Oral Language in the Montessori Classroom

An observation that someone may have upon entering a Montessori classroom is that the children and adults are communicating in a respectful manner.  Oral language is important to the development of other language (writing/reading) for children as well as learning the social graces of the community.  Children do not come equipped knowing these things-it must be modeled to them and they must be allowed to freely practice and learn how to communicate with others.  At Community Montessori, we have a car line.  The children arrive and are picked up in a car line each day.  The teacher begins the day by greeting the child and the person who is bringing them to school.  It's important for teachers to acknowledge the child, ask them how they are, and then say please/thank you/goodbye to the person dropping off.  It's also important to make eye contact with the child.  There may be times that a teacher will ask the child to look at them when speaking so that they can be better understood.  Throughout the day, teachers and children interact with one another showing respect and a willingness to understand the child.  Since our classroom has 3-6 year olds, children are very often learning how to speak to one another.  Some children may be more shy, some may be in the early stages of speech development, and some may just need gentle guidance on what words to use when giving a message to a friend or teacher.  There was an incident yesterday where a child came up to me saying that a friend was touching her.  I brought the two children together, did some reflecting with them, and helped the child use her words to express what was bothering her to the other child.  The other child cheerfully responded with a smile, 'I'm sorry' and they ran off to play.  Many times conflicts that children are having are more with communication rather than the incident.  Helping children successfully speak, give messages, express emotions, and hear what others are saying, is a big step in their development and maturity.  Being patient and remembering they are learning can help parents have more successful conversations with children as well.