Parent Education: Language (3 - 6)
During the sensitive period for language (ages 0-6) when the mind absorbs the sounds, words, and grammar of the environment effortlessly, the child is innately driven to make meaningful connections to the objects and people around him, to communicate his needs, and to describe his thoughts and feelings.
Authentic Montessori makes all the difference!
Through spoken language, the dual-language environment enriches and enlarges the child’s awareness of sounds, vocabulary, and verbal expression in both English and Chinese simultaneously. In the same way a baby develops spoken words spontaneously, the hands-on multisensory language materials enable the child to create writing and reading on his own. This is not applied as skills training. Instead, the appropriate materials and activities are presented to the child when he is thirsting for new knowledge, allowing writing and reading to manifest spontaneously through a voyage of self-discovery.
As the Montessori Method is an “aid to life,” so is a child’s ability to use language to communicate his or her ideas to others. Maria Montessori recognised this and took into account the human tendency for communication and the sensitive period for language that is present in very young children. Thus, in the Casa classroom the language programme for the young child is a voyage of discovery. The child learns to build on what he already has, expanding his ability to communicate needs, then wishes, thoughts, and finally, ideas
