At 2.5, Henry is constantly asking me "what that say" or "write my name." He is suddenly engrossed in all things reading and writing, and it's amazing to watch. Montessorians believe that children have sensitive periods where learning a particular skill comes easy to them because they are so totally engrossed in that work. The sensitive period for literacy -- reading and writing -- is between 3 and 5 years old. Early exposure is key in helping to make sure your child is ready when they reach that sensitive period.
Recently, I was given the opportunity to try the pre-writing chalkboards from Virtual Montessori. These chalkboards provide a fun way to expose your toddlers and preschoolers to the skills they need to start forming letters.
Instead of just any fine motor work, these chalkboards specifically help children learn the motions they need to form letters. Slants, circles, and straight lines are all covered! The boards even provide a directional arrow to help kids move in the appropriate direction. On the back is a blank chalkboard for the kids to practice their skills all on their own, or just have fun drawing.
The wooden chalkboards are lightweight, yet sturdy. They were easy for Henry to pick up and put away completely on his own. They easily wiped clean with a damp cloth. These pre-writing chalkboards from Virtual Montessori provide what I call sneaky learning -- to Henry, he is just having fun, to me he is working on valuable skills.
And, boy, does Henry love these. I have had to pry these out of his hands more than once since we've had them to get Hen to eat dinner/take a nap/whatever. In the short time that we've had these chalkboards, I've seen an improvement in Henry's pencil grip and tracing skills. One day, we even got an accidental letter T from him as he was practicing his straight lines! Henry loves these so much, he even has shared the activity with his "friends." Mickey Mouse and Minnie have both gotten a lot of writing practice too lately!
In addition to chalk, one day I gave Henry a q-tip and some water. He could then trace with the q-tip instead. This was a huge hit, and an easy way to keep the chalkboards fun.
Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about these boards! And, Virtual Montessori has been awesome enough to giveaway one set to a lucky The Kavanaugh Report winner! Just follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for your chance to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I did receive the chalkboards to review, but all opinions are my own.
