The Moveable Alphabet

Age 4 and onwards (some children will do this earlier) Use after children know most of the short letter sounds.

Purpose: To prepare for spelling, writing and reading.

Material: A large box with spaces for letters of the alphabet plus a few extra boxes for the vowel "y." The boxes contain several copies of the lower case letters. You can make them by cutting them out from stiff, thin, cardboard or plastic reinforced paper. Consonants are red and vowels are blue. You can use this free printout of Montessori D"Nelian-type letters. Montessori Materials has several different font downloads for free too. Montessori Materials relies on donations, so if you can, give a little to keep them open.

Presentation:
Floor activity- spread a large rug for the work area. You open the moveable alphabet box and show the letters to the child. You make sure that the child knows where the letters are in the box. Ask to find various letters, such as, "Can you show me "b"? and so on. After the child has a grasp of where the letters are you begin by saying, now we will make _______. For example, the word "bat."
Ask, "What letters do you hear when I say "bat"? Usually, it will be "b".The child finds it and puts it on the mat.
Ask, "what other sounds do you hear?" Usually, it will be "t".
The child finds it and puts it next to the b
Next say, "There is a sound between the b and t.
" S-l-o-w-l-y clearly enunciate the word, b-a-t for the child.
The child will hear the vowel if he or she listens carefully.
Continue to make words with your child until the exercise is mastered.
Eventually, your child will be able to work alone.
Note: Make sure you use letters that your child knows. Also, continue to work on the phonetic sounds of the alphabet.

Use any of these 3 lettered phonetic words.

How to pronounce letters phonetically.

Alphabet learning the Montessori way teaches the sounds of the alphabet first.

Montessori English Word List for Moveable Alphabet, Reading And Writing Program

2 and 3 letter phonetic words a-e-i-o-u

Challenge Words
-a-(short sound) pan bag cat man bat hat pat van tap fan rat mat jam map can fat ham mad had bad pad lad rag sat ran tax has lad gap wag gap gag lap rap yap gas lag dad cab an as at	-e-(short sound) hen ten bed net pen peg men leg red web beg fed led wet let pet set bet get yes hem yet met vet wed vex den keg jet	-i-(short sound) tin pig kid lid nib pin pip bib wig ink vim win dig hid hit sit it gig bit big hit bin din jig nip sip lit rid tip rim if in rip is did dim fit him his kin wit dip fin lip	-o-(short sound) pot top mop rot dog log rod pog tog cot dot hod cod rod bog hog lot not nod sob hot rob hop don on got pop sod sop jog jot job	-u-(short sound) jug gun hut nut mug tub bud sun cup rug bus sum bug pup tug cub nun hug rut sup pun mutt bun fun dug run gum but up us rub mud hum
add and am act ant	egg elk elm end	six mix fix	fox box ox odd off of

Comments

Patricia Constanza

posted at 12:03 p.m. on March 25, 2009

Hi, My 4 1/2 year old daughter has been in a montessori school for two years now and has just been introduced the movable alphabet. The teacher is expressing some concerns because my daguhter only knows the sound of about 12 letters. Another issue I am concerned about is the fact that my daughter literately refuses to speak English (we speak Spanish only at home) and I just can't get her interested in speaking or being read in Spanish. Do you think that the fact she does not like speaking in English has something to do with her not knowing the sound of the movable alphabet? She is also reserved and not very talkative (although at home she is highly verbal and has no problems starting and keeping a conversation flowing) at school, but has improved since she first started in 2007. By the way, I read to her everyday and about almost anything (in Spanish of course, because she won't allow me to do it in English). She is very energetic and into everything about learning and having fun, but words in English just don't come out. Any insights is appreciated

Ana

posted at 10:28 a.m. on May 18, 2009

Lots of bilingual children have this resistance; be assured that she's learning English perfectly well if she is functioning in her English-speaking preschool. Children of this age are astonishingly capable little linguists. You might consider teaching her the phonetic alphabet sounds for Spanish, and not worrying about the English right now. Depending on your resources, you can make or purchase the movable alphabet materials (montessorioutlet.com is a nice place) for the SPANISH letters and use them at home. That way she can move ahead with her reading and writing skills. Her comprehension of English is clearly fine; perhaps the teachers could focus on her recognition of, and not production of, the English sounds? And if it is a concern and you are able, you might try something like inviting non-Spanish speaking friends over occasionally, which would require the use of English in your home. Or whatever fits well into your family culture & routines. Finally, her teachers might consider supplementing their classroom with some Spanish-language materials, or just teaching all the children the Spanish alphabet and numbers. This is common in many Montessori schools, and quite practical for many American children.

Sally

posted at 3:20 a.m. on June 1, 2009

I also have a 4 year old who goes to a spanish school. When she comes home, she speaks 2/3rds spainish because it what dominates her world. Also my husband is spanish which doesn't help me helping her with her english. But i found that, like your daughter she started refusing to speak in english. My solution was whenever she watched cartoons, the channel were set to english and I just said that the TV was broke ! Lame I know but then it wasn't mummy's "fault" also even if she spoke in spanish I just kept on speaking in english. I also read to my daughter everynight, but there are only english boooks on her shelf and if she throws a wobbler, it's an english story book or nothing! I have taken this rather tough approach since it's very important to me that my daughter develops her english. The result, after just 10 days, her effort at responding in english is better, she watches her 10mins a day TV allowance watching a cartoon in english without protesting, and story times are fun and always in english. Good luck xxx

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