The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 79
The Teaching of Writing and Reading
The Teaching of Writing and Reading.
The methods of teaching writing and reading would, of themselves, stamp the Montessori system as far in advance of anything of a similar kind yet introduced into our schools. Notwithstanding the difficulties of our language, I am sure the Montessori method in these two subjects alone will bring about a wonderful change in our schools. The results obtained by the partial introduction of the method into Blackfriars Practice School in page 35 August of last year amply prove this. Children learnt to write with amazing rapidity and eagerness, and manifested a hunger for reading that was truly surprising. Everyone knows the drudgery of teaching children to read and write by the older systems. Sugar-coat it as we would, the drudgery was there. To get over this as the children in the Montessori schools get over it sounds like a fairy tale. Owing to the difficulties of our language we may not accomplish such miracles as those I saw in the schools in Rome, where 5-year old children learnt to write and to read in the space of four or five weeks; but the experiment at Blackfriars shows that the results, if not quite so magical as those of Rome, are nevertheless sufficiently marvellous to warrant the introduction of the Montessori method into all schools.