Step-by-Step Urdu Learning (200 days) اردو نصاب کی ابتدائی ترتیب

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 اردو نصاب کی ابتدائی ترتیب

ابتدائی اردو نصاب کا مقصد خواندگی کی شرح کو بڑھانا ہونا چاہیے-  اور نصاب ترتیب دیتے وقت سیکھنے کے قدرتی عمل کو ذہن میں رکھنا چاہیے- بچے کا ذہن ہر روز اپنے ماحول، غذا اور صحت کے مطابق پرورش پاتا ہے-  اس پر وقت سے پہلے بوجھ ڈال کر اسے آزمانا اور اسکے نتیجے کے مطابق بچے کے ذہین یا کند ذہن ہونے کا فیصلہ کرنا صرف حماقت ہی نہیں بلکہ ظلم ہے

اردو زبان کو سہل  طریقے سے اور بتدریج سیکھنے کے لئے ضروری ہے کہ

 اسباق مرحلہ وار سکھاۓ جائیں - بچوں کو قواعد میں الجھانے کے بجاۓ صرف اور صرف انکے ذخیرہ الفاظ بڑھانے، صحیح تلفظ ادا کرنے اور زبانی جملے بنانے پر توجہ دی جاۓ - لکھائی میں توجہ درست خطوط نگاری اور توڑ جوڑ تک مرکوز رکھی جاۓ - بچے جب ان مراحل سے سلسلہ وار گزرتے ہیں تو ان میں مشکل الفاظ کو پڑھنے اور سمجھنے اور انکے قوائد میں استعمال کی صلاحیت خود بخود تیز ہو جاتی ہے- لہذا ان مراحل کے دوران کسی بھی قسم کے امتحانات سے گریز کیا جاۓ- سکھانے کے عمل کو پندرہ، بیس یا پچیس منٹ سے زیادہ لمبا نہیں کرنا چاہیے اور ایک وقت میں دس سے پندرہ الفاظ ہی سکھانے چاہئیں تاکہ وہی ذہن میں پختہ ہو جائیں-  چند الفاظ سکھا کر اور انکو قوائد میں الجھا کر بچے کی ذہنی صلاحیتیں ختم کرنے اور اردو زبان سے دلچسپی ختم کرنے سے بہتر نہیں کہ بچہ ان طریقوں سے زیادہ سے زیادہ الفاظ سیکھے تاکہ اس میں خود اعتمادی پیدا ہو اور آگے پڑھنے کا شوق بھی-  اس نصاب کے ذریعے بچا ٢٠٠ دنوں میں ایک ہزار سے زیادہ الفاظ سیکھ بھی سکتا ہے اور انکو جملوں میں بھی استعمال کر سکتا ہے

١- حروف تہجی کی پہچان 

٢- حروف تہجی کے حروف کی آدھی اشکال کی پہچان 

٣- حروف کی آدھی شکل کو الف سے ملانا

٤- حروف کی آدھی شکل کو واؤ سے ملانا 

٥- حروف کی آدھی شکل کو 'ی '  سے ملانا 

٦- حروف کی آدھی شکل کو 'ے' سے ملانا 

 ب پ ت ٹ ث ج چ ح خ س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ک گ ل م ن ہ ھ ی

وہ حروف ہیں جنکی آدھی شکل کو الف، واؤ ، ی  اور ے سے ملا کر لکھا جا تا- ہے اور الف، واؤ، ی اور ے حرف کے بعد آتے ہیں

