Montessori Phonics

Words are made up of different sounds. When we read and write, we identify and assemble letter sounds into words so that we can understand. This ability to decode words is called Phonics. Our phonics program offers a multi-sensory approach to learning. This program helps the preschooler to build a strong foundation in phonics essential for reading and writing. It comprises of 3 schemes: Pink, Blue and Green.

The Pink Scheme

The sandpaper letters is the first activity in this series and introduces the child to phonetic sounds of the alphabet through a three-period lesson. After the child has mastered the use of phonetic sounds and is able to identify letters by sight, the sandpaper letters are replaced by another interesting tool called the Large Movable Alphabet (LMA). With this activity, he learns to fuse three-letter sounds to form words, helping the child build his vocabulary of three-letter words. 

The next few activities with Large Movable Alphabets (LMAs) and objects or picture boxes involve associating the word formed using the LMA to its object or picture cards. Gradually LMAs are replaced by reading cards. The child learns to match reading cards with the objects and pictures. As the child progresses comfortably, he moves on to reading exercises with three or four letter words using wordlists, booklets, sight words, sentence cards and story booklets. Specially prepared phonetic worksheets for practice work are introduced at this stage.

The Blue Scheme

Once the child has mastered the phonetic sounds in Pink scheme, he is ready to move on to the Blue scheme where he is introduced to five or six letter words comprising of consonant blends such as bl, fr, st etc. The Blue scheme now contains longer words with consonant blends which gradually become more complex. A child who is familiar with all the blends and can easily spell most of the words in the Blue scheme, is ready for the Green scheme.

The Green Scheme

The final stage called the Green scheme introduces the child to Phonograms (eg. words that contain ay, ea, ie, igh etc) and their families in the same manner as how he was introduced to the consonant blends in the Blue scheme. The materials prepare him for phonograms through the use of picture boxes, small movable alphabets (SMA) and picture cards, wordlists, booklets, sentence cards and story booklets.

All the activities in the phonics area are aimed at moving the child to reading and writing. As the child progresses, these lessons put in perspective the order of the symbols, the spacing between words, the comprehension of an idea and the thought process involved in forming a sentence that gradually leads them to read a book independently.

Recommended Age

• 3.5 – 7 years old
  
  

Timing:

• Every Tue 1.30 – 3pm
• Every Thu 1.30 – 3pm
• Every Sat 10.30 – 1pm