Montessori Language Cabinet DIY

DIY Montessori Language Cabinet holds tiny 3D miniature objects representing the beginning sound for each letter of the alphabet to promote early literacy and phonemic awareness.

Turn your craft cabinet into a DIY Montessori language cabinet. A Montessori Language Cabinet is an organized storage system to sort and store 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 a movable alphabet letter in each corresponding drawer to reinforce the sound-to-letter association. 

---

Join Language and Math Courses Get a Special Bundle Offer

---

A Montessori language cabinet holds tiny 3D objects that represent the beginning sound. There are various early literacy games you can play with these 3-dimensional objects to match the beginning sound for each letter of the alphabet.

What You Need to Make a Montessori Language Cabinet DIY

Here is a list of materials you will need to make a DIY Montessori language cabinet:

1. a cabinet with compartments (I am using a 24-compartment cabinet; also check the 25-drawer cabinet) 
2. *labels PDF (download FREE below)
3. language objects (see examples below)

WHat Are Montessori Language Objects?

Here are some examples of language objects:

• 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 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 Cabinet DIY

Montessori Language Cabinet DIY

🌟 At What Age to Introduce 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 the 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.

What is Phonological Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate individual phonemes.  Phonemic awareness and phonological awareness are often confused since they are interdependent. Phonological awareness includes this ability, but it also includes the ability to hear and manipulate larger units of sound, such as onsets and rhymes, and syllables.

What is the Phonetic Order of Presenting the Alphabet

In a Montessori 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.

There are a few orders suggested by Montessorians,

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

I hope you enjoyed this post. Do let me know if you have any questions in the comments and whether you have tried making a DIY Montessori Language Cabinet yourself.

---

Join The Language Courses | Special Offer

---

For More Literacy Ideas …

See here NuFun Activities DIY-Alphabet-Objects-Wood-Transfer-Free-Watercolor-Language-Labels

---

♡ Enriching the Mind one Heart at a time ♡