Dana Vitolo

word cards, montessori, picture and word cards

Picture and Word Cards: 2 Cool Games for Beginning Readers

Montessori picture and word cards reading lesson In my previous blog post, I discussed the object game, where we match written words to objects. The next lesson in the Montessori reading series is picture and word cards.  At this point, your child has had some experience with sounding out words. Now, we can explore reading

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Try These 2 Intro To Reading Words Games And Spark Excitement

Montessori introduction to reading words: the object game The first lesson in the Montessori reading words sequence is the object game. It is an intriguing first introduction to reading for young children. The children love it because it’s playing a game with the beauty of small objects and tiny slips of paper. I remember teaching it in the

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5 Beginning Reading Games You and Your Kid Will Love

Montessori reading games and beginning to read words We are switching gears and going into the Montessori reading games sequence. At the beginning of the series, we start with “sounding out” single words, one at a time.  In my previous blog post, I wrote about chalkboard handwriting activities. There are a few additional handwriting lessons I

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4 Chalkboard Ideas: Easy Erase For Unlimited Writing Fun

Montessori chalkboard lesson for handwriting Like the Montessori sand tray, your child can practice writing a letter on the chalkboard and erase the letter right away if she’d like! Writing on a chalk board is also a great hands-on sensory experience with its unique natural texture and feel.  I have observed that young children love to

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Your Child Will Love the Sand Tray For Hands-On Writing

Montessori sand tray for handwriting In my previous post, I discussed the metal insets, a lesson that helps prepare young children for writing. The next lesson in the Montessori handwriting series is the sand tray.  When I started teaching in the classroom sixteen years ago, I immediately noticed that the sand tray was a big

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Montessori Metal Insets: 11 Essential Lessons Great for Writing

Montessori Metal Insets: Handwriting preparation The first lesson in the handwriting practice sequence is the Montessori metal insets. It is another beautiful and iconic language material, like sandpaper letters. The metal inset activity is an essential and critical lesson in the language area of the classroom. It prepares young children for handwriting.  While working with this

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Try This Exciting Transportation Activity: Land, Air, Water

Montessori land air and water transportation activity with vehicles In my previous blog post, we started to take a summer break from the Montessori language sequence, and I shared DIY parts of a butterfly puzzle.  We continue our summer break with an exciting land, air, and water transportation activity with vehicles! The idea came from our

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5 Handwriting Practice Activities That Are Engaging and Fun

Montessori handwriting practice lessons We’re switching gears and going into the Montessori handwriting practice sequence. My previous blog post discussed writing phrases with the hands-on Montessori moveable alphabet. There are a few additional lessons with the moveable alphabet I haven’t covered yet, but right around this time, your child may also start to express interest

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Word Building and Writing Phrases: 1 Important New Lesson

Montessori word building: writing phrases with the moveable alphabet At this point, your child has been practicing quite a bit with word building, such as writing word families with the Montessori moveable alphabet.  You can move on to writing phrases when you have observed that she is solid with writing several words, which is really

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Fascinating Word Families: 6 Essential Phases For Reading

Writing word families with the Montessori moveable alphabet In my previous blog post, I talk about the first time making words with the moveable alphabet. Once your child feels comfortable handling letters and making words, we move on to writing word families.  Writing words in a word family is where all of the magic begins!

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First Time Making Words With The Moveable Alphabet: 4 Cool Ideas

Making Words with the Montessori Moveable Alphabet In my previous blog post, Writing And Reading: 6 Movable Alphabet Games You’ll Love, the first lesson is making words. It is exciting because it is your child’s first time writing words with the moveable alphabet!   It is interesting to note that writing comes before reading, according to the

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Writing and Reading: 6 Movable Alphabet Games You’ll Love

Montessori moveable alphabet: exploring with writing and reading We explored letter and sound activities in the previous sequence, including I-Spy for phonemic awareness and sandpaper letters. Now it’s time for your child to move on to writing and reading!  We first start with writing with the Montessori material, the moveable alphabet. Your child builds words

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Simple Letter Recognition: 4 Engaging Moveable Alphabet Ideas

Transition to the moveable alphabet: letter recognition After your child has spent quite a bit of time with the sandpaper letters with objects and completed several pages of her letter sound book, she can try letter recognition activities with the moveable alphabet. Transitioning to this iconic Montessori writing material is an exciting and significant step. Your

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DIY Letter Sound Book: 1 Brilliant Idea To Keep Track

Montessori Letter Sound Book: keep track of sounds your child learned In my previous blog post, Easy and Fun Beginning Sounds Game (Letter Object Matching), I share the sandpaper letter and object lesson with you. If your child loves playing this fun matching game, you’ll love creating a DIY letter sound book with your child! Creating

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Easy and Fun Beginning Sounds Game (Letter Object Matching)

Montessori Sandpaper Letters with Objects to explore beginning sounds In my previous blog post, Montessori Sandpaper Letters: 3 Easy Ideas To DIY At Home, I talk about associating sounds and symbols in this sensory, hands-on phonics activity.  As your child explores the sandpaper letter lesson and learns the sounds that go with them, you can explore

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Montessori Sandpaper Letters: 3 Easy Ideas To DIY At Home

Sensory phonics activity with the Montessori Sandpaper Letters In my previous blog post, How To Increase Phonemic Awareness With These 4 Sound Games, I talk about the I-Spy Games. Once your child has explored quite a bit with these sound games, it’s time to move on to the sandpaper letters; associating the sounds with the symbols. 

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How To Increase Phonemic Awareness With These 4 Sound Games

The Montessori I-Spy Game for Phonemic Awareness “I-Spy with my little eye, something in Annie’s hands that begins with the sound /n/ – net!” In my previous blog post, Essential Guide To 4 Fun Letter And Sound Activities, the first lesson is I-Spy, a phonemic awareness activity.  Studies have shown that phonemic awareness helps prepare

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Essential Guide To 4 Fun Letter And Sound Activities

Montessori Language: exploration of letter and sound In the previous Montessori sequence, we talked about Oral Language with 11 key lessons, such as storytelling, classifying, matching, and rhyming.  Now we’re ready to move on to the following sequence in the Montessori language curriculum: Exploration of Letter and Sound. By this time, your child is ready

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