Bring your Language Objects to Life
Working with replicas of farm animals - we want our replicas to relate to children’s experiences and give them opportunities to revisit vocabulary that has meaning for them. (Rural life is close to us and farm animals are very much part of our daily life).
In any Montessori environment the development of language, as a tool for self expression, is a strong priority.
Some might even say our entire reason for infant and toddler community environments exisiting, is the development of language (along with offering practical life opportunities).
Some might even go further, and say the other “stuff” (puzzles etc) are only there to give some children enough self initiated activity while we are able to work with children in the practical life or language areas.
At Aroha Nui Montessori we say we exist for a variety of reasons but supporting children’s language development and their ability for self expression is one of our highest priorities.
Example of a Montessori toddler language shelf with real objects
Let’s think for a moment what language objects are?
The dictionary tells us that “object” relates to a material thing that can be seen or touched and “language” is the principle method of human communication (speech, writing, gesture). Our language objects then, are material things that support infants and toddlers to be able to communicate effectively.
In any structure, the foundation upon which it is built is critically important, and language development is no exception. The foundations for language (in the verbal sense - whether spoken, written or signed) are words.
The foundation of vocabulary we offer to children matters enormously, and offering a wide base of vocabulary is one of the easiest ways we can impact children’s ability to communicate.
We need an important side step here - this blog post is about language objects, but we need to know that we adults (parents/caregivers and educators alike) are the most important language material we can offer our children. All the beautiful objects in the world mean very little if they are not accompanied by attuned, interested, and animated adult relationships. And we also acknowledge the many other ways that exist for self expression falling into the category of the 100 languages of Malaguzzi - we know they are there!
Back to language objects…
I want you to close your eyes for a moment… think of a memory you hold dear… picture it clearly in your minds eye… see all the objects from that memory and write yourself a list (for me it is Grandad’s boat - we have come home from a fishing trip and now it’s time for cleaning the boat - I have a list of words - Grandad, boat, bucket, fish, hose, driveway, trailer, hat, shorts, wheels…) - I could spend an hour writing all the things I can picture but I hoping you are getting my drift.
Events with strong emotional connections are much easier for us to connect with in our memories (this also applies to our negative experiences in life but I hope we are in agreement that these are not the kinds of experiences we are seeking to offer our infants and toddlers).
So imagine what the experience is like for the child who is sitting with an adult whom has a strong connection to the objects they are exploring together.
My favourite language basket at Aroha Nui Montessori contains things we can use with dogs - it contains a collar, leash, tags, dog bowl, dog jacket, veterinarian record book, and show ribbon. These were all objects that belonged to my beloved dachshunds, so when I sit with a child I can not only share the vocabulary associated with each of the objects, I also share my love for living creatures, I have stories to tell about when Jasper won “best puppy” at the only show we went to, or how Morrie and Jasper, with great hilarity, came out second best when they met Trevor the cat (our very own Scarface Claw), or when the chicken popped out of nowhere on our walk to the beach and we had one of those stories - the chicken was running, Jasper was running after the chicken, I was running after Jasper… (by the way the chicken lost a couple of tail feathers but escaped unscathed).
Through these added stories I share as children are developmentally ready (with younger toddlers I share mainly factual and descriptive vocabulary, but older two year olds ask for stories to be repeated and local legends are created), I am offering not only those ever important nouns but truly enriched vocabulary.
Enriched with adjectives, verbs, emotion, delight and humour.
Whether you are creating language baskets at home or for your toddler community - think about how you can add some collections that will be enriching to what your child is absorbing from their everyday life.
Aroha Nui
Carli
Carli and Jasper in 2018 - Jasper passed away in 2022 but lives on in our memories and stories each day.