Sandpaper letters, part three

[sapphire_chan]

I can't figure out how big the cards behind the letters are supposed to be. w and m are on wider cards, but the l is on the same size cards as p,q,d,f,g,h,etc. the vowels are on the same size cards as each other, with no regard for i.

It's also sad in looking around trying to figure this out how many sets are being sold with the cards all the same size, and no line under the letter, which I just read about in "The Montessori Method". (also, sadly, http://www.hellowood.com seems to be the only place actually selling sandpaper letters that have those characteristics. They're also the only place selling a display stand for them so children can observe the letters day to day.)

On the plus side, the other set I'm making assumes that the goal is to fit each letter neatly into identical boxes, so I'm just putting them all onto squares of cardboard and framing them with boxes.

[sapphire_chan]

Decided to go with
5"x5"--a,c,e,i,n,o,r,s,t,u,v,x,z
4"x6"--w,m
6"x4"--b,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,p,y

For the double letters, I think I'll do 6"x6"

[sapphire_chan]

So, question for the people with kids in a Montessori school, what are the sandpaper letters like at the school? I'm curious because a lot of the Montessori supply companies seem to be selling letters on tablets all the same size without any line to indicate the placement of the letter in relation to a lined sheet of paper.

[mamadebug]

You don't want a line under each letter to indicate where it should be placed on paper. The philosophy behind it - One of the key components of Montessori is the idea of isolating the difficulty. So, when a child is at the point of using the sandpaper letters, they are just learning how to form those letters and the sound they make. That alone is enough for the kiddo to be doing. At that point in a child's learning and development, they do not need to know where the letter should be orientated on paper. That will come later with the moveable alphabet when they are spelling or "writing" with the moveable alphabet. Of course, in life there are worse things that could happen than learning all of that at once ....but, if you are curious, that is the philosophy behind it. Check out these sand paper letters by Neinhuis or these from Montessori Outlet


http://www.nienhuis.com/index.php?ta...dpaper+letters


http://www.montessorioutlet.com/cgi-...L%2D001%2D1%29


I have ordered materials from both companies, and while I think the materials from Neinhuis are a slightly better quality, they aren't usually worth the price difference.


Here is a link to companies that are approved material makers by Association Montessori International. Not to say you need to purchase through them, but they are worth looking at as their materials will be fairly authentic.
http://www.montessori-ami.org/

[sapphire_chan]

From "Teaching Reading and Writing" in The Montessori Method, page 270
"she showed me two modifications of the alphabet which she had made. One consisted in placing behind each letter, a transverse strip of white paper, so that the child might recognise the direction of the letter, which he often turned about and upside down. a cardboard case where each letter might be put away in its own compartment, instead of being kept in a confused mass as at first. I still keep this rude case ....I was most enthusiastic about it...it offered to the eye of the child the possibility of comparing all of the letters, and selecting those he needed. In this way the didactic material described below had its origin."

Note that while the case is the part Maria really liked, there's no negative remark about the line behind the letter.

Having the line there allows a child to get used to seeing the letter's positioning, both on a line, and in relation to other letters. The separation of difficulty comes from not having the child write on a lined page until they are confident with an unlined page (after several other steps). Instead of suddenly having to deal with lines (e.g. the story writing works) the child will already be comfortable with where letters go in relation to lines. Plus, when working with more than one sandpaper letter, they can put the lines in a row and see that h goes above a while p sticks down below. how other wise would the child know that it's pa and not Pa?

A major aspect of what I like about Montessori is how the child gets to be comfortable with things before learning to do them themselves. Introduce one cylinder block, child still sees all four.

Why do all companies have an open case for the moveable alphabet, so that children can observe all the letters throughout the day, but not for the sand paper letters?

[sapphire_chan]

So how are the relative positions of the letters introduced, if a child doesn't happen to absorb them from general exposure to print?

Especially since said exposure is usually printed and no lines, but then the child is asked to write stories on lined paper.

Oh, hang on, you said it's the movable alphabet. But the movable alphabet isn't on paper. So the child goes from letters on cards, just in the middle of the card with no indication of what the letter is doing in space, to using cut out letters and they're now expected to put those cut out letters in the right places on a mat?

What's the correction of error in that situation? Because with lined sandpaper letters, the child could just look over at the sandpaper letters to self correct the movable alphabet work.

(Besides, as I said before, they're already used to seeing the letters in certain positions. Just like the pink tower is stored fully built and children get used to seeing it completed before they ever start to build.)

[b_light]

To answer your question for kids in Montessori school, I think my child may actually have the hello wood ones at his school. I was confused at first wether they were doing cursive or print (actually still am) and thought they had a mixed set of letters. Now that you posted that link, I think they have the second set of letters, because that's the color and the way the "a" and "s" are. (I also know they have a hello wood puzzle in the classroom). He goes to an AMS school.

Anyone know the reasoning behind the font chosen for that set of letters?

Here is what we have at home -> http://www.kidadvance.com/Store/Prod...pid=58&catid=3

I think a board with them visible would definitely be useful for catching the child's eye more frequently. My son almost never chooses to work with them at home (though I don't homeschool, so it isn't a big deal), but he does occasionally reference them when he is looking at something else.

His teacher knows we have sandpaper letters at home and writes any letters he worked with that day on his hand and we get those out at home that day.

I like the idea of a line to show which way the letter goes. Ours doesn't have a line and he sometimes flips them upside down. It hasn't been a big problem or anything, but I can see how it'd be useful.

[MattBronsil]

Writing comes much later than the sandpaper letters. They move from writing on a blank board to later writing on boards with lines. That said...

There really isn't that big of a problem with the cursive letters. The movement starts from generally the same movement.

[mamadebug]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

So how are the relative positions of the letters introduced, if a child doesn't happen to absorb them from general exposure to print?

Especially since said exposure is usually printed and no lines, but then the child is asked to write stories on lined paper.

Oh, hang on, you said it's the movable alphabet. But the movable alphabet isn't on paper. So the child goes from letters on cards, just in the middle of the card with no indication of what the letter is doing in space, to using cut out letters and they're now expected to put those cut out letters in the right places on a mat?

What's the correction of error in that situation? Because with lined sandpaper letters, the child could just look over at the sandpaper letters to self correct the movable alphabet work.

So sandpaper letters are one of the first language materials introduced - usually after a child has had plenty of work in practical life and sensorial. The sandpaper letters are a bridge between sensorial and language. As it is introduced early on, the goal at that point is simply an introduction to letter shapes and sounds. Once the child has begun to master that skill, the moveable alphabet is the bridge to written language (part of which is correct letter orientation on a line). The moveable alphabet should be used with some sort of mat that has lines that fit the letters perfectly. I have seen vinyl mats with lines draw, cloth mats with lines done in heavy stitching, etc. Some letters will fit perfectly between the lines - like a letter t or h. If a child is having difficulty orienting letter such as p or q, the control of error is the teacher. The teacher would simply model the correct orientation. Because the child has hopefully had plenty of time to fully absorb the letter shape and sound, and presumably does not need to put their attention to that aspect of learning, they would then be able to more fully focus on letter orientation - thereby isolating the difficulty.

All that said, do what you think is best for your child! If something is working for you, no sense changing it!

[sapphire_chan]

Ah, that makes sense, the sandpaper letters are ONLY for shapes/sounds.

Which means it's a good thing I got on making them so soon! DD's response to seeing the 15 or so letters I've got made now was to name them and tell me what sound they make. In retrospect, I probably should've started with making the double letters.