Miniature Environment and the Grammar Boxes

We love grammar! This probably doesn’t come as any surprise, considering we work at a school. In our humble opinion, Montessori grammar materials are so beautiful, and they do a great job of drawing kids in to learn about something many of us dreaded when we were kids ourselves.

It all begins in the final year of primary or the first year of lower elementary, with a sweet introduction to the miniature environment.

The Miniature Environment/Function of Words

Traditionally, the miniature environment consists of a replica barn, complete with tiny toy animal figures, although some Montessori schools today have strayed from the original farm and created other environments.

When we think of grammar and six-year-olds, the goal is to let them graze. We don’t expect mastery. We want to introduce concepts in a way that is light and fun and makes them want to engage.

This is where the farm animals come in.

Nouns are naming words, and six-year-olds are often still developing their reading skills. It’s so much fun for them to match labels to animals as they name cow, sheep, chicken, and even fence, barn, farmer. As time goes on, we introduce the concept of articles, and how their function is to introduce the noun. The cow, a sheep, an ox. Tiny paper labels lie alongside the figures as the child works. This progresses through all the parts of speech: adjectives, verbs, prepositions, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, and finally, interjections.

The Grammar Boxes

Of course, there’s more to grammar than adorable toy animals. In the second year of lower elementary, and extending into the third year, children use the grammar box materials. The grammar boxes consist of wooden boxes containing cards with words and phrases, sectioned trays to lay the cards in, and open-topped containers with larger index-sized cards.

We start with the latter, which are called command cards. As with the functions of words lessons, these progress through the different parts of speech. The command cards direct children to physically do specific things. “Throw the eraser out the door” is a crowd favorite. This is one exciting way Montessori turns language work into something more hands on and participatory.

Once they’ve worked their way through the command cards, children engage with the filling boxes, recreating phrases and sentences and identifying the various parts of speech.

At some point, the children learn the corresponding symbols for each part of speech (some are seen above in the picture), and they become able to write sentences in their notebooks and draw the correct labels above each word.

The grammar boxes are typically completed sometime during the final year of lower elementary, although upper elementary teachers may choose to use the material for review purposes.

Sentence Analysis

Montessori sentence analysis is not the same as the sentence diagramming some of us did when we were younger, but it is based on some of the same concepts.

At this point in a child's Montessori career, they are beginning to move toward what we call abstraction. That is, they are beginning to internalize concepts in a way that doesn’t require them to use hand-held manipulatives or materials nearly as often. This is obvious in that the sentence analysis materials are still moveable, but there’s a lot less to interact with. A series of wood circles and arrows, they help the child learn concepts like subjects and predicates.

Eventually, sometime in upper elementary, children explore all kinds of sentence analysis concepts, like indirect objects and adverbial extensions.

Want to learn more about the Montessori language curriculum and materials? Keep an eye on our blog as we highlight more throughout the school year.

Materials Spotlight: The Puzzle Maps

In this second installment of our new materials spotlight series, we celebrate and explain the Montessori puzzle maps. Beautifully and colorfully painted and carefully crafted out of wood, they can be found in both primary and lower elementary classrooms. While they are used differently in the two environments, educators take a developmentally appropriate approach to utilizing this beautiful geography material.

The Material

In a Montessori classroom, one will find a wooden rack that contains a series of puzzle maps. They are arranged intentionally, starting with the top shelf and working downward:

1. The planisphere: two blue circles with removable colored continents

2. A map of the child’s continent: puzzle pieces indicate countries

3. A map of the child’s country: puzzle pieces indicate states or provinces

4. Maps of the other continents of the world: pieces indicating countries

There is typically also a set of control maps, or corresponding laminated paper maps that have the pieces drawn to scale and labeled. Children may use these as reference depending upon the activity.

