Sixty Second Parent is a fabulous website, with tons of information for parents and educators. They recently had a post about developing written skills in young children.

So what can we do in Montessori to help develop written language skills?

• Children trace the sandpaper letters as they learn their sounds, to subconsciously also learn how to write the letters.
• Large arm movements at the chalkboard and easel provide the early movements that eventually filter down to those finer movements with the fingers and pencils.
• Sensorial activities have small knobs, which children hold with their writing fingers as they manipulate them (knobbed cylinders, geometric cabinet, etc.)
• Practical life activities help children learn control over their movements, while strengthening those fine motor skills.
• Metal insets teach children pencil control. Those small knobs on the insets also help children strengthen their pincer grasp.
• Children often have journals in which they can practice drawing and writing, either independently or through guided activities.
  
• Children phonetically spell words with the moveable alphabet, sometimes before they learn how to actually read them. This leads to later writing of the words with pencil and paper.
• Story dictation provides a chance for adults to model careful writing, and to help children connect those marks to actual words.

Here are a few links to some of my previously written articles that also demonstrate written language development in the Montessori classroom, as well as activities parents can do at home.

• Christmas Writing Activity for Kids: Christmas Cards
• How to Make a Grocery Shopping List with Your Kids
• How to Teach Writing Through Art
  
• How to Teach Writing with Magazine Pictures
• The Montessori Language Curriculum
• Partnering with Your Child's Teacher for Language
  
• Prepare Your Child to Write His Name
• Preschool Tracing Letters and Numbers Activities
  

I heard about a new blogging challenge in one of my writer's groups. It is from Tossing It Out: Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. The premise of the challenge is just what it says: write in your blog daily (except Sundays), with each day focusing on a specific letter.

I thought it would be fun to come up with a Montessori alphabet of sorts, and I am starting my brainstorming a little early. What are some of your favorite Montessori terms that I should try to cover? I can't promise writing on them all, but I can try!

I am also crazy, and trying to do this on two of my other blogs. Montessori Writer's Thoughts is a place where I can just write about whatever random thoughts pop into my head. Andi's Gardening Experiments is where I used to record my thoughts about gardening. Feel free to check those out, as well. I don't think I can come up with an A-Z on Andi's Book Reviews, nor Andi's Kids Books. Not this year.

The ultimate goal is to post on at least one of those three blogs each day. A couple of people signed up with multiple blogs to make it easier to come up with topic ideas.

Would you care to join us?

My original writing website basically no longer exists. Several months ago, it was announced that they were acquired by Yahoo! After several months, the changeover seems to be complete. We are no long AC'ers, but YCN'ers? I have to admit that I had always been partial to the AC....AC is writing on AC......

I have many comments and thoughts on this changeover, but I am not going to get into them tonight. My purpose in posting this is simply to let you know why things look different when you click on my links. I do love the purple, because it matches my site and I am a purple fanatic.

But I also wanted to forewarn you that on occasion a link may not work as this changeover and ticks are worked out. If you notice something isn't working properly, please let me know as soon as possible, and I will try to track down a proper URL.

Thanks!

Who doesn't like to have a guest blogger? I have blogged on other people's sites, and it has always been a lot of fun. I was able to link back to my own stuff, while sharing information that is dear to my heart. So, to pay it forward, I have invited a variety of people to be guest bloggers on my site.

Some people are going to be a little familiar. Perhaps they are writers on other sites, or run businesses you have frequented.

Others are parents of my current and former students. Some are former students of mine. (I only hit up the ones who are now 18 or older.) Some are teachers I had, work with, have worked with, or would love to work with. And still others are my former classmates from back in my Montessori days. I even have some non-Montessori friends, whose children currently attend Montessori school, who may share some of their insights.

Most people are pretty gung ho for Montessori. There may be one or two who had a negative experience. And that's okay. I want everyone to share their honest opinions, based on real experiences, no matter what. After all, that is how discussions are sparked, right?

If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please contact me directly on the website, or drop me a line at admin (at) montessoriwriter (dot) com.

Yay! I finally have my own website! I've only been talking about doing this for the last two years or so!

Timing is everything, and the Universe works in mysterious ways. My first Montessori Writer blog was started in early 2009. Not knowing any better, I used Today.com. That later became Blogdog.com. They were very picky about what you were allowed to submit, didn't allow any links, and basically never paid you anything. You also lost all rights to your submissions. I kept it going, though, merely for the love of sharing information. This past weekend, I received notification that they were ending the program. Thank God, they had saved all of my entries! So, now I can put them right on here!

Please, never hesitate to leave me a comment, ask a question, or share some of your own knowledge. I want this to be a community of information! I can't wait to converse with you!