HELP FOR CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENCES LEARN TO READ IN A MONTESSORI CLASSROOM by Amanda Riccetti
The many different philosophies of childhood education foster children’s learning in their own unique ways. The Montessori philosophy nurtures independence, confidence, selfregulation, and learning in children from doing and experiencing, offering and actively involving them in direct learning experiences. In a Montessori environment, students are encouraged to follow their curiosity and learn at their own pace. They are exposed to lessons, activities, and materials that build upon their skill set and help them develop as an individual. The teacher in a Montessori classroom does not give class lectures, but instead spends time with individual students guiding their learning experiences. This allows the children to take the time they need to fully understand a concept and meet individualized learning goals. Although this concept makes for a stimulating learning environment for most children, some may struggle, especially when faced with learning differences and other similar challenges.
TOMORROW'S CHILD © § SEPTEMBER 2021 § WWW.MONTESSORI.ORG
The Montessori reading curriculum has three essential components: a strong foundation in phonics; comprehension based on visualization; and a whole-language approach of learning to read for meaning using context clues. Montessori reading is based on the first of these components, a strong foundation in phonics so that children can sound out or “decode” words. This approach is unique in that children first learn how words are constructed through phonemes, or letter sounds. Once they are aware that words can be broken down into smaller units of sound, children can then independently learn to decode new words. They can read what they see and enjoy what they read. Why, then, might a child struggle with learning to read in a Montessori classroom? When I was three years old, my mother enrolled me in a Montessori school. In the 1960s, neither my Montessori teachers nor my parents were aware that I had a learning difference. I was a well-behaved little girl who kept very busy learning from the environment.
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