Helping the non-reader that is coming into the Elementary I environment.
While it is developmentally appropriate for 6 year olds to be emergent readers, in previous years this was not the case of children coming from Montessori Early Childhood environments. In fact, it was the norm that students coming from Early Childhood were often reading. Many Elementary Montessori Teacher Education Programs today only give a cursory glimpse at the skills necessary to teach reading. Even those programs that do acknowledge that there are children who enter the Elementary environment in the initial stages of reading, give instruction in the tradition Pink, Blue, and Green Montessori Reading series. The difficulty with this program is time. We recognize the efficacy of this series, if the child has approximately one and a half years to complete it. Unfortunately first level children do not have this much time as the vast majority of their curriculum requires some reading abilities.
We recognize the efficacy of this series, if the child has approximately one and a half years to complete it. Unfortunately first level children do not have this much time as the vast majority of their curriculum requires some reading abilities.
Emergent readers need lessons to develop phonological awareness, phonemic mastery, decoding, and in constructing meaning. When non-readers attempt the beginning of the year activities, they are unsuccessful; furthermore, their teachers are not able to help them fill in the gaps within the Montessori framework.
The Emergent Reading curriculum is intended to help those teachers unfamiliar with the skill of teaching reading. In addition, it will allow those emergent readers to work at their skill level and still participate fully in appropriate classroom activities.
So how is it set up? In essence it is designed to move children from an emergent to a transitional reading level through the use of lessons and presentations that are tested to actually yield results.
Rhyming
Alliteration
Oral Language -model segmentation of words
Beginning sounds- lesson on beginning/middle/end with objects
Ending sounds -Manipulation of sound
Alphabet knowledge
Phonological short term memory
Concepts about print
Reading Words CVC, blends with CVC, Long Vowels
Developing Reading Fluency
A placement test is also provided so that the teacher can gain a better understanding of what level the child is functioning at, and then use an appropriate approach to better serve them.
