Preparation for Writing

"Writing is a key to a double gain. It enables the hand to master a vital skill like that of speaking and to create a second means of communication that reflects the spoken word in all its details. Writing is thus dependent upon mind and hand."  

Montessorians are very intentional about their environment and the opportunities it provides for children to develop their writing skills. The Everyday Living works provide opportunity for children to develop their hand/fine motor muscles.  When they are pouring, spooning, tonging, tweezing, scrubbing etc. they are learning to manage their hands and direct their hands in specific ways.  This skill is needed when controlling a crayon or pencil. Children are shown lessons from the Art area that also support their development.  When they use crayons/colored pencils/markers they are practicing control and manipulation of those writing tools.  As they use them and design pictures, they are allowing their hands and mind to develop important writing skills.  Montessori said, 'a child who designs will write'.  

The metal insets are one of the wonderful materials available to children to develop their writing skills.  Children are shown many lessons on this work throughout the year, each one drawing on the skills of the previous lesson.  There are many shapes and insets with this work including circle, triangle square, oval, quatrafoil etc.  Some of the things children will learn by using this material are:

Gripping and guiding a writing utensil

The child will experience the pressure of a pencil
The very great variety of movements involved in this work, helps the child with control of the writing movements but also with changing directions.
Keeping the point of the pencil on the edge of the frame or the inset, helps the child steady his strokes. 

The writing/drawing goes from left to right
The child can learn to make one continuous stroke. This is particularly helpful in cursive script, but some letters in modified print call for it.
Eye-hand coordination

One of the lessons shown with the Metal Insets is that a child traces a shape, then draws lines from left to right filling up the shape.  They go from left to right which is preparation for reading and they are controlling their pencil as they draw from one side of the shape to the other.  

Another preparation for reading and writing is the Sandpaper Letters.  The letters are made of sandpaper.  The child is shown this work by tracing the letter with their hand.  Tracing the letter builds muscle memory which helps later when they are writing the letter.  It's a multi-sensory experience-they see the letter, they touch the letter and they hear the sound of the letter (we teach sound, not the letter name in the Montessori classroom).  Sometimes these letters are used along with a sound box where a child matches the objects to the sound, or a few can be provided with cornmeal or sand so the child can trace the letter in the substance provided. 

Lastly, there are developmental stages children go through when learning to write.  These stages include: telling stories through pictures they have drawn, drawing wavy-like lines that have no breaks or letters that look like words (usually these are ongoing waves across the page), children will then start to draw forms that look like made up letters/numbers and are scattered on the page, as children begin to recognize letters, they will begin to write them-these are many times backwards or upside down and lack space between them, children will then begin to write letter strings with recognizable patters, then, children will begin writing recognizable letters/words and children begin making a strong connection between letters on the page and sounds in the words children are trying to write.  Misspellings and backwards letters are common.  This stage of writing can typically be read by others.  The developmental time line begins at birth with imitation of facial expressions and vocal imitation and goes through 5 or 6 years old.  Teachers and parents should respect where children are in their development with writing and provide opportunities for them to follow their interest and practice as they are ready.  

I have included a link to a metal inset presentation to give you an idea of how that work is used.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6PkTDvmiXg&playnext=1&list=PL5E11D69376D3AC68

www.CMontessori.com