Our Language Arts curriculum is organized into the categories of receptive language (first listening, then reading) and expressive language (first speaking, then writing), with materials and activities designed for each.

Language Arts Curriculum:

• Listening & "ear training" activities

• Precise modeling of proper spoken language

• Visual discrimination activities

• Phonemic awareness

• Encoding and decoding words and sentences

• Recognizing Dolch sight words

• Library of leveled phonetic books

• Comprehension skills

• Handwriting skills

• Vocabulary development

• Grammar

Receptive Language:

Before one learns to read, one must learn to listen. Listening activities, like rhyming, syllable counting, listening to books read aloud, and "I Spy" games, are incorporated into circle time. Our students enjoy these fun "ear training" activities, without being aware that they are having a lesson.

The eyes of a small child must be prepared for reading through visual discrimination activities. Along with the Sensorial curriculum, puzzles, matching, sequencing, and sorting activities train the eyes to distinguish the subtle difference between letters, say between "m" and "n".

Our students learn the relationship between a sound and its symbol using various Montessori materials, such as the Sandpaper Letters, the Sand Tray, the Phonogram Object Boxes, and Letter-to-Object Matching. Through these activities, our students discover that blending sounds together make words. The child's phonemic skills are further developed using the classroom materials such as the Movable Alphabet, the Word Card Drawers, and Word Families activities.

Our students continue the journey toward reading with fluency and accuracy by learning digraphs (2-letter blends), reading leveled books (such as Bob Books) to a teacher or mentor, and learning sight words.

The child develops comprehension skills through activities like the Sentence and Object Cards ("Put the bat next to the racket."), and the Verb Command Cards ("Crawl to the rug."). Our teachers foster a life-long love of reading by encouraging each child to read books from the classroom library that are of interest to him/her, whether they are about trucks, horses, planets, or butterflies.

Expressive Language:

The second part of our Language Arts curriculum is expressive: first speaking, then writing. Our teachers model the precise usage of the English language throughout each day and encourage our students to speak in complete sentences. Public speaking is developed during circle time as our students present Show and Tell items, and inform the class of the day's weather.

Many of the Practical Life and Sensorial activities completed by the young preschooler were designed to foster the motor coordination and digital dexterity needed to hold a pencil. Other prewriting activities, like tracing, hole punching, and cutting further strengthen the hand for the skill of handwriting.

Materials such as the Sand Tray and the Metal Insets help our students learn the flow of shapes that lead to drawing letters. Later, actual letters are written on paper, then in a confined box, and finally on lined paper.

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