با پا تا ٹا ثا جا چا حا خا سا شا صا ضا

عا غا فا قا کا گا لا ما نا ہا ھا یا

بو پو تو ٹو ثو جو چو حو خو سو شو صو ضو

عو غو فو قو کو لو مو نو ہو ھو یو

بی پی تی ٹی ثی جی چی حی خی سی شی صی ضی

عی غی فی قی کی لی می نی ہی ھی

بے پے تے ٹے ثے جے چے حے خے سے شے صے ضے

عے غے کے لے گے لے مے نے ہے ھے

 د  ڈ  ذ  ر  ڑ  ز  ژ  و - وہ حروف ہیں

جنکو الف، واو، ی، ے کے ساتھ ملا کر نہیں لکھا جا سکتا

کیونکہ انکی آدھی شکل نہیں ہوتی لہذا انہیں الگ الگ لکھا جاتا ہے 

دا   ڈا   ذا   را   ڑا   زا   ژا   وا 

دو  ڈو  ذو  رو  ڑو  زو  ژو 

دی   ڈی   ذی   ری   ڑی   زی   ژی 

دے   ڈے   ذے   رے   ڑے   زے  ژے 

اس مرحلہ پر آگے بڑھنے سے پہلے حروف کے ان مرکبات سے الفاظ بنانے کی مشق کی جاتے تاکہ چھوٹے چھوٹے الفاظ کی ہجے، بناوٹ، تلفظ اور حروف کی ترتیب ذہن میں بیٹھ جائیں- ان چھوٹے چھوٹے الفاظ میں سے کچھ کے زبانی چھوٹے چھوٹے جملے بنا کر ان کا گفتگو میں استعمال سمجھایا جا سکتا ہے- اگر بچے کو ان الفاظ کے معنی سمجھ نہ بھی آئیں تو کوئی بات نہیں، کم از کم بچے اردو پڑھنے سے گھبرائیں گے نہیں-  یہ عمل ' آ ' کے الفاظ سے شروع کرنا چاہیے اور ساتھ ساتھ ہجے بھی - ہجے کا فائدہ یہ ہوتا ہے کہ حروف کی ترتیب اور حرکت سمجھ آجاتی ہے - اگر ابتدائی مراحل میں ہجے پر زور دیا جاتے تو بعد کے سالوں میں اس کی ضرورت نہیں پڑتی اور بچے خود مشکل سے مشکل الفاظ ادا کر سکتے ہیں- اس مرحلے پر ان کی ذہانت کی جانچ پڑتال کر کے انہیں خوفزدہ کرنے اور انکی سیکھنے کی صلاحیتوں کو ضایع کرنے کے بجاۓ انکے ذخیرہ الفاظ کو بڑھانے پر توجہ دینی چاہیے-  اس مرحلے پر بچوں کو قوائد یا الفاظ کی قوائد کے لحاظ سے درجہ بندی بھی نہیں سکھانی چاہیے، جیسے کہ اسم، فعل، صفت وغیرہ - 

 مندرجہ ذیل دو سو مرکبات صرف مرکبات نہیں بلکہ با معنی  الفاظ ہیں - جنھیں زبانی جملوں میں آسانی سے استعمال کیا جا سکتا ہے- ان الفاظ کی سب سے بڑی خصوصیت یہ ہے کہ یہ آدھی اشکال کے بجاۓ حروف کی مکمل شکل سے مل کر بنے ہیں - لہذا انہیں پڑھنا ، ہجے کرنا اور لکھنا بہت آسان ہے- بچے کو صرف زبر، زیر اور پیش کی آواز کو سمجھانا ہوتا ہے- 

پچاس دو حرفی الفاظ

آب   آپ   آج   آڑ   آس  آگ   آل   آم   آن   آہ

اب  اٹ   اڑ  از   اس  اف  اگ  ان

دب  در  دس  دق  دل   دم  دن  دو  دی  دے

ڈٹ   ڈر  ڈس   ڈھ

رب   رت   رج   رچ   رخ   رد   رس   رک   رل   رن   رو   رہ

زچ   زد   زر  زک   زن

وہ

پچاس تین حرفی الفاظ

آدم   آرا  آری  آرے  آڑو   آڑے

 اوٹ   اور  اوس  اول   اون  اوہ

ادا  ادب   ارب   ارم   ازل  اڑا   اڑو  اڑی   اڑے

دار  داغ   دال  دام  دور  دوڑ

ڈال   ڈوب   ڈور  ڈاک   ڈول ذات   ذوق   ذرا

رات   راج   راز  راس   رال   ران   رزق   روز   روک  رو

 زاد   زار   زرد   زور   زوج

  واہ  وزن  ورق  ورم

پچاس چار حرفی الفاظ 

آداب   آرام   آرزو  آزار  آزاد   آواز

اداس   ادرک   اذان   اردو   اردن   اروی   اڑان   اوڑھ

دادو   داڑھ   دراز  درزن   درزی   درود   دروس

دروغ   دودھ   دوری   دوزخ   دوڑا   دوڑو   دوڑی   دوڑے

ڈورا   ڈوری   ڈورے

رازق    راول   راوی    رواج   روزہ   روزے   رواں

زردہ   زردی   زردے

وارو   وارا   واری   وارے    وارث   وارو  واری   ورزش

پانچ حرفی الفاظ

آزادی   آزاری   آزردہ

ادارت  ادارہ   ادارے   ادوار   ارادہ   ارادی   ارادے

 ارواح   اوراق  اوزان   اوزان

دادرس  درازی   دوران    روداد    روزوں   زوروں   وزارت   وزراء

چھ حرفی الفاظ

اداروں  ارادوں  ازدواج    درازوں  دروازہ

 دروازے   رازدار   رواروی    زادراہ   زرداری

 زورآور   زوردار   واردات

سات حرفی الفاظ

آہ وزاری    اردودان   اوزاروں   دل آزاری    دوردراز

رازداری    راہ داری    رواداری    روزہ دار   زورآوری

آٹھ حرفی الفاظ

رواں دواں   رازداروں   روزہ داری   زورآوروں

نو حرفی الفاظ

روزہ داروں

جب بچے یہ دو سو الفاظ یا ان میں سے آدھے بھی پڑھنے کے قابل ہوجائیں تو انہیں مرکبات جوڑ کر الفاظ بنانا سکھائیں ہجے کے ساتھ- جیسے کہ مندرجہ ذیل ایک سو دس الفاظ

آپا    آتا   آتا   آجا   آقا   آنا   آیا   بابا   چاچا   ماما   نانا

تارا   تایا   تالا   جاتا   جانا   جاگا   جایا   مارا   مالا   لاتا   لانا  لایا

چارا   دانا   سارا   کاٹا   کالا   باڑا   جاڑا

آبی  آپی  آتی   آنی   بانی  پانی  لانی  نانی   باری    جاری  ساری

راضی   ماضی   قاضی  چابی   باجی  گاڑی   خالی    بازی  بی بی

موڑو    جوڑو    بولو   تولو   لوگو   جاگو   ڈالو  بولا   ٹوٹا   طوطا

بولی   ٹوپی   بوٹی   روٹی    قومی   فوجی   ٹولی   جوڑی   ٹوٹی   طوطی

آتے   آٹے   آ لے   آگے   کالے   جاگے   مارے   سارے   فاقے    داغے   خاکے

بولے   تولے   ٹوٹے   طوطے   روتے   موٹے   سوتے     لوٹے

ہونا   ہونی   ہونے   ہوتا   ہوتی   ہوتے

ہوگا  ہوگی   راہی   ماہی   شاہی   چاہی

چوہا   آلو  جوتا   جوتے   سولی   کوڑا   کودی   نوری   پوری  چوسا

اس مرحلے پر بچہ تھوڑی سی کوشش  اور بڑوں  کی مدد سے ان الفاظ سے بنے جملے پڑھ سکتا ہے - مثال کے طور پر

