Language

The sensitive period for learning the language of the family and culture is during the first six years of life. It starts orally, and it is important for the child to hear repeatedly the language of his or her homeland. This takes place best in the loving matrix of the mom and dad, as well as grandparents and others whose love for the child is concrete and regularly manifested in acts of help, generosity, and gentleness. When language is used in this atmosphere, the child absorbs it into his or her heart with a deep embrace of his or her soul. Teachers and guides should also manifest this same loving atmosphere, especially for those children who for various reasons do not have that at home.

The first stage of language is intersubjective and oral. Gestures, touches, and other intersubjective exchanges are the very first forms of language learned. It is the smile of the mother and the return smile of the child that encapsulates this era. It rapidly grows into the nuances of oral language and it is this language that largely constitutes the interior language of the human soul. The child at this age thirsts to absorb as much of the language orally as possible. Even the neural pathways of the child form into embedded pathways of all parts of speech and grammar and vocabulary. Most children will come to understanding and speak, as well as write, from the grammar and vocabulary that they regularly hear during these first years. They will of course learn many more words in later years, however, the more they learn during this first age of life, the easier it will become for them to learn more words and increasingly complex syntax and literary styles later.

As you can see from the materials, the first lessons highlight oral exchanges. However, one must not think that the paucity of the lessons indicates the degree to which a child should be exposed to oral language. This should be the basic staple of language throughout nearly all years of human development, even in adult life.

If a rich oral life is present, one finds that children and adults will enter more easily into the written graphemic world of language. When the oral world of the child is rich, writing and reading come alive and they then complement and enhance the oral world. Writing helps with communication, especially over longer stretches of space and time. It also helps with precision in communication and in thinking and reflecting. Readers re-read and re-read again. Writers clarify thoughts with words, especially when they rework their words and grammar and style multiple times to improve their thoughts and communication. Written language helps to create an architecture within memory that also creates a personal navigational map of the world that is carried and expressed in language. It helps a person to find their bearings, to clear up what is known and not known. It helps one to think through problems and difficulties. It helps one to form agendas and constitutions. Thus as you can see, the earliest materials prepare children for writing and reading. These are very complicated activities as anyone who has learned a foreign language later in life knows. But for a child, this is a great thrill and a great liberation. They have a finality to adult life, and this is one of those steps that gives them great peace and joy once taken and achieved.

Language Materials and Presentations

Lessons that help to build up a keen interest in words.

Lessons that prepare one for writing

Lessons that prepare one for reading

Task Analysis for Writing (to see where a child is at if coming late to Montessori education)

- Learning to type on a computer [see UE]
- Learning to program (pages 59-62. Use Microsoft Visual Basic or Python]
- Flow Chart design (pages 63 – 64).
- [one could add making presentations, powerpoints, ect.]

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