Free and Paid Handwriting Printables and Learning to Write Resources

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In Montessori, children learn to write before they learn to read with help of the Sandpaper Letters. After practicing letter formation using those letters, students need to continue handwriting exercises using various fine motor materials. I gathered a collection of handwriting resources and learning-to-write materials I hope you find helpful.

Here is what Maria Montessori had to say to teachers and educators when it comes to teaching children to write:

“Holding the knob of the cylinders with the first two fingers and thumb is a preparation of the coordination of the hand for writing. At a later age the intelligence of the child will urge him to write. He will be impeded if the organs are not prepared. ” The 1946 London Lectures

“Writing is not identical with the alphabet. Writing consists of a series of attempts to transmit thought in a practical and permanent way. Its history goes back to thousands of years ago. At first, man tried to represent the objects of his thoughts by means of drawings; then he tried to symbolise ideas by signs, and only much later has he found a simple solution in the alphabet. ” The Formation of Man

“Driven by this inner sensibility children absorb language from their environment and miraculously develop it. This sensibility is so great during this period that if they were to be given another means of expressing language, such as writing, this other form of language will interest the child intensely. These children loved to write because they were in the sensitive period for language. ” The 1946 London Lectures

“Summing up, we may say that the two mechanical factors of writing are resolved into two independent exercises, that is, drawing, which gives the hand the ability to handle the writing instrument, and touch the letters of the alphabet, which serves to establish a motor memory along with a visual memory of the letters. ” The Discovery of the Child

“The hand too, therefore, needs its own preparation. What is needed before one actually writes is to learn writing by means of a series of interesting exercises which form a kind of gymnastics similar to those used to give agility to the muscles of the body. ” The Formation of Man,

“Only after a child has begun to write on his own should a teacher intervene to guide his progress in writing. ” The Discovery of the Child

This is one of a series of videos featuring Susan Scheibenzuber from “Laughing Star Montessori” explaining the “Beautiful Handwriting System.”

Capturing ordinary days in Montessori environments. The natural development of a literate human being, able to express himself and communicate successfully with others, is at the root of authentic Montessori practice.