In a Montessori school, interest in sound recognition may begin as early as two and one half years of age.  Your child may become interested in writing symbols somewhere around the age of four.  Provide him with lots of blank paper, or better yet, a chalkboard.  If the blank paper is placed on a clipboard, it becomes very important and official.  If you wish to provide a model for the child, write out an alphabet in lower case letters on index cards (one letter per card).  If these are covered with clear contact paper, the child can refer to them whenever he needs to.  You may want to provide tracing paper so that he or she can trace the model on the clipboard.  This can also be done with the child’s name.  Write the name with the first letter in upper case and the rest in lower case.

​

The beach is a great place to start learning how to write, as well as recognizing and detecting sounds.  I love to play “spy”.  It goes like this.  “I spy something with my eye that begins with SSSSS.”  Additional hints can be added if necessary.  “I spy something with my eye that is soft and white and begins with SSSSS.”  Make sure to say the sound the letter makes rather than the letter name.

​

When your child asks you, “What letter is this?” please respond with the sound the letter makes, rather than the letter name.  Below are the sounds as we say them in school with the sandpaper letters.  I have broken them into the letter groupings we use in the language area.  If you are working with your child, it would be helpful to present them in this order, as it is consistent with the way we will be presenting the letters in school.

 

LETTER SOUNDS:

 

a, t,f,m,b

a as in apple, t as in top, f as in fat, m as in mom, b as in baby

 

o, h, r, g, c

o as in olive, h as in hat, r as in rat, g as in go, c as in candy

 

i,s,p,l,d

i as in indian, s as in sat, p as in pat, l as in lion, d as in dog

​

u,j,k,q,n

u as in up, j as in jam, k as in kiss, q as in queen, n as in not

​

e,w,x,y,z,v

e as in elephant, w as in water, x as in box (“xsss”), y as in yellow, z as in zebra, v as in valentine

​

*NOTE – Be careful to make the sound short and distinct.  Do not attach a vowel sound with it.  For example, say “d” rather than “duh” and “rrr” rather than “ruh.”

​

Please do not push the blending together of sounds into words.  This is a very difficult and abstract step for the child, which he will eventually make when HE is ready.  Too much emphasis too soon can discourage the child and actually do more damage than good, especially if he is not able to be immediately successful.