Language

Write What You Know, Write What You Love: Two Things Every Kid Should Hear

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

Nothing blocks the creative spirit of the writer like an unwanted task. Nearly all of the world’s finest authors have suffered writer’s block at one time or another, and if they have to force themselves through a project in order to meet a deadline, the joy of the process disappears. It’s much better if they [...]

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Montessori Basics 9: Sandpaper Letters

Sunday, December 2nd, 2007

In Dr. Montessori’s day, children were made to practice forming letters by first writing an almost endless series of vertical strokes. Montessori immediately saw that this method completely ignored the fact that so many of the letters in our alphabet are based on curves (think about ‘o’, ‘c’, ‘b’, etc.). The work being given to [...]

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Cursive vs. Printing: Is One Better Than the Other?

Sunday, October 7th, 2007

Recently, one of my colleagues emailed me some interesting thoughts about cursive and asked for my input. I was happy to dive into this controversial topic!
People are often surprised to see that cursive script is taught before print in many Montessori classrooms. In fact, the Montessori materials in numerous 3-6 classrooms are all in [...]

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Montessori Basics 8: Pink, Blue, and Green Series

Saturday, June 30th, 2007

The Pink, Blue, and Green Series work is an integral part of Montessori language. Many people have questions about these materials, though. They don’t seem quite as self-explanatory as other common Montessori work. There’s a lot to know about the history and usage of these materials – so read on for more info!
When Maria Montessori [...]

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