PAKISTAN MONTESSORI

COUNCIL
InternatIonal montessorI
traInIng program

module 06

submItted by:

aqsa Hameed
reference no: dk2503
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assIgnment module # 06
questIon # 01

How do we give the concept of grass letters, root letters and sky
letters to the child?

answer:
The most important preparation of the environment for the successful
development of spoken and written language in the child’s personality is the
home language. It is never too early to speak clearly and precisely to the child.
The successful environment for the language is created at home by the
mothers and the caregivers. Reading aloud for the child at home, gives the
message to the child that reading is a fun for him. Reading the story books for
the child by his mother at home makes the meaning clear and he knows how
to use the word with the sense in his language. The child also builds his
vocabulary unconsciously through listening to the story books from his mother
which would never come up in spoken language.
Although reading and writing should not be taught to a child before the age of
six or seven, yet he is introduced to the concept of reading and writing by
giving the sensorial experiences of appropriate materials and sometimes as
early as three or four years of age.
Since 99% of written language is in lower case letters. In the Montessori
classroom and at home the child should be taught firstly with the small
alphabet rather than capital (“a” and “b,” not “A” and “B”). During the
introduction of the small alphabet to the child the sounds are pronounced
instead of the words.

Using the Moveable Alphabet

• Take the small alphabet set and all the letters should be in the same
colour.
• Take either one large piece of cloth or the piece of paper with four lines,
the top and bottom lines are pink in color and the rest of the two lines
are aquamarine.
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Concept of the Grass Letters

• First of all try to give the concept of the grass letters to the child.
• Thus, take out the letter” a” from the box and place it between the
first set of lines.
• Then teach to the child that the letter fits completely within the
middle two lines is called the grass letter and ask the child to try to
find out other letters that can be perfectly fit between the two lines.
• When he has placed all those letters which are fit between two lines,
tell him that these are all grass letters in small alphabet. (a, c, e, i, m,
n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z) These letters are called” the grass letters”.

Concept of the Sky Letters

• Next, take out the letter” b” and place it at the beginning of the second
set of guide lines and show to the child that a letter with a stem goes
up to the pink line is called a sky letter.
• Then, ask the child to find out all other letters with the stem going up
to the pink line.
• When the child is successful in completing to fit the letters up to the
pink line then make him introduce that these letters are called” the
sky letters”.(b, t, d, f, h, k, l, b).

Concept of the Root Letters

• At the end, on the third set of guide line, place the letter” j”
• The child is ready to learn about the third set of the guide line, tell the
child that which letter with a tail going down to the lower pink line is
called the root letter.
• Then, ask the child to find out all other letters with a tail going down.
These letters are called” the root letters”. (q, p, g, j, y).
• Grass, sky and root letters are introduced to the child in the
Montessori classrooms through” Three Period Lesson”.
• Actually three period lesson is very important in teaching to the
children not only in the Montessori Classroom but also at home.
• Mothers of all over the world can make the child intelligent through
giving the basic idea of the knowledge. So, provide the material of
learning the knowledge to the child whenever he likes.
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• Encourage the child in learning to write these groups of letters on a

chalkboard or the marker board after arranging them on the mat.

questIon # 02

Write a detailed note on Montessori green boards and writing on a

paper exercises.

answer:
Chalkboards:

Materials for Preparatory Work:

• Small tray, large enough to make a sandpaper letter.  Enough sand

in the tray to cover the bottom.

Materials for Chalkboard Work:

• Set of green chalkboards 32cm x 50cm each.

• The first board is blank on one side and ruled to guide the placement
of letters on the other side.
• The second board has one side ruled in squares and the other ruled in
horizontal lines.
• Tray with chalk in a holder, an eraser, a dust clothe, and a hand cloth.
 Sandpaper letters and numerals.

Preparatory Exercise
• Invite one child to come and work with you.
• You and the child choose one sandpaper letter and bring it to the
table.
• Then go and get the tray of sand and place it to the right of the
sandpaper letter.
• Trace the sandpaper letter. Repeat two to three times.
• Then tell the child that you are going to trace the letter in the tray.
• Move the tablet over to the left.
• Slide the tray in front of you and trace the same letter as the
sandpaper letter into the sand.
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• Show the child that you have made the same letter.
• Show the child how to “make it disappear” by gently shaking the tray
from side to side but keeping the tray on the table.
• Have the child trace the sandpaper letter and then make the letter in
the sand.
• The child can continue making the letter in the sand.
• Once he is comfortable tracing the letter in the sand, he can then work
with the stylus.
• Once he is comfortable with using the stylus and writes a few of the
letters in the sand, he is ready to begin with the Chalkboard work.

Presentation 1: Blank Board

Material:
• Blank board and chalk tray
• Sandpaper letters

Presentation
• Invite one child to come and work with you.
• Tell him that you will be using something to help us to write.
• Introduce the child to the chalkboard and have him carry it to the
table.
• Then have him bring the box with the eraser, etc. and place it in the
middle of the chalkboard.
• Then have the child choose a sandpaper letter.
• Then have the child sit to your left.
• Take out all of the material and place it above the chalkboard.
• Then place the tray also above the chalkboard.
• Trace the sandpaper letter a few times.
• Use the chalk and write the sandpaper letter multiple times on the
board in a straight, horizontal line.
• Erase the letters written in an up to down, left to right manner.
• Use the dust cloth (hold as in Practical Life) and wipe board.
• Replace it.
• Take the terry cloth and clean your hands. Replace it.
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• Move everything over so the child can write the same sandpaper
letter.
• Suggest to the child that they may keep writing this letter.
• If the child seems very comfortable writing this letter, you may show
them another letter. If not, wait for a future time.
• Once done, show the child how to put away the material.
• If the clothes are dirty, you will need to change them.
• Encourage the child to continue practicing from time to time.

