in her name, and most children, no matter what age, know what O looks like.



*Note: Writing in this way is only done early in the process of learning to write, and children have been shown to benefit greatly from uninterrupted practice and the confidence gained from the same. Children who write in this way are generally quite young, and become excellent spellers and masters of their language soon after.