-روٹی  آرام سے توڑو -  بابا سے ٹوپی لے لو -  نانی کا طوطا بولا

-نانا کو لوٹا دے دو - اب بی بی کی باری ہے - چاچا کی گاڑی  کالی ہے

-زارا  گاڑی  کی چابی لاتی ہے - ماما  کو پانی لا دو

- دادی کو روٹی دے دو -  تارا  روزہ دار ہے

اس مرحلے پر ہمزہ کا استعمال سکھایا جا سکتا ہے جس سے مزید جملے بنانے میں مدد ملے گی 

آؤ  آئی   آتے   لاؤ  لائی   لاۓ   جاؤ  جائی   جاۓ

پاؤ   پائی   پاۓ   گاۓ   ساۓ   ہاۓ   چاۓ   راۓ

داؤ   ناؤ   روئی   روۓ   سوئی   سوۓ   کوئی

بابا کی راۓ  لو -  دادا گاۓ کے پاۓ لاۓ

نانا اونی ٹوپی اور دو کالے موزے لاۓ

رانی دادی سے دس آڑو اور  نو آم  لائی - ماسی گاۓ کا چارا  لائی

یہاں تک پہنچتے پہنچتے بچہ نہ صرف پانچ سو سے زیادہ الفاظ سیکھ چکا ہوتا ہے بلکہ ان کا جملوں میں استعمال بھی کافی حد تک جان لیتا ہے- اور کیونکہ یہ الفاظ سادہ ہیں لہذا انہیں لکھنے میں بھی کوئی زیادہ دقت نہیں ہوتی - اب اس مرحلے پر بچے کو وہ الفاظ ہجے کے ساتھ سکھائیں جن کے آخر میں آواز رک جاتی ہے یعنی جزم آجاتا ہے-  مثال کے طور پر یہ پچاس الفاظ

کام  نام  شام  بات  سات  بال  جال سال  جاگ  ساگ

بان  شان  ماں  کان   ناک   موج  فوج  بول  گول  قول

موت  نوٹ   کوٹ   شور   مور  غور  خوف  سوچ   موچ

قوم  موم  ماش  خاص  باغ   ہوش   جوش  شاد  باد  یاد

ہار  خار  پار   چار  باب   باپ

خون  خوب   حور  ٹوٹ   کوٹ

بادل  بارش  خارش  چادر  چاول  عورت  صورت  ساون

    طارق  نازک تازہ  چودہ   چوزہ  موزہ  بارہ

 بچے کو اگر آسان اور عام گفتگو میں استعمال میں ہونے والے  بے قاعدہ الفاظ بھی سکھادیں تو بچہ مزید جملے پڑھنے اور سمجھنے کے قابل ہو سکتا ہے

یہ   وہ   میں  ہیں   کہ  لیا   کیا   گیا   لئے  گۓ  کیے

یہ بابا کی ٹوپی اور ان کی گاڑی کی چابی ہے

میں نے  خوب غور کیا اور سوچا -  یہ تم نے کیا کیا

ماما شام کو آۓ اور رات کو گۓ -  اب کیا کیا جاۓ

آپ نے سارا دن کیا کام کیے - اس کا نام کیا ہے

میں نے نانی سے سو روپے کا نوٹ لیا

ابتدائی نصاب کے اس آخری مرحلے میں بچے کو 'ھ ' کے الفاظ سکھاۓ جاسکتے ہیں -  یہ الفاظ کیونکہ پڑھنے اور لکھنے میں قدرے مشکل ہوتے ہیں اس لئے انہیں آرام سے اور  با لترتیب پڑھایا جاۓ تاکہ بچہ 'ھ ' کی آواز کو اچھی طرح سمجھ لے - 

