One of the best parts of a Montessori education is that learning is so much fun! We provide hands-on activities and experiences that engage children’s hearts and minds and help them grasp abstract concepts and master complicated skills.
For example, when we introduce grammar in elementary, we use the Grammar Boxes, a set of materials that involve reading, interpretation, acting, art, movement, pattern-finding, and even poetry. The result is that grammar becomes an experiential and joyful process that children get to play with and even embody. Grammar work in Montessori elementary classrooms is also a group activity, which our gregarious elementary-aged children absolutely love.
The Grammar Boxes comprise an array of colorful materials that easily take up a whole shelf in the classroom. Like so many Montessori materials, they use color coding to help children establish stronger neural pathways to identify parts of speech and their function in sentences.
Each of the eight grammar boxes has one large compartment that holds cards with sets of phrases and sentences, as well as smaller compartments for one-word cards. The cards are different colors for each part of speech: article (tan), noun (black), adjective (brown), verb (red), preposition (green), adverb (orange), pronoun (purple), conjunction (pink), interjection (yellow).
Children experience the name, symbol, and function of each part of speech in a multi-sensorial way, maximizing their opportunity to acquire real and deep understanding.
After our youngest children have learned how to care for materials and have had plenty of experience discriminating sounds with our sound cylinders, we show them how to play a single bell. This is a multi-part process: how to carry the bell, use a mallet to gently strike the bell to make a tone, appreciate the sound the bell makes, use a damper to stop the tone, and return the bell to its proper place in the set.
Returning the bell to its proper place prepares children for future work of pairing and grading the bells. So, we take time to model how to check that the tone of the brown bell matches the corresponding white (or black) bell behind it.
Once children learn these steps, they can select any of the brown bells to play. Eventually, we also show children how to choose and play two different brown bells. This experience helps children focus on the fact that the two bells look the same but sound different. Then, upon returning the bells to the set, children also get to work on finding where each brown bells goes (because there are two empty spaces) by matching the tone of the brown bells to the white or black bells in the back.
This may seem like quite an elaborate process for just “playing a bell or two.” However, we carefully break down each step so that even our youngest children can learn how to use this delicate instrument with precision while also beginning to hone in on the slight variations in each bell’s pitch.
Once children have mastered this first step, the Grammar Box materials offer multiple forms of follow-up to promote deeper understanding.
After children learn key grammar language and concepts via the Grammar Boxes, we initiate a deeper study into classifications within each part of speech. For example, a study of the verb moves to an examination of the differences between action and linking verbs, a study of voice and mood, and an exploration of the tenses.
Extension work also includes more complex and detailed written work, a study of synonyms, further exploration of ideas presented in the introductory work, and research related to the parts of speech and the history of our language.
Elementary children love the extraordinary, the peculiar, and the unusual. Carefully selected words in the Grammar Boxes help spark this fascination, drawing the children into a study of the science of their language.
Although work with the Grammar Boxes helps children learn about and understand the functions of the different parts of speech, the lessons also demand a great deal of active and physical expression and thus support children’s powers of expression.
This is what “reading comprehension” really is. We can observe the quality and sophistication of children’s understanding by the precision with which each child carries out the actions required by any particular grammar box text.
A good grasp of grammar empowers us to communicate and interpret others’ communication with greater clarity and understanding. Thus, our goal is to help each child wield their language with accuracy and power. Grammar work in elementary invites a rich vocabulary and fosters an expansive use of our language in all of its expressions.
Grammar work is an exciting, fun, and intellectually stimulating activity in Montessori classrooms. Schedule a tour today to experience this in person!
3241 Brush Drive, Falls Church, Virginia 22042, United States
Monday- Friday 8:00-5:00pm
13916 Braddock Road, Centreville, Virginia 20120, United States
Monday- Friday 7:30-5:00pm