An Introduction

Of course, we begin with the top map of the world. Previously, the child will have worked with the Montessori globes, so they will have some idea about the world, the continents, and the oceans. Using the three-period lesson format, the guide introduces (or reviews) the names of the continents. The guide will demonstrate how to properly retrieve the puzzle, lay it out on a work mat, remove each piece carefully and replace them while naming them. Some classes may have laminated paper labels the child can lay on top of the pieces while they work.

A critical part of the introductory lesson is showing the child how to properly put the puzzle back together and return it to the correct shelf in the rack. Our guides take great care in making sure lessons are not just about the academic skills, but also about how to respect the materials, ensuring they will be in good working order for the next child.

The Work

Once the child has been given the introductory lesson, they may return to this work whenever they like. As with everything else in the Montessori environment, if the child continues to feel drawn to a material, they are still getting something out of the experience. This may appear overly repetitive to our adult eyes, but it’s important that we suspend those judgments and allow the child to trust their instincts.

Once the child has tired of the world map, they are welcome to proceed downward through the others. Their teacher does not necessarily need to give a lesson for each one (although they may, for various reasons); once a child understands how to use the puzzle maps they are free to explore them all.

During the elementary years, we encourage children to use an atlas alongside them while they work. While control maps are useful and serve their purpose, it’s important that they begin to develop their proficiency with a variety of reference tools. When using an atlas, they often need to refer to the table of contents, find the correct page, and look carefully for labels that don’t correspond exactly with the colors and fonts they are used to seeing on the Montessori control maps. This is just one of the many ways we gently guide children toward being able to find answers for themselves.

Extensions

The puzzle maps are such a popular material among children, that it’s only natural we should offer extension work to create more learning experiences for those who are ready and eager. Just a small sampling of the possibilities:

• Pin punching: In the primary classroom, children may trace continent pieces onto construction paper and use the pin punching tool to perforate each one. They may then adhere them to perforated blue spheres, thereby recreating the map so that they may have a copy to keep.

• Map making: Giving children large pieces of white paper, they may carefully trace, label, and color each individual piece.

• Embark on research projects: Children who have enjoyed and mastered the puzzle maps may then choose to read and write about various continents or countries.

• Continent studies: Some teachers choose one continent each semester to focus on in depth. While the puzzle maps serve as a focal starting point, the study will include exploration of biomes, animals, culture, and more.

What’s Next?

Kids love the puzzle maps, so they often spend years absorbing everything they can from them. Eventually, however, they are ready for more. At some point during the elementary years we introduce the pin maps. These are smaller wooden boards with maps drawn on them, and with three tiny holes drilled into each country: one for the country’s name, flag, and capital city. Corresponding metal pins with labels are available for the child to use as they learn to identify each. Control maps are available for the child’s reference.

As with many other materials, the pin maps are introduced in steps. First, the child will just focus on learning to label each country. Once they have mastered that skill, they will move on to flags, and eventually, the capital cities.

Want to learn more? Interested in observing as children engage with these fascinating geography materials? Let us know!

Montessori Materials: The Stamp Game

This post is the first in a new series we are so excited about. Each month, throughout this school year, we will share information about a different Montessori material. Doing so will help parents who are curious about what goes on in our classrooms, but it will also give unique insight into Montessori principles and how the method was developed in the first place.

Today we talk about the stamp game. A beloved math material that is used by children sometime between their kindergarten and second grade years (depending upon their readiness), it allows young children to add, subtract, multiply, and divide using numbers into the thousands. Using a material such as the stamp game allows children to learn a concept in concrete terms, rather than abstractly (which is what they will be doing when they eventually complete the same types of problems with just pencil and paper).

Think back to when you learned basic math computations: it was very likely done abstractly, and you memorized what must be done when your numbers added up to more than ten in one column, or you needed to borrow some from the next column, and so on. Being taught that way certainly gets the job done, but what we are effectively doing then is teaching children to memorize the process.

