Reading Development in a Montessori Pre-K and Kindergarten Classroom

Abstract

There have been a variety of methods for teaching children to read over the last several decades, including whole language, balanced literacy, simple view of reading (SVR), active view of reading, and structured literacy. The National Reading Panel was formed in 2000, which identified the Five Pillars of Reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. This study addresses the impact of implementing structured literacy in a public Montessori Children's House. The researcher hypothesized that implementing structured literacy in a Montessori Children’s House with four and five-year-olds would lead to children’s growth in the above-mentioned five Pillars of Reading, as well as lead to 80%-90% of kindergarteners being able to read the first set of Primary Phonics books by the completion of their final year in the classroom. This was a mixed-methods study, with qualitative data gathered about literacy practices and literacy development observed in the home, as well as quantitative data recording the typical level at which incoming first graders are reading at. It included the documentation of children’s progress in encoding words from the Waseca Tower Drawers with the Moveable Alphabet and children’s progress through reading the Primary Phonics series. There were eighteen participants in this study. The findings of this study underscore both the alignment of Montessori methods and practices for reading instruction with the science of reading and the positive impact of following the Montessori scope and sequence for children’s reading development.