The Montessori Approach to the Language Arts

The Montessori language curriculum approaches reading, writing and grammar in an integrated way and allows students to explore Montessori materials that is aesthetically beautiful and sequentially organised. Through the scope and sequence of the materials, teachers guide students towards an appreciation of the complexity of the English language and provide a concrete understanding of nuances that develop.

Montessori‟s Fourth Great Lesson is called “The Story of the Ox and the House.” It details the history of the alphabet by recalling that the letter A began as a picture of an ox and the letter B as a picture of a house. As these letters were passed to different cultures and civilisations, they changed. The Greeks gave them names alpha and beta, which is where the word alphabet comes from. The Great Lessons provide the students with a broad context for learning and touch the child‟s imagination. This one in particular asks them to wonder why letters were invented. How did they develop? Literacy education is a large part of the elementary student‟s life at school. It is interesting for them to think why this might be and why letters are so important to civilisation.