بھ   پھ  تھ  ٹھ   جھ   چھ   دھ   ڈھ   شھ   کھ  گھ 

بھا  پھا  تھا  ٹھا  جھا  چھا  دھا  ڈھا  کھا  گھا 

بھو  پھو  تھو  ٹھو  جھو   چھو   دھو  ڈھو   کھو  گھو 

بھی  پھی  تھی  ٹھی  جھی  چھی  دھی  کھی   گھی 

بھے   پھے   تھے  ٹھے  جھے  چھے  دھے  ڈھے  کھے 

اب ان مرکبات سے الفاظ بناۓ جا سکتے ہیں- مثلا یہ پچاس الفاظ  

ہاتھ   ساتھ   آٹھ   ساٹھ   باٹھ   ٹھاٹھ   

گھاس   بھاگ   تھال   جھاڑ  چھا چھ   کھاد 

بوجھ   کھوج   پھول  دھول  ڈھول   جھول  جھوٹ 

ہاتھی   ساتھی   ماتھا   ساجھا   گھوڑا   جھاڑو 

کھودا  کھودی  کھودے  بھابھی   بھائی   چھائی 

دھوبی   گوبھی    تھوڑا   تھوڑا   تھوڑے   کھڑکی 

پھل   کھل   دھل   گھل   ڈھل   تھک  جھک   ڈھک   

بھر  پھر  گھر  کھڑ  دھڑ  ڈھب  

گھوڑا  گھاس  کھاتا ہے -  باغ میں پھول ہیں 

کھڑکی  کھولو -  بھابھی کے ہاتھ میں تھالی ہے - 

کالی گھٹا چھائی ہے-  بھائی  نے جھولا جھولا- 

آپی کے ہاتھ میں جھاڑو ہے - تھوڑی سی گوبھی اور دو آلو لے لو- 

میں تھک گیا -  یہ نانی کا گھر ہے 

The Impacts of English Literature in Pakistan

99.9% children who are attending any kind of schooling are ESL - English is a secondary language for them.
Have the educationists and parents given a thought how incoherent is the inclusion of English literature in English curriculum when children of age level 6 to 14 are still in the process of learning language (unfortunately, through grammar).

What does English literature curriculum in Pakistan consists of?
Novels and plays of William Shakespeare, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens mostly.
Questions and answers, RTC (reference to context), multiple choice, sequence of events, etc.

Who were these people?
The classic authors of their era from Europe - Oxford is cashing in their names through Pakistani parents.

Which era they belonged to?
William Shakespeare  1564 - 1616
Charles Dickens 1812 - 1870

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1859 - 1930

Even the latest one, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, died long before the man stepped on the moon, long before Bill Gates introduced Windows for common people, even long before when Japan was not bombed by America. After the introduction of Windows, the author-ship has changed from writing books to writing computer programs. 

What can a 5th Grader (age 10 or 11) learn from Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" or Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and "Mid-summer Night Dream"?

Great Expectations - a novel about a child who is raised by her brutal elder sister, he falls in love with a girl, he becomes rich for her and at the end his great expectations from life are doomed and he decides to spend an ordinary life.

A Mid-summer Night Dream - a play themed on feminism and love, fairies controlling lovers, comedy, etc.

Twelfth Night - a play based on romance and comedy.

What can 4th, 5th and 6th Graders (age 10 to 12) learn from Sherlock Holmes' adventures in a book form?


The Impacts of English Literature in Pakistan

1. The novels and plays were written for adults, not children.  So, basically, they shouldn't be the part of the curriculum till the child is considered an adult.
2. A novel is an idea, a plot, a theme - it is not grammar or language.  So, it should not be regarded as a resource for building vocabulary and absorbing language for children.  What is the purpose of including English literature in the syllabus - language?  Children in Pakistan cannot, because this is not the right age to impose philosophy of life on their little minds - the philosophy of the dealings of adults of an ancient non-Pakistani environment.
3. English literature diminishes students' creative skills and leaves them wandering into dark ages.  They have to read chapters over and over to grasp the sequence of events and understand the meaning of difficult words.
4. Children lose 90% of interest in the novel or play when they have to stop at every line and tell the meaning of difficult words and describe in their own words what is going on in the story - the story which is non-relevant to their culture, language and environment they are growing in.  The 10% interest remains because they know that nobody cares about their losing interest in the language and they have to pass the test anyway, so they try to memorize.  Students are not familiar with English names and places.  They pronounce them wrong and mostly can't figure out if it is a name of a place or a person.
5. Most English novels are based on romance, love and social injustices of the era which is not in relevance anymore, not even in Europe as I believe.  Children in Pakistan are still not allowed to talk about love, romance, marriage openly.  I wonder why parents allow them to be indulged into a book which discusses all these matters in English.  I think parents should at least once read these novels themselves and decide if they allow their children to read it or not.  
6. These novels are all fiction - a plot set by and characters created by a person who lived 100 or 200 years ago when the world was not attractive as it is now for children.  The theme of all these novels or plays are more philosophical than scientific.  The emotions, the phrases, the dialogues, the moral lessons, the enigmatic endings, all are inexplicable.  And I ask how many adults in Pakistan would dare to read Shakespeare and Charles Dickens for improving their language skills.
7.  Reference to Context (RTC) has proven to be the worst learning technique of all - a child has to read a novel or play over and over several times so he/she can find out who said what to whom for what reason.  This is an ill-treatment, a mental torture, thus, classrooms become torture cells for them.
8. Character sketch, another successful technique to destroy children's intellectual capabilities - Imagine a 10 to 14 year old child actually memorizing the novel more than 100 pages, from the beginning till end, just to figure out the positive and negative characteristics of so many characters.  Can adults do that?
9. Children are pressurized to do all the work in their own words, the character sketch, the RTC, the word meanings, the setting, the plot, etc.  Just give it a thought that how much vocabulary an ESL child in a non-linguistic environment (an environment where no language is given due importance) would have build by the age of 14 so he/she can write something to impress his/her teachers and parents?  Otherwise, they keep losing points and are considered non-educational buddies.
10. The assessments are given either every month or at the end of semester which is usually after 2 and half month.  The new trend of assessment demands students to be alert and show progress on daily basis.  Students are now being assessed on their classwork, homework and projects.  These marks are included in the report cards.  Those who have introduced this degenerating idea must evaluate their own daily performance comparing to children.  A child is expected to perform 100% on daily basis, behave 100% on daily basis and yet grow as an obedient person - in a society where children don't witness even .001 % adults behaving and performing even 10% of what they expect from their children.  This is the worst type of slavery imposed on children by their teachers and adults.
11. Consequently, English literature is helping children learning nothing.  It is deteriorating their learning skills and causing tiredness and dullness.   