Exercise
This game is to be done in a group. The directress would have the children sit
in a circle around a mat. She would then hand out the material (for example
one cube of the Pink Tower to each child). The children hold the cube behind
their backs and feel them. The directress would then ask for the largest cube to
be placed on the mat. By feeling their cube, the children are being asked to
feel for the recognition of the sizes of the cubes. Continue asking for certain
cubes working your way from the biggest cube to the smallest cube, until all
the cubes have been placed on the mat.

Presentation 2: Sqare Board Material

 Chalkboard with squares and chalk
tray  Sandpaper letters.

Presentation
• Following the same procedure, show the child how to write a single
letter or numeral in a square.
• The same letter will be repeated across the row.
• The child may choose to make the same letter over the entire board.
Or she may choose to have a different letter for each row.
• Some children will find doing the whole board too much, so the child
can build up to it as they are ready.
Exercise
Child works with the board as shown.
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Presentation 3: Double Guide Lines Board Material

 Double guide line board and clalk tray
 Sandpaper letters

Presentation
As before

• Show the child how to place the body of a letter between the two lines
and show how the stem goes above the line and the tail goes below.
• On the first set of lines, do a letter with only a main body. On the second
line, make a letter with a stem, and on the third line, make a letter with
a tail.

Exercise
The child, if ready, does not need to use the sandpaper letters.
Presentation 4: Single Line Board
Material:
• Single Line Board
• Sandpaper letters
Presentation:
Same as before
Exercise
Child works as shown

Note
When the child is secure writing with the chalk, you can talk to the child about
the letters, and ask which one is most like the sandpaper letter. This is the
beginning of the child assessing and becoming aware his own writing.
Sometimes it is helpful to talk about “why” one may look more like the
sandpaper letter.
Purposes
To give the child practice in writing.
Control of Error
The sandpaper letters and numerals.
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Age
4 1/2 years onwards.

questIon # 03

What are the upper case letters? How do we introduce them to the
child?

answer:

Materials
Three sets of twenty six cards, one for each letter of the alphabet.

• The first set is 8x10cm and each card has one letter written in the
lower case.
• The second set is 98cmx10cm and each card has one letters written in
the upper case (capital letters).
• The third set is 16cmx10cm and has one letter written in both the
lower and upper cases, the lowers case letter on the left and the upper
case letter on the right.

Presentation
• Invite one child to come and work with you.
• Introduce the material to the child and have him bring it over to the
table.
• Choose three letters for the initial presentation, where the capital
letters looks a great deal like the lower case letter.
• Use the names of the letters in this lesson.
• If the child gives you the sound, affirm it but go back to using their
names.  Show the lower case first and use this term.
• Show the upper case and give the term. Also give the term “capital
letter”  Repeat for two more letters.
• Teach the new terms with the Three Period lessons. Be sure to use the
terms “upper case” and “capital letter” alternatively.
• When the child is sure of those, continue with three at a time, until
you have completed all of the letters.
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• Lay out all of the lower case letters at random in vertical columns,
leaving sufficient space to put the capital letters beside them.
• Give the child the upper case letters (one at a time) and have him
place each next to the lower case letter. Discuss now and then if the
capital letter looks that same or looks different to the lower case
letter. Use both terms alternatively for the upper case letters.
• Once all upper case letters have been placed, check with the third set
of cards.
• Replace the third set of cards.
• Collect the lower case letters in alphabetical order.
• Collect the upper case letters in alphabetical order.
Exercise
The child works with the material as shown.

Purpose Direct
• To help the child recognize the upper case form of the letter he
already knows in the lower case.
• To aid the punctuation of a sentence.
Indirect
• To help the child write.
Control of Error
• The card showing both lower and upper case for each letter.

Age
 5 years onwards.
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questIon # 04
How do we introduce the concept of noun, article, adjective and
verb to the child with the help of farm environment?
answer:

Materials
• Collection of objects/animals.
• Colour-coded grammar cards - nouns (black), adjectives (royal
blue),
• verbs (red), articles (grey)
Objective
To learn, through the cards, the grammatical structure of phrases and
sentences.

Presentation-1
Introduce the child to the box and allow him/her to set up the farm and discuss
the objects and what the various animals are doing. This is very good for
secondlanguage children and language-delayed children as it gives them the
opportunity to explore in an unpressurised environment.

Presentation-2
When the child has worked with the early grammar noun cards, you can
introduce him/her to the noun cards in the farm. Ask the child to set up farm
and take out the black cards, the naming cards. S/he can then read the first
card and either place it against the object, or bring the object down to the
card.
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If the child is enthralled by an object and wants to start with that particular
one, do not worry. It just means that the child has to read more cards as s/he
has to read through the pile to find the appropriate card.

Presentation-3
Again, once the child has worked with the early grammar adjective cards, you
can introduce him/her to the adjective cards in the farm box, showing him/her
how to place the adjective cards in front of the noun cards (revision of noun
and adjective game). The child reads the noun card, finds the object and is
asked to read through the adjective cards to find a word that describes the
object, e.g., ‘plump’ to go with ‘piglet’.
At this point, you can also introduce the first set of article cards inlower case,
showing the child how to place this in front of the adjective Card.
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The child then puts the cards at the bottom of their respective piles, reads the
next noun card ‘man’, looks through the adjective cards and finds ‘strong’, e.g.,
‘the strong man’. The child continues using the cards in this way.

questIon # 05

Prepare material of the following and send along with the

assignment.

answer:

Logical Adjective Game

Logical Adverb Game
Noun Cards
Adjective Cards
Verb Cards

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