The Blue Lotus Montessori phonics reading program uses a multi-sensory approach to teach children how to read. Our classroom is full of multi-sensory materials that appeal to the child’s senses and help them engage in many different ways. We take into consideration the fact that every child is different and learn at a difference pace. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and no textbooks.
Our reading program follows the basic steps outlined in the Reading Pyramid.
Pyramid of Reading Success
Read More about the Reading Pyramid here.
The building of the reading pyramid starts with a foundation of phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the first component the child needs to master in order to learn how to read. We define phonemic awareness as the ability to hear and recognize the individual sounds of the spoken words. With phonemic awareness comes the understanding that words are made of a sequence of small units of sound.
The following sequence of steps help the child develop phonemic awareness:
Beginning Sound Isolation
Beginning sound isolation is the child’s ability to recognize the first sound, or phoneme, at the beginning of a word. We have a variety of activities in our classroom that helps the child recognize that each word begins with its own distinct sound. This simple activity is a big step toward phonemic awareness.
Phoneme segmentation
Phoneme segmentation is the child’s ability to break words down into sound parts (phonemes.) For example, the word “dog” become the sounds d – o – g. We model segmentation by playing the blending game. The teacher segments the word and the child blends the sounds back together, telling us what the word is.
Alphabetic Principle
We help the child understand the alphabetic principle, that is, the association of a sound with the symbol we call a letter. We teach the alphabetic principle using the sandpaper letter, the stand-up cards, and a number of other activities that help the child internalize this principle.
Encoding Words
Encoding words involves building words with moveable letters and cards. Our classroom has a Movable Alphabet Center that is always inviting the child to practice building words.
Decoding words using letter-sounds
Decoding is the child’s ability to connect a printed word with the spoken word. It involves sounding out words and blending the sounds together. In our classroom, children begin decoding one-sylable, short vowel words and move their way up to the longer ones.
When we follow all the steps for reading success, learning to read becomes easy. It becomes part of a natural process of language acquisition that is already present within the child from the moment of birth. Since the child is eager to learn to read, in our classroom we make sure she succeeds and enjoys every part of the process.