Language
Language Materials for Preschool
Young children particularly 3 and 4 year-olds, love matching objects and putting them into sets from cars and trucks to zoo animals. Matching cards are a great way for children to also learn terminology and to develop better visual discrimination. These exercises help to develop better hand-eye coordination and to strengthen hands to make a 3-finger grip used later to hold a pencil. Scanning and matching things from left to right, top to bottom facilitate a smooth transition into reading readiness.
Books, Rhymes, Poems, Songs & Storytelling
Telling stories is a great way to aid a child in their development for many reasons: reading, listening and telling stories adds to a child's vocabulary.
The main tab on the homepage entitled books has helpful lists and recommendations for reading with children. Included in this section are books for every subject, picture books, books-on-tape, alphabet books, early readers and chapter books.
This site also includes a section for music with printable songs and games for children. Singing, rhymes, poetry, are all wonderful ways to encourage clear communication by isolating sounds for greater articulation, enunciation and listening skills.
Using materials like patterning, organization and classification materials, children will develop in their skills for mastering language. The young child needs adults to provide them with the opportunities and the tools for playing and manipulating materials that will aid them in accessing and perfecting their own intelligence.
Traditional Montessori language materials
For those who do not know about who Maria Montessori was and about her pedagogical approaches for teaching young children, there is a page devoted on the site to understanding a bit more about Maria Montessori, her life and work with children. For those who are aware of the Montessori system, Dr. Maria Montessori personally only developed 3 language materials for the early childhood classroom in her time but that has continued on into the 20th century.
Those 3 materials are the metal insets, the sand paper letters and the moveable alphabet. All three materials are a way to develop writing and reading using a sensory and manipulative approach. For those of you who would like to learn more about these extremely effective tools and who already know about them and would like extensions for their materials, go to the Montessori Materials section of Little Learner.
CVC Spring Potted Words - 2 and 3 letters - word building
Montessori Pink Level 2 and 3 letter words - 1st level
July Alphabet Wall Chart
