Montessori Writing Method: Homemade Tracing Cards

 I am working toward providing a Montessori system of learning to write for my kids, ages three and four.  The three-year-old is wordy and the four-year-old is hands on, so Montessori's system a great fit for both of them now.

Montessori advocates that rather than asking a child to simultaneously remember what the characters represent, how to hold a pencil, and how they are formed, the child should be allowed to separate these tasks.   My husband found the ABC slate app,and it has been a hit.  The portability and the draw of "screen time" make it a fantastic tool. However, I thought that we should have a tactile option in addition.   Montessori talks about wooden blocks with sand paper letters.That seemed like a pretty daunting project, so I stepped things down a little. 

My materials are index cards, yarn, and glue.

1.  Roughly estimate the amount of yarn to make the figure.

2.  Glue on the straight parts.

3.  Glue down the rest, and clip of the excess.

       

My three-year-old has tried these out a couple of times, and has been very interested in learning to make the letters correctly.  She concentrates really hard, and it is obvious that it truly is an accomplishment every time she makes a figure correctly.

Related posts: Montessori Writing Method: Magnetic Letters