If you are considering teaching your child at home using the Montessori method, you may be wondering why Montessori teaches letter sounds rather than letter names. Here's why:
Montessori is predominately, though not exclusively, a phonics based approach to teaching reading. Teaching letter sounds rather than letter names eliminates a double decoding process when the child begins to read. If a child is only taught to identify letters by letter names, the child does not yet have enough information to read a word. If a child has learned the letter name and then the sound the letter makes, the child needs to remember both pieces of information when reading words. For example upon seeing the word, "cat" a child who has learned both will need to think, "C says 'c' and a says 'a' and t says 't'." But a child who has learned just the letter sounds only has to think, "'c', 'a', 't'." When children learn to identify letters by sound only, they are often able to make the jump from letter identification to decoding words quickly and at a young age.
The Montessori curriculum does teach letter names, just not right away. After a child is able to read words, and has begun building longer words with the movable alphabet, it becomes useful to learn the names of letters. It is only then that a Montessori teacher would give a lesson on the letter names. Typically, however, many children tend to learn the names of letters just by interacting with their environment. In over twenty years of being a Montessori educator, I have not ever had to give a formal lesson on letter names.
Yes, sometimes when a child does not learn letter names right away, some funny scenarios can happen. When my daughter was 4 years old, someone we met at the community pool asked her how she spelled her name. In true Montessori form, she enthusiastically told him the letter sounds that made up her name. When the adult gave me a puzzled look, I explained that we were a Montessori family and that we had been teaching her the sounds letters make rather than letter names. This led to a lovely discussion about Montessori and it's benefits. I'm also happy to add that my daughter is now in college and knows all the names of the letters!