Even if English literature is not taught the way it is being taught currently, what difference would it make?  How different would that way be from the current way?  Even then, will children be given time to understand whatever the idea is behind that novel or play?   Why do Pakistani children have to memorize the biographies of English writers at this young age?  Are Pakistani children aware of the biographies of their own parents?

Children in Pakistan are oppressed equally by school administrations and parents.  Cruel are those who do not raise their voice against this worst kind of oppression that is launched against the children of Pakistan.

Early Literacy

How do you prepare the child for early literacy in a Montessori prepared environment?

"The only language men ever speak perfectly is the one they learn in babyhood, when no one can teach them anything!"

Maria Montessori

Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write - the ability to read and write a particular language or two or even more.  Preparing a child for early literacy simply means to facilitate the environment with language-based activities which can lead him/her to the gradual process recognition of letter, their formation, forming of simple words and construction of sentences.

"There are three major aspects of literacy; 1) the complex interrelationship of listening, talking, reading and writing.  2) the roots of literacy located in a general symbolizing development in infancy, and 3) the function fhte symbolizing power in the creation of meanings."  

Language and Literacy in the Early Years by Marian R. Whitehead

Language is a system of communication which is composed of set of rules called 'grammar'.  Language, at initial stages, is not learned by reading, writing or through grammar.  It is absorbed by listening to sounds and voices in the immediate surroundings.

"Listening, talking reading and writing are the four modes of language".

Language and Literacy in the Early Years by Marian R. Whitehead

So, for preparing the child for early literacy is the teacher/facilitator's ability to create an environment and design the syllabus for initiating the process of, 

- recognition of the beginning sound of the words spoken

- absorbing the vocabulary, formation of sentences and accent from the surroundings

- developing an ability to differentiate among words as names and actions

- listening to stories and nursery rhymes for the development of cognitive faculty

- learning to express his/her own feelings and share his/her ideas and experiences

- developing and refining the fine motor skills as a requisite for pre-writing faculty

Any flaw in form of lacking any of the above processes may cause troubles in streamlining child's further progress in the area of literacy.  I would propose for myself to maintain a record of those children who are  passing through the stage of preparation for Early Literacy.

"Writing and reading require instruction of some sort and require some degree of effort by the child.  She must exert herself on the components of our language to build it for herself.  She must mount each of these steps:

Step 1: Spoken Language: create an internal dictionary and practice using the words in it

Step 2: Phonetic Awareness: learn the sounds within words and the sound/symbols of our alphabet

Step 3: Creating Words (Writing): learn to put those sounds/symbols together to make words 

Step 4: Reading: Learn to decode those sounds/symbols to decipher words."

Literacy Overview: Language Development in Young Child

http://www.maitrilearning.com/langdevelop.html

Aims and Objectives

Aim: Preparing children for early literacy through language material

Objectives:

- to develop listening skills

- to build vocabulary and language skills

- to refine pronunciation 

- to develop interest in books

- to develop memory skills

- to develop and refine fine motor skills

Indirect Objectives:

- Literacy is associated to all other areas of learning; namely, biology, zoology, astrology, botany, history, geography, geology, geometry, etc.  It is literacy which enables a child to comprehend the concepts and ideas beyond their imagination and helps understanding the world and the relation between it's elements.  I remember the saying of one of my mentor, "All English is hidden in letters A to Z, all Urdu is hidden in letters Alif to Ya and all Mathematics is hidden in number 1 to 9."  So, preparing a child for literacy is to give him/her a confidence to explore the world on his/her own and develop feelings of ownership to the world.

Literacy in Pakistan

As the question is being asked in English, I presume that it requires to respond in English and that the term 'literacy' has also been used for English language only.

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, as well as the main source of communication among its citizens and the neighboring countries.  Despite of parents' top most concern of sending their children to school for learning English as a language and of the fact that most subjects from pre-school to higher level are taught in English; English still stands at the third place following the native languages after Urdu.  The reason for that is quite obvious, English is being taught mostly by grammar and is not spoken at homes and on streets.  Therefore, the children by the age of 2.5 are well-acquainted with either Urdu or their native language and take time in learning English and that is if they are admitted to a pre-school system at an early age.

The current educational system and the general attitude towards English that is it the only way towards progress, prosperity and honour, both have coordinated to crush creativity and learning behaviour in children.  That has resulted in lacking reading, writing and speaking skills in both languages.

Planning

Language Skills:
Language skills are the base of literacy.  Children absorb words and sentences form their environment.  They even reflect accent, expressions and delivery of the adults in their immediate surroundings.  It is the job of facilitator to constantly replenish the environment with felicitous methods and fresh ideas.

The first interaction between the child and the facilitator is always verbal on mostly one-on-one basis, therefore, the facilitator must be careful about his/her facial expressions, body language, the voice tone and the choice of words.  A handshake with a smile on face followed by a gentle greeting and an offer to visit any of the attractions in the environment is a good stimulation for a child decide to stay there.  The process of listening and absorbing words, sentences, grammar and accent begins from here.  The congeniality usually leads to little question, usually, 'what is this?' and the facilitator keeps replying by naming the objects, 'This is a horse, this is magnifying glass, this is globe', etc.  'Responding to children's queries at right moments helps building a strong relation with them.

