Montessori Scope and Sequence: Language Arts
Beginning with lessons intended for the youngest child in oral language development and extending all the way to lessons in formal debate, the Language Arts portion of the Scope and Sequence was designed to be a comprehensive resource that provides essential information to Montessori guides for classrooms ranging from Toddler through Upper Elementary. As mentioned in the introduction, this was not intended to be a “one-size-fits-all” checklist of all the lessons and materials that should be covered, but instead a resource to utilize when planning lessons and recording student progress.
This Language Arts Scope and Sequence may seem daunting in its print form. We prefer to think that the length of the scope and sequence in print speaks to the depth and comprehensive nature of the Montessori language arts experience. The organizational design was created specifically to be used in Montessori Compass. Within Montessori Compass, guides have access to the entire Scope and Sequence for their classroom, but use the organizational structure and search features to efficiently locate the exact content they need. It is also important to note that within Montessori Compass, schools and guides can customize the curriculum to meet their own needs.
The overall Language Arts category is broken down into sub-categories. Each sub-category contains many lessons pertaining to that general area of study. The sub-categories and the lessons within the sub-categories are listed in the order that they would be introduced for most children in many Montessori classrooms. This will be particularly helpful for guides of Primary classrooms (where children learn to write and encode before they learn how to read) and in Elementary classrooms (where order is important in the continued focus on grammar, vocabulary development and writing mechanics.)
The Language Arts Scope and Sequence is displayed in the following “online magazine” format. Lessons/Materials are listed on the spreadsheet, sequenced the same as they are in the Montessori Compass online record keeping software. Each lesson/material may contain multiple elements, which are tagged to the appropriate cycle year(s). In some cases, parent-friendly descriptions will be listed, designed to help parents gain greater insight into the Montessori classroom.