Control Charts for Word Study?

Question:

Why don't all of the Montessori Word Study materials include control charts?

Answer:

People ask all the time if we are going to add control charts for all of our word study materials. The answer is, we don't need to! Why? Because the control of error is built in on the activities that don't already have a control chart. Let me explain what I mean.

When you are trying to match a type of animal with the name of its home (like spider and web), you have specific vocabulary that only works one way. We don't want the child to get the wrong impression about what different words mean. So, for the Animals and their Homes activity, we include a control chart. This is the same for all of the word study activities that are focused on specific vocabulary including Animals and their Young, Animals and their Group, and Masculine and Feminine words (like mother and father or rooster and hen). 

For other words, the control of error is built in. So, if we're laying out antonyms like messy tidy, inside outside, dry wet, there is a limited set of options available. If the child accidentally puts outside next to messy, when they try to match tidy, they will only have the word inside left as an option. Inside tidy won't make any sense at all! So, they'll see that they must need to move another card so that all of the words make sense. 

Here's a little video of our Antonyms cards that might help explain what we mean.

This means we don't have to worry if the children make a mistake. These cards are self-correcting. If they match something incorrectly, they will run out of good options for the cards they have left. Just show them how to review what they've already matched so they can find their own error.

This seemingly simple act of teaching children how to review their work and find and correct their own mistakes has enormous implications for learning in the future. Don't miss the chance to effortlessly introduce it at this early reading stage!