How to Teach Reading Easily: Montessori Homeschooling Tips

Montessori homeschooling looks different for everyone. But one popular and common goal among Montessori homeschoolers is teaching reading. It’s a beloved part of the primary or 3-6-year-old curriculum and one area that I, like many other Montessori teachers, cherish. The beautiful sound pouches, the sandpaper letters, the moveable alphabet, the Montessori language curriculum for kindergarten aged children is amazing.

But, beyond the materials, as guides and parents, we must remember a few key Montessori ingredients. In my personal journey to teaching my kids to read, I’ve been reminded of them quite acutely. In this post, I’ll share how you can teach reading easily using the Montessori method and also share some of those key often forgotten nuggets of Montessori wisdom we mustn’t forget.

Follow the Child: The Secret to Reading Success

“Do you want to try writing some words with the letters?” I asked eagerly. Peanut had been working on letter sounds since the age of 3 and he could easily write a few words like “sam,” “sat”, and “cat”. But, it seemed he NEVER wanted to.

Waiting was sometimes excruciating. Sometimes I cajoled him into practicing by saying, “Ok, let’s write a few words first, and then we’ll draw.”

I was breaking a cardinal Montessori rule: follow the child. Montessori believed that children knew what they were ready to learn and when they should learn it. So, while it’s ok for the guide to invite children to a certain activity and skillfully place activities in the room to interest students, things aren’t forced.

In Montessori homeschooling, there’s the added pressure of the parent-child relationship that complicates matters. Sometimes I wondered if Peanut would have been more receptive to reading and writing activities with someone else.

But, after months and months of patient waiting, Peanut suddenly woke up one day ready to write words and read. It started when he was writing a list of pictures he wanted to print out. He would write down words like “rocet” (for “rocket”), and “acnylosars” (for “ankylosaurus”). I was so excited!

Then, when I was working on some letters with his sister, he started reading 3 letter words with ease! “Cat,” he said excitedly with barely any hesitation. Finally, it was time.

So, I took advantage of it, printing out some beginner books and words for him to work on. Now, he tries to decipher words anywhere and everywhere! He’s reading packages, signs, and books wherever we go.

The lesson for parents and teachers? You can’t force reading on a child. No matter how much you want them to get it, it’s not up to us teachers and parents. When it clicks, it clicks. Until then, it requires lots of patience, guidance, and following cues. Provide the right activities when your child shows interest, and remember to wait.

Montessori Homeschooling Essentials for Teaching Reading

There are many steps that are involved in the learning to read process. From learning letter sounds to writing, fine motor control, and helping your young reader grow and increase in skill, there are lots of materials and lessons involved. What are the essential materials you’ll need to teach your child to read? Here’s my list of must-have items:

• Sandpaper Letters: Letter cards featuring sandpaper. Kids trace these letters to learn the letter shape through the sense of touch. While doing the trace, they also hear and repeat the letter sound. In addition, they learn the correct trace pattern.
• Sound Pouches: This material, which can also be prepared in boxes or drawers, features small objects that start with each letter sound. So, for the “C” pouch, some objects might be “car, cat, cactus, calculator, etc.” Children reinforce their knowledge of letter sounds by working with the objects. Check out my sound pouches blog to learn how I DIY this material.
• Moveable Alphabet: This set of letters features blue vowels and red letters. With it, kids write out words, starting with easy ones such as “cat” or “sam”.
• Writing Materials (paper, pencils, markers, blackboard, whiteboard, paint, etc.): Learning to write should be fun! Using lots of different materials to practice writing keeps it engaging. From writing letters on the chalkboard and having the child erase them by tracing them with a wet finger to writing with markers on paper, writing letters can be lots of fun!

• Pink Material: Focusing on each of the short vowel sounds, this material features reading cards and pictures that match. For example “bat” and a picture of the animal bat. There’s a set of 6 or more cards and matching pictures for each vowel. With these words, kids begin to read and learn to match simple words with the corresponding picture. Get your FREE copy of the pink material here.
• Reading Strips: As kids become comfortable with reading, they can work on reading sentences that feature mostly simple words. These strips may also begin to incorporate sight words like “the”.
• Beginner Books: Finally, kids can start reading beginner books! There are lots of options out there. BOB books are phonics-based and quite popular. I’ve enjoyed these very short books with my beginning readers here at home. We’ve also written our own books.

The Process: How to Teach Reading

The Montessori process for teaching reading involves a combination of phonics and whole language approaches. Here are some of the most important steps to teaching children to read the Montessori way:

1. Read regularly to your child. You can do this from birth! Even babies can learn vocabulary when they’re read to. At the same time, they learn the basics of how books work, like reading left to right, turning pages, and more.
2. Provide a text-rich environment. This means there should be lots of books, magazines, and reading materials in your home for your child to explore.
3. Teach your child the sounds of the letters using the sandpaper letters and sound pouches. You can also go on letter sound scavenger hunts and play sound games. For example, look for objects in the home (or on the road!) that start with the letter “m”. You can also ask your child to isolate the first, last, and middle sounds of a word. For example, you might say “What’s the first sound you hear when you say bike?”
4. Work on fine motor skills. Encourage drawing, coloring, and tracing. You might use the metal inset stencils as well. This way, your child works on important skills for writing.
5. Use the Moveable Alphabet to write words. In Montessori, writing usually comes before reading. This is because it’s often easier for children to “encode” than “decode”. With encoding, a child hears a word, like “cat” and then deciphers the individual sounds that make up that word. Using the moveable alphabet takes the pressure off by avoiding writing with a pencil. So, your child must pick out the letters c-a-t. Practice as many CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words as possible. You can also work with word families. For example “cat, mat, hat” are all part of the same word family.
6. Use the Pink Material to start reading words. This uses the skill of decoding in which a child sees the letters and determines the sound each one makes. In this activity, the set of pictures are laid out vertically as the name of each is said. Then, the child reads each of the words (with help if necessary) and matches the word to the correct picture, placing it to the right. Eventually, when the child masters each set, they can be mixed up so that the child practices several vowels at once. For example, instead of a set of “cat, hat, ham, rat, bag,” the set would include “hen, pin, cat, nut, log.”
7. Offer your child additional reading materials as possible. For example, you might use sentence strips or beginner readers.
8. Don’t forget to follow your child! You can’t force reading and writing, you can only guide the process and follow their interest and lead. When they’re ready, they’ll do it!

The journey to learning to read is sometimes long and difficult. But, the end result is amazing to see! The bright look of recognition in the eyes of children who’ve just begun to read is something you’ll never forget.

What’s your experience with Montessori homeschooling and reading? Tell me about your favorite tips, struggles, and questions in the comments!

Image Credits: unsplash-logo Annie Spratt, unsplash-logo Brina Blum