Grammar Boxes are a staple piece of equipment in the Montessori Junior Class.
If you are homeschooling your child, you definitely need a set of these.
That said, this is a perfect DIY project, so here are the photos for reference and inspiration!
Teachers: You can keep your Grammar Box content fresh by letting older children create new sets of cards for rotation into the boxes. This lets older children practice and review basic skills in a fun and enjoyable way, too.
Photo credit: Nienhuis Montessori
Posts
5 comments:
I am a Montessori trained elementary teacher (AMI). The children LOVE the grammar boxes. They love being able to do all of the activities that are suggested in the cards. I have come to realize that any teacher who has grammar boxes and command cards actually needs a "kit" of items for the children to do the activities. In the adjective cards, the cards say, "the salty taste, the sweet taste, the bitter taste, the sour taste." If you provide items for the children to taste, they will want to do more and more. Just a very small part of the grammar boxes. You need pieces of cloth (velvet, smooth, shin, rough...). You need a ball to toss and bounce. You need much more than I have mentioned here. If you allow and provide for these activities, the children will not want to quit. Remember what Montessori said about enticing the child. Yes, grammar, which could be dry and boring, can be such an exciting activity for children.
I was wondering if these were still around! I _loved_ grammar boxes! I am nearly 45 years old and I can remember the colors and the arrangement as though I'd played (worked?) with them yesterday. I've gone on to become proficient in two languages, and develop reading facility in four others. I'm sure this means of learning grammar was a big contributing factor.
Hello,
You mention this is a DIY project, but I am unable to find anything to help me make these. On another site I can just barely make out the grammar words (article, noun, adjective, verb, preposition, adverb, pronoun, conjuction and interjection).
I think the concept in amazing, and would love to create these from my homeschooled children.
What I don't understand is the box set up...the boxes up to 5 spaces are easy, left to right progression. However the boxes that are 2 or 3 rows are harder...some look as if they start at the bottom, some the top...do they go in the "normal" top to bottom, left to right progression as in reading?
Lastly, could you tell me how the 'preposition' space would work? Is this a single word or a prepositional phrase?
Thanks so much, I am learning alot of fun ways to "do school" on your site!
You can email me personally at 7kids4me at gmail or leave a message here, and I'll just follow this post.
For those of you who asked, there are some pretty useful grammar-related things on Lori's site, Montessori for Everyone, in her free download section:
http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/Language-Materials_ep_60-1.html
Our newsletters (a great deal at $12.99) include all kinds of instructions for grammar boxes!
Another fun exercise is for children to take a simple sentence, write each word in the sentence on a card, and then put the cards into the different slots on the box. The side benefit is that you restock your grammar box words! An excellent benefit if you are working with a mixed age group of children at home or in school.
Post a Comment