I started a forum thread on Montessori_Online about three part cards. My own reflections are that the children don't truly use them very often except in unique situations. I want to read what Maria Montessori actually wrote or the history of when they were developed.
"I've been thinking recently about a book that I've been reading which talks
about creative thinking and right brain thinking. In my mind, the 3-part
cards are one of the dullest areas of the curriculum. Yes, the children
will use them, but I don't see them drawn to them as much as other things.
In our print rich world, and the age of computers, scrapbooking, page
layouts etc, part of me wonders if there isn't a better way.
The real question is can anyone point me to Maria Montessori's writings on three-part cards? I want to read what she actually wrote/said and why they were designed that way in the first place."
Miri knew exactly where Maria Montessori spoke of the cards.
In "The Discovery of the Child" Maria Montessori talks about promoting early reading in children, assisting them in their "insatiable desire for reading". She describes the Exercise with Classified Cards (pages 232-236), as"simple reading game" that "aims at arousing an interest in written word". It consists "in preparing a series of objects and a corresponding numbers of cards on which are written the names of the objects. After a child has read a card he places it near its corresponding object... When a child recognizes the name of a present object, he is as pleased as if he had discovered a secret; and he enjoys placing the card near the object and thus satisfying and rounding out his intimate activity. By now his inner drive has been aroused, interest enkindled, and a connection between the source of the life and the mastering of externals established".
Then she mentions the "reversing the purpose of the above exercise. Objects that are educationally important and assembled and marked by cards giving their respective names. Whereas in the first exercise the objects were know and the difficulties of learning were connected with words, here a child starts with a sufficient knowledge of the words to teach him the names of the objects which are grouped together for some educational purpose. In a developed form, this exercise has been extended to teaching the names of various materials used in our schools, for example, those of goods, fastenings, polygons and so forth. Finally, it has been applied to models of plants and animals. Scientific terms indicating their relative classifications are written on separate cards, and these must than be placed on the objects when they are recognized.
These last exercises, however, lead us down a different road from that which is of present interest, namely, learning how to read. They rather resemble the practice of botanists and gardeners who give the Latin names of various plants on tags which they attach to them"
Aleta mentioned how in her school they make books out of them and Cathie talked of the different levels that they can be used. (Picture matching, word discrimination, beginning reading, reading) Sharon mentioned how they shouldn't be dull. I think that she's right of course. That's what started my line of thinking, but teachers make 3-part cards for everything! There must be some discretion in how they are done.
When it comes to labeling the environment, I'm thinking of a set of three part cards that match the environment and the Montessori materials.
2 comments:
Montessori for everyone do a set of cards for each area of the classroom that are very popular with our youngest children (4 years old in my classroom).
For me the cards have 2 purposes. The first is to get a child who cannot read to understand what words are for - ie to realise that the funny squiggles actually say the name of an object/colour etc and then to be able to match word to word. For a non-reader this is an important and exciting step.
The second purpose is to introduce ideas and subjects in a simple way that can lead onto research. I often do a set of 3 part cards with a child and once we have discussed them all s/he chooses one and reasearches it. This can lead onto a project about lots of the cards, be made into a book or something that the child comes up with.
The other thing that has happened a few times is that a child has related it to another part of his life and used a card to show me what he is talking about. For instance, one child saw a film about the American War of Independence but couldn't remember the words, so he went to get the flags of the USA and found the flag, read the name then remembered the War of Indepenedence. Sometimes it is all about making links in the child's mind. You never know when the information will be usefull.
A lot of the children's connection with 3-part cards is how the adults approach them. We presented them all the time when I was a 3-6 assistant (always starting with the real thing - a leaf, a rabbit, a clay earth) whenever possible. The children loved the presentations and used the cards frequently.
When I moved into the elementary age, the cards became even more important, because now it was more than just learning names, it was about information (the definitions). Again, presentations were as interesting and exciting as possible and the 3-part cards received tons of use.
Is there another, better way to relay this kind of information? Simply reading a book might be one way, but the beauty of the 3-part cards is that they isolate a particular subject and break it into its smaller parts in a way that is very helpful to the child.
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