Preschoolers in Pakistan come from a non-English background, bearing that in my mind, the first thing that should be focused on before expecting them to respond in English is to build their vocabulary and enrich it with adjectives and prepositional phrases.  Flash cards, book corner and outdoor activity time provide children with plenty of opportunities to learn new words and understand their link to the environment.  For example, while presenting them the flash cards of sea animals and using the method of three period lessons, the child can learn the name of those animals and can visualize the difference between their physical structures.  Children pick new words and repeat them.  

Listening Skills:
The child does not start reading but from the moment when his/her parents or grandparents read stories, which are mostly fictional or when they share their experiences.  So, when the child enters the Montessori environment, he/she is often familiar with imagining characters and events.  What makes the Montessori environment different from home in regards to 'reading' is the book corner, where books are kept to serve certain purposes, such as, to invigorate child's interest in listening to stories, to introduce new thoughts, to build new vocabulary, to develop cognitive thinking, etc. 

'Listening is imperative for speaking just as reading is indispensable for writing.'  If I prepare the environment for supporting literacy on the basis of this principal of mine, the book corner will always be the first place to occupy my attention.  Dr. Suess's 'The Cat in The Hat', 'One Fist Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish', 'If I ran the Zoo' and 'Yertle the Turltle' will be my first choice as these books attract children because of their colourful pictures, rhyming in short sentences and strange characters.  Then the books about animals, places, juvenile picture dictionary, space, solar-system, pop-up books, literature books of Tom Sawyer, Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travel and many more - the purpose of a vast collection of books is to develop the child's listening skills and to refine his/her visualization of the text and pictures.

Literature:
While choosing the juvenile literature, this is important to select the books which enhance child's imagination of places and characters in the novel.  For example, the novel of Robinson Crusoe tells the story of a man who accidentally landed on an island and learned to survived on his own for many years.  The traveling of Ibn-Batuta describes his means of transportation from Morocco to China.  Dr. Suess's books although contain concepts and characters that are beyond children's imagination, but children are yield to listening as they stories are described in short sentences, easy words and in rhyming.  Most children enjoy rhyming rather than asking why Thing A and Thing B do things opposite the words said to them or how it is possible for the Little Who community to live on a speck and how a tiny speck serve as a planet to them.

Children's movies and educational videos also has strong influence on children's cognitive and intellectual development and to refine their senses.  The ones I chose for my daughter when she was only six months old were Barney, Lamb Chop, Between the Loins and Sesame Street.

The facilitator should avoid to prolong explanation to keep children from losing interest in books and listening to stories.  However, he/she should describe the things/objects in a novel or a story in context to geography, biology, history, mathematics and other areas of knowledge.

Phonics
I have developed a philosophy of my own for teaching phonics.  It is that the world began with objects, those objects were given names, those names had the beginning sound, later on the middle and ending sounds were also being recognized as the part of the pronunciation, then letters were developed to give those a name.  So, I introduce sound through objects, starting with the beginning sound.  For example, show the child a real object or it's miniature or the picture and say the beginning sound, 'cu cu cup - this is a cup or f, f, flower - this is a flower'. Sometimes the words and sentences are spoken so speedily that the children cannot distinguish among their sound and repeat them all wrong.  Like one of my nephews, when he was three plus called Pepsi - tepsi and Taxi - tapsi.  So, what I do is to focus on the beginning sound of the objects way before introducing letters/alphabets to the children.  
I consider this the first and the most important step towards literacy.

Some early childhood educational institutions usually introduce letters by sound instead of the names given to them.  That confuses the child.  Most children have a hard time for years to figure out the beginning sound of 'c' as 's' and they pronounce cycle, celebrate, certain with a 'k' sound.  A four year old girl, Rahmah, read 'saw' with sound - sa e wa - and failed to pronounce it as 'saw'.  Another child in Fourth Grade, Hassan, still pronounces all words beginning with 'c' as 'k'.
Similarly, children have problem while reading words merely through phonics - cat, pan, bag, wax, was, car, far - food, foot - ink, ice, island - gum, gem, etc.

Memory
Developing memory skills is also the part of Literacy curriculum which the facilitator must focus on.  The simple procedure for that is to recall child's recent memory rather than reminding him/her what happened a day or a week ago.  Three period lessons is the best strategy to start with and that can be applied not only during proper three-period lesson presentations but also when the child is busy at the farm table or colour table or nature table, or even having fun with 'I Spy Box'.  The technique is to not to let the child feel that he/she is going through a process of learning.

Outdoor activities and circle time discussions do help in sharpening memory.  A couple of children recall the incidents related to the topic or activity and share it with their fellows, that encourages other children to share their personal experiences.  This practice aids children in developing sequences and link of events for writing debates, speeches, essays and stories.