Using a material like the stamp game? This allows children to physically manipulate the numbers in a way that provides a deeper and richer understanding of mathematical processes. Instead of feeling tedious and confusing, the stamp game provides a stepping stone that makes them excited to discover the secrets of numbers and operations. Many Montessori children have reported that as they get older and find themselves working on much more complicated math concepts, they still picture the movement of the tiny stamps in their minds. They have a lasting visual image of what the numbers are doing as they work; it’s not just rote memorization.

Please bear in mind that prior to being introduced to this material, the child will have a solid understanding of place value, as well as the basic concept of adding numbers. These skills will have been gained through other Montessori materials that were carefully developed and intended to be used in a specific sequence.

So let’s get down to the important part: how the stamp game is used.

A child or small group of children will be seated on the floor across from their guide. A work mat will have been unrolled, and the guide will stand up, walk across the room, and carefully select the material from the shelf, carrying it carefully to the work mat. Even this small action has purpose: the guide is wordlessly teaching the child where the material can be found and where it is expected to be returned, as well as modeling how it should be carried around the room.

When the box is opened the guide may ask the children what they notice. They may comment on the colors of the wooden tiles: green, blue, and red. They will notice the small numbers printed on each tile: ones (units), tens, hundreds, and thousands. They may even notice little pegs that they will use much later when they use the same material for division.

The first step is to learn how to make numbers using the stamp game. The guide will either have a pre-printed card or perhaps a dry erase board to write a number such as 3,721. They will then demonstrate by taking one green unit stamp out of the box and lining it up neatly on the rug in front of the compartment it came from. This will be followed by two blue tens tiles, seven red hundreds tiles, and three green thousands tiles. (The color pattern begins to repeat because much later, using a different material with the same colors, the child will learn about number series and why we separate larger numbers with commas. The idea is being introduced indirectly long before it is expressively taught.)

Children will then take turns making numbers. If the concept takes some effort, this may be their work and their practice for several days or weeks. If they seem ready for more, the guide will move on to the next step.

An addition problem will be presented. The children will learn the terms addend and sum, and will make each addend, separated by a space or perhaps a pencil, on the work mat. The guide will then slide the bottom of each column of tiles upward, creating a single line for each place, as illustrated in the photo above. Starting at the bottom of the units, the tiles will be carefully counted and recorded in the proper place wherever the problem is written down. This will continue with the tens, hundreds, and thousands.

At first, the problems will have been carefully selected so that there is no need for exchanging. Once the child is ready for more of a challenge, they will learn that if there are ten unit tiles, they will need to be gathered up, deposited back into their compartment, and exchanged for one tens tile. They will learn to say aloud to themselves, “Ten tens is equal to one hundred,” and so on.

The lesson will end, and if the guide feels the children have grasped the concept well enough, they will be expected to use the material regularly and independently (or with a friend) to complete problems. The guide will periodically check in to observe and determine when mastery is achieved.

Whenever the child is ready (which could be weeks or even months), they will learn how to use the stamp game for subtraction. Again, the first problems will not involve any exchanging of numbers and will simply be a way to understand the basic process. You can begin to imagine the many steps and complexity of each Montessori material. When subtracting, the child will lay out the minuend, slide down the subtrahend, and find the difference.

Multiplication comes next. Children learn that all multiplication is making the same number a specific amount of times. They will see its connection to addition, as the process is very similar.

As for division, the guide will introduce tiny wooden cups - one for each place value. Children look at the dividend and put the correct amount of tiles into the cups. They will then use the wooden pegs mentioned earlier (called skittles as they resemble bowling pins), to mark the divisor. Rather than lining the tiles up beneath the compartments, they now learn to line them up beneath the skittles. They learn that division is about being fair, and that it is the only operation in which we start by using the largest number available rather than starting with the units (ones).

It can take an entire year (or longer) for a child to move through each of the steps described. The guide will keep a close watch on each individual’s progress, and provide them with more challenge as soon as they are ready. When a child has fully exhausted their learning with the stamp game, they are ready to move on to a slightly more abstract math material: the bead frame.

We hope you enjoyed this article. Want to see the stamp game in action? Contact us to learn more.