Early Childhood - Word Building with the Moveable Alphabet
Our Montessori classroom is rich with language, from the casual conversations children enjoy between friends and teachers to the formal lessons in decoding, reading, and writing. Our language materials are quite simple: early materials introduce children to phonetic sounds. Later materials build upon those sounds to put together simple words.
The Moveable Alphabet is an early example of word-building, supporting students as they begin the arduous tasks of deconstructing ideas into the individual letters that comprise the words. Children begin with accessible, three-letter phonetic words, sounding out each part, identifying the letter in the box of moveable letters, and placing it in its appropriate place on the mat or table.
By beginning with three letter words, children are able to see patterns in their own world-building: consonants often precede vowels and vowels are usually followed by a second consonant. Building the words with the moveable alphabet pieces allows children to focus on the word rather than the formation of the letter shape using a pencil, so a child's understanding of word construction isn't limited by their fine motor control.