Grammar
Grammar is a quintessential part of the early childhood curriculum and must be acknowledged in its due regards.  As it has been mentioned earlier that listening is the key to speaking, the child repeats what he/she hears and listens to.  The facilitators and adults in a Montessori should communicate with children in short sentences, should use easy-to-understand vocabulary along with verbal expressions at a steady pace.  they should try to speak clear and in a moderate voice during presentations and class discussions.  The facilitator can bring out their own planning to introduce grammar conveniently.  For ESL children,few words and phrases can be selected on weekly basis and reinforce them throughout the week through different activities.  Children at this age have no idea of tenses, the action word they learn, they speak it for all tenses.  Instead of telling them that they are incorrect, just repeat the sentence in correct tense few times.  



Language Material


Pink Series, Blue Series and Green Box are the three material for developing reading in three levels in a Montessori system. 

Pink series is a set of 5 boxes and five books which consist of the words mostly in a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern.  It is an introduction to words and sentences with easy three letter phonic words, such as, cup, bus, mat, bat, kid, lid, mop, top, etc.  The sight words such as 'an' , 'the' , 'is' , 'you' are also introduced at this level to form sentences.

Blue series is a set of 5 boxes and five books which mostly comprised of four, five or six letter words with blends, such as, fr, cr, cl, br, ck, nk, ng, etc.  More sight words, such as, have, were, was, are, are introduced to form sentences.

Theme box is a set of objects that represent a specific topic, such as, farm animals, grocery, sports, etc.

Teacher/facilitators make their own vocabulary cards for grammar, all colour coded, to distinguish among noun, verb, adjective, preposition and conjunction, for singular and plural activity and other language-based games. 



Writing 

Learning to draw strokes to develop and refine pre-writing skills are an essential part of early literacy.  The child begins with scribbling on the scribbling board, slate or papers.  

Pincer grip, flexibility of wrist and hand, eye-hand coordination and visual discrimination are the basic skills which need to be refined before giving the child any writing task.  Sandpaper letters and Inset for Design serve to attain these requirements.  

Sandpaper letters is the material which builds muscular impression of letters for writing by tracing them with index and middle finger.  Inset for Design is the material which is designed aids the flexibility of wrist and hand and firm pincer grip.  The child traces around the shapes - triangle, rectangle, square, circle, trapezium, pentagon, oval, ellipse, curve-linear triangle and quaterfoil -  and learns to draw the strokes that are necessary for writing letters.

Large Movable Alphabets is a material which consists of a wooden box with compartments for 3-d letters, consonants in red and vowels in blue.  This is the best material for initiating the process of visualizing the shapes of letters and to put them together to make words even before the child learns how to write them.  The material contains more than one piece of each letter, so even if the child does not identify them by their name or sound, he/she can explore the material by matching them, putting them in line, finding similarities between b and d, p and q and n and u.  At this point, the child can gradually grasp the sequence of letters, their sounds and making of three letter phonic words.

There are many exercises in the area of 'Activities of Everyday Living' and 'Sensorial' which help refining child's fine motor skills for writing, such as, cutting with a scissor, threading and sewing, dressing frames, knobbed cylinders, broad stairs, etc.

The child who passes through these initial undertakings would certainly develop skills that will help him/her reading and writing independently.

Early Literacy in Montessori

Mention three objectives of introducing early literacy in a Montessori.
     1) to develop language skills and build vocabulary
     2) to introduce phonics
     3) to develop writing skills

Name the materials for early literacy in a Montessori environment.
     1) Pink Series
     2) Blue Series

What is the pre-requisite for Blue series?
     The child has developed the ability to read words, phrases and sentences in the Pink series.

Mention the elements of Blue series for expanding vocabulary and reading skills.
     1) double blends (og, um, an, at, in, ut, etc.)
     2) triple blends (est, ulb, lam, usk, esk, ond, ilk, ent, etc)
     3) double consonants (ll, ss, ck, nt, ng, etc)
     4) consonant digraphs (ng, nk, sh, ch, th) - Blue Box 4
     5) consonant trigraph (tch, sph)
     6) 'schwa' vowel

What are graphemes and phonemes divided into?
    Graphemes are divided into 21 consonants and 5 vowels while phonemes are divided into 24 consonants
    and 20 vowels.

Define schwa vowel with examples.
     Schwa vowel is the part of phonemes and is referred to the vowel sound that is not pronounced.  For example, lemon, air, mosque, fatigue, eight, etc.

Mention the three attributes/skills needed for developing writing.
     1) Pincer Grip
     2) Flexibility of wrist and hand
     3) Eye-hand coordination
     4) Visual discrimination

Name the two elements for writing in a Montessori system of education.
     1) Motor Mechanism (Insets for Design and Sandpaper Letters)
     2) The Intellect (Large Movable Alphabets)

Mention three direct objectives of 'Inset for Design' and 'Sandpaper Letters'.
Insets for Design
     1) develop kinaesthetic sense of the geometric shapes for writing purpose (circle, ellipse, oval, curve-linear, triangle, quaterfoil, pentagon, triangle, square, rectangle, parallelogram)
     2) develop control of writing strokes
     3) develop eye-hand coordination
Sandpaper Letters
     1) develop control of fingers for writing letters
     2) facilitate lightness of touch
     3) develop kinaesthetic memory and visualize the formation of letter

Creativity in Montessori

What are the two main areas/categories of creativity in a Montessori environment?
     Visual Arts (Arts and Crafts) and Performing Arts (Music and Movement)

What are the three preliminary stages of creativity (artistic development)?
     1) The Scribbling Stage (1 - 4 years)
     2) The Pre-Schematic Stage (4 - 7 years)
     3) The Schematic Stage (7 - 9 years)

