Lecture 9 on Language, 22nd International Montessori Training Course, London, 16 February 1937

In light of the fact that Maria Montessori had just had her two major books on the Psico approach published (Psicogeometria and Psicoaritmetica) and also completed her manuscript on a psychological approach to language (Psicogrammatica), this particular lecture on language is a powerful testimony to the psychological workings and how interest in language is sparked and developed. Montessori includes samples from very young children (1-2 years) to children of six to seven years, who traditionally were viewed as being “ready” to engage with language at an abstract level, via reading and writing. Again, in this lecture Montessori shows that it is the interest in letters, and hence writing, that precedes reading.