DIY Montessori Language Cabinet (holds tiny 3D miniature small objects representing the beginning phonetic sound for each letter of the alphabet to promote early literacy and phonemic awareness.
Download your FREE watercolor language labels below.
Turn your craft cabinet into a DIY Montessori language cabinet (aka sound Alphabet boxes). A Montessori Language Cabinet is an organized storage system for sorting and storing small language objects. The cabinet I am using has 24 drawers, so I used one drawer for letters X, Y, and Z. You can also place movable alphabet lowercase letters in each corresponding drawer to reinforce the sound-to-letter association. Moreover, you can use the cabinet in conjunction with thelowercase Montessori sandpaper letters.
This organizational system is perfect for a busy home. Also, an instant downloadable file for watercolor language labels below is of great value. So, get ready for some crafty fun!
Montessori Language Course
If you feel confused and overwhelmed with the Montessori method and the literacy curriculum in particular, join the Montessori Language Course, where I lay a roadmap for you, a step-by-step guide so that you know exactly what to do, at what age to introduce what lesson, and how to present an activity. Gorgeous printables, eBooks, and video tutorials will take the stress out of your homeschooling journey and cultivate joyful hands-on learning!
p.s. And, can I let you in on a secret? The Montessori Language curriculum is one of the most unique, unconventional, and revolutionary approaches to early years education!
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What is a Montessori Language Cabinet
A Montessori language cabinet, aka a system to organize the sound boxes, holds tiny 3D objects that represent letters beginning phonetic sounds (short vowel sounds).
The cabinet is one of our favorite learning resources, as it not only offers an amazing organizational system but can also be used for multiple games. For example, you can play early literacy games with these 3-dimensional objects to match the beginning sound of each letter of the alphabet.
What You Need to Make a Montessori Language Cabinet DIY
Shop Miniature Language Objects here.
Here is a list of materials you will need to make a DIY Montessori language cabinet.
- a cabinet with compartments (I am using a 24-compartment cabinet; also check the 25-drawer cabinet)
- *labels PDF (download FREE below)
- language objects (see examples below)
What Are Montessori Language Objects?
Here are some examples of everyday life language objects for your drawer storage cabinet:
- veggies
- farm animals
- wildlife animals
- forest animals
- Safari animals
- house furniture
- garden plant tools
- wagon/watering can farming tools ~ or a set with boots here)
- a wagon
- 15 pcs porcelain tea set
- mini musical toys
- bathroom porcelain accessories
- mini food/drinks
When To Introduce Language Objects
After exploring letter hunts for individual sounds, you can use a language cabinet to keep your collection of language objects organized from A to Z.
What is the Purpose of the DIY Montessori Language Cabinet?
The purpose or aim of the Montessori Language cabinet is to teach a child to recognize the specific sound a letter makes.
Montessori Language Cabinets DIY
See the video below on what’s inside our Language Cabinet.
At What Age to Introduce the Montessori Language Cabinet
Typically, you would introduce an entire collection of language objects inside the cabinet at around three years old. However, you can start playing sound games without associating them with letters as early as two years of age.
What is Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness. When a child can hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound, they have Phonemic awareness ~ the ability to segment words into their component sounds.
For example, separating the word “cat” into three distinct phonemes, /k/, /æ/, and /t/, (that is, being able to hear the sounds in the word /cat/, and not the letter names) requires phonemic awareness. Being a basis for learning phonics, phonemic awareness improves children’s word reading and reading comprehension, as well as helps children learn to spell.
Montessori Language Cabinet DIY Sound Alphabet Box
What is Phonological Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate individual phonemes. Since they are interdependent, phonemic awareness and phonological awareness are often confused.
Phonological awareness includes this ability, but it also includes the ability to hear and manipulate larger units of sound, such as onsets, rhymes, and syllables.
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What is the Phonetic Order of Presenting the Alphabet
In a Montessori education Language curriculum, alphabet letters are first introduced to a child by the phonetic sound they make rather than the letter name. Moreover, sounds are introduced first in phonetical sets or groupings rather than in the ABC order. The reason you introduce letter sounds in specific and predefined groups is to facilitate the child’s ability to form as many words as possible using those sounds.
Montessorians suggest a few orders,
One of the suggested orders of a presentation is:
First set: c m a t
Second set: s r i p
Third set: b f o g
Fourth set: h j u l
Fifth set: d w e n
Sixth set: k q v x y z
Free Watercolor Alphabet Box Labels
Please note that in a Montessori Language curriculum, vowels are blue and consonants are red. So, if you join my Montessori Language course, you will have access to an extended PDF of cabinet labels with blue vowels and red consonants, etc.
This was one of our favorite home DIY projects, and I hope you enjoyed this creative process. Do let me know if you have any questions in the comments and whether you have tried making a DIY Montessori Language Cabinet yourself. Be patient and use a systematic approach to your homeschooling journey! projects! And I am here if you need any help.
For More Literacy Ideas …
See here NuFun Activities DIY-Alphabet-Objects-Wood-Transfer-Free-Watercolor-Language-Labels.
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You will never feel ready because ‘ready’ is not a feeling; it is a decision.
You will never feel ready because ‘ready’ isn’t a feeling; it is a decision.
