Language: Infants & Toddlers
From Dr. Silvana Montanaro's specifications: Authentic Montessori work for infants and toddlers, featuring cats and kittens. Teaching your dog...
Following original Infant language card specifications, I have created my fifth set of language cards for infants and toddlers in this new Cats & Kittens listing,
Actually, we’d never intended to publish any of the Montessori language card material, but everyone became increasingly distressed by the lack of authentic material, coupled with the proliferation of random retail products under the “Montessori” rubric.
So, it’s been graphics and more graphics. Now I’m kind of getting into it. At least I have a positive outlet whenever I wish to vent my frustration about the single-word flashcard-type material being sold for infants and toddlers.
If young children do not hear rich, euphonic language between birth and three, how can they learn to speak and read? They are not animals to be trained to memorize single words. Pets have no complex language future.
What to do with your one-word material that you cannot return? I highly recommend How Stella Learned to Talk!
While the author does miss the fact that dogs should be exposed to a wider use of deliberate language, her method provides a brilliant guide for humans attempting to communicate with their pets for the first time.
The book is also helpful because she shares some useful cautionary tales about various poor practices in speech therapy with children.
One evening, at a prospective student open house, I tried to convince a group of parents not to use the single-word book and flashcard approach with their young children. To demonstrate the value of using rich language, I showed them how I taught my dog. I taught him the difference between “these are my shearling boots” versus “these are my shearling slippers” by showing him a pair of each.
He pointed at the correct items on the first try!
A few parents were actually a bit glum as they felt my two-year-old dog had a better vocabulary than their toddlers, but I assured them that changing the way they approached language would help their children catch up in no time.