How Montessori Schools Teach Reading and Writing

Developing Phonological Awareness

In the earliest years of Montessori, the focus is less on reading and more on phonological awareness, which is the ability to identify sounds and patterns found in language. Teaching students about rhymes, counting syllables, and identifying beginning and ending sounds all fall into this category. Phonological awareness is fun to learn, but it’s also foundational to reading, so it is an important part of the child’s education in the Montessori classroom.

Nursery Rhymes & Songs

Reading and reciting nursery rhymes with children is one of the first ways to introduce phonological awareness, and this is a key focus on language learning in the first sensitive period. As soon as the child enters the Montessori school, this is a foundational part of the day. Silly songs with rhyming words and syllabic patterns are also helpful. Encourage parents to extend these activities in the home.

Sound Games

Montessori has sound games built into its learning model. For example, an I Spy game involves laying items out for the children to see and then asking them to pick up the item that starts with a particular sound. As the children learn the game, they can transition to ending sounds as well. This game teaches segmenting, which is the skill of breaking a word down into its individual sounds and also blending sounds into whole words.

Montessori Reading & Writing: Encoding and Decoding

As the children get a little older and have a firm grasp of phonological awareness, they are ready to start learning reading and writing. While Montessori education is about learning through play, work, and discovery, it has a plan for teaching reading, and that starts with encoding and decoding skills. Encoding involves translating ideas into symbols, in this case, the letters that makeup written language, while deciding involves turning symptoms, such as letters, into ideas. Both are essential to learning to read and write.

Introducing Phonics

As the children get a little older and have a firm grasp of phonological awareness, they are ready to start learning reading and writing. While Montessori education is about learning through play, work, and discovery, it has a plan for teaching reading, and that starts with encoding and decoding skills. Encoding involves translating ideas into symbols, in this case, the letters that makeup written language, while deciding involves turning symptoms, such as letters, into ideas. Both are essential to learning to read and write.

Sandpaper Letters

Sandpaper Letters are the tool Montessori teachers use to introduce the alphabet and early phonics to children. These are cards with letters on them made out of sandpaper. The children can see the letter and also feel its shape tactically.

To use sandpaper letters, the teacher will introduce three to four single letters at a time. They will use three different learning periods to pair the letter, its shape, and its sound in the mind of the child. Students learn the letter’s sound and then trace its shape on the card using their fingers. Eventually, they learn to write the letter following the same tracing pattern.

Games and Outdoor Activities

Young children learn best through movement and play, and outdoor play can include phonics instruction. Many Montessori-style games allow children to move their bodies while reinforcing the sounds they learned with the sandpaper letters. One simple outdoor game involves writing phonograms on the sidewalk in chalk and then having the child jump to the correct sound the teacher calls.

Tools for Early Reading & Writing

Phonics is the foundation for early reading and writing, but eventually, the child needs to transition to reading and physically writing words. There are some Montessori writing and reading activities that aid with this transition.

Moveable Alphabet

Sandpaper letters naturally morph into early writing using the moveable alphabet. After introducing all of the single letters and their sounds, the teacher moves on to the two-letter phonograms. Eventually, the children begin to work with a moveable alphabet, putting the letters and phonograms they have learned together to form words.

Interactive Phonics Tools: Phonetic Object Box & Action Cards

Action and object cards are a way to start introductory reading with your Montessori student. The object box places known objects with simple word names in a box, along with paper cards that have the words written on them. For example, a small toy cat and pig with the words “pig” and “cat” on the card. The child removes the objects and then matches the cards to the item they name.



Action cards are a similar idea but with action verbs. Place simple action verbs, like “run,” on cards and have the child draw one. The child acts, and the teacher or other students guess what it is. To perform this task, the child must be able to read the action word, which reinforces early reading skills.

Puzzle Words

As most competent readers know, there are several words in the English language that we use regularly but that don’t follow the phonics rules. These can be introduced later in the early literacy journey using puzzle word cards. Puzzle words are what traditional instructors call “sight words,” such as “the” and “our.”

For puzzle words, students have to see, hear, and memorize them. The teacher can show the card with the word and say it, then have the child repeat it. They can put together the puzzle word with words that follow the phonics patterns, such as “the cat,” to reinforce what the word is.

Teachers can add more puzzle words to the cards as the child starts reading easy readers, putting more tools into their literary toolbox. Typically, by the time they reach the kindergarten program, most children have learned multiple puzzle words and are working on easy readers.

We Guide Each Step of the Literacy Journey

Reading is a developmental skill that each child reaches when they are read. What’s so ideal about the Montessori method of teaching reading and writing is the fact that it allows for individualized instruction as the child progresses through the four planes of development. At Mansio Montessori, we’re here to guide every step of your child’s literacy journey. Reach out to learn more about how we approach teaching letters, sounds, and early reading, or schedule a time to visit our school to see learners in action.