Mention some themed role-play in performing arts.
     Hospital, Supermarket, Post Office, Library, Boat, Bus Stop

Mention some themed role-play of home-corner.
     Kitchen, Telephone, Ironing Board and Iron, Dolls

What is pattern of images called according to Mandler?
     Image Scheme

What is pattern of actions called according to Bruce and Meggit?
     Action Scheme

Mention three Do's and Don'ts for supporting creativity in a Montessori environment.
     1) Make sure all art material is safe and accessible for the child
     2) Make sure the material is open-ended
     3) Make sure that the due freedom of choice is granted to the child
     4) Don't plan too many perspectives
     5) Don't follow a rigid time table or time limit
     6) Don't criticize or correct the child

Enlist at least four characteristics of a prepared Montessori environment for supporting creativity.
     1) Order (external) (and beauty)
     2) Safety
     3) Child-sized
     4) Isolation of skills

Which material is designed to develop creative and writing skills?
     Insets for Design

List down briefly Maria Montessori's views about creativity in a Montessori environment.
    - Beauty is not a Divine inspiration.  It is found in nature and provides the greatest source for stimulating
       the child towards creativity.
    - The child should be surrounded by real objects and famous art work in the art area
    - The child's art work should not be hanged for display or competition
    - Creativity is directly linked with problem solving skills.
    - Creativity encompasses all areas of development (intellectual, artistic, emotional, physical, cognitive)
    - Fantasy should not be the part of Montessori environment.
    - Strong imagination is developed through child's first hand experience of the world in his/her surroundings.

How is Piaget's theory of assimilation and accommodation (cognitive development) is related to creativity?
     Assimilation is the process of receiving information from the world and Accommodation is the internal process of accommodating/adjusting the information for necessary adaptation.  The child in a the Montessori prepared environment absorbs (assimilates) literal, practical and linguistic data and is given freedom and has been provided with a huge variety of material to apply (accommodate) it in his/her own unique way particularly in the art area.

Early Numeracy and Arithmetic - Math Material

"The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness, which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in a special degree."

Aristotle

Outline first five activities and explain the reason for the sequence in which they are presented.

1 - Large Number Rods (fixed quantity)

2 - Sandpaper Numerals (fixed symbols)

3 - Large Number Rods and Cards (fixed quantity and loose symbols)

4 - Spindle Box (fixed symbols and loose quantity)

5 - Cards and Counters (loose quantity and loose symbols)

are the five activities in the sequence of their presentations.

The sequence of these introductory activities for numbers 1 to 10 starts with, 

1- oral counting of numerals 1 to 10 and visualizing the length on large number rods, 

2- recognizing the numerals 1 to 10 on sandpaper numerals

3- corresponding loose symbols to fixed quantity on large number rods and cards

4- corresponding loose quantity to fixed symbols on spindle box

5- corresponding loose quantity to loose symbols on cards and counters

Large number rods activity is an introduction of numbers 1 to 10 in form of fixed quantities.  It helps in visualizing the variation in length and colour coded segments of equal length.  The child develops a sense of order of numbers from shortest to largest or from largest to shortest.  While counting the segments orally, he/she understands that one is the smallest number, 2 is greater than 1 and 10 is the largest number.  The control of error is there to put rods in sequence to build a stair.  

Sandpaper numerals are the introduction of oral numbers 1 to 10 in their particular formation.  Through large number rods, the child has already developed the sense that the numerals will begin with 1 as first and the smallest number and ten will come in the last.  Through this activity, the child learns the recognition of numerals and is prepared for writing by tracing them with the index and middle finger.

After the first two activities, the child is able to recognize the numerals and understands their sequence from smaller to greater.  

The third activity, Larges number rods and cards, reinforces the concepts of numerals by their correspondence to the correct number rod, randomly and then in sequence.  In large number rods with cards, the child places the cards (symbol) to the rods (fixed quantity).

Spindle box consists of a wooden box with numerals 0 to 9 written on the back (fixed symbols) and 45 spindles (loose quantity).  The child compares the loose quantity which is spindle with fixed symbols which is numerals.  In addition to pairing numerals with spindles, it introduces the concept of zero for nothing or empty.

Cards and Counters in sequence to learning numerals, reinforces the child’s ability to recognize, count and compare the loose quantities with loose numerals.  This activity can be an introduction to the concepts of ‘more and less’ and ‘even and odd’.

Outline the sequence of exercises and pre-requisite in golden bead material.

1 - Teaching the names of the quantities

      Golden beads for one unit, one ten, one hundred and one thousand

      Three-period lesson

2 - counting through quantities

      Golden beads for 9 units, 9 tens, 9 hundreds and 1 thousand

      Starting from units, counting down to 9 and adding one more to start the column of 10.

      Starting with tens, counting down to 9 tens (90) and adding one more ten to start the 

      coloumn of 100.

      Starting with hundreds, counting down to 9 hundreds and adding one more hundred to start 

      the column of 1000.

3 - Bead practice

      The bank of golden beads

4 - Naming the symbols - Large Number Cards 

      A set of cards showing 1 unit, 1 ten, 1 hundred and 1 thousand

      Three period lesson

      

5 - Counting through with symbols

      Set of Large Number Cards - all quantities 1 to 9 - new column starts at 10

6 - Practice with the symbols

      Set of Large Number Cards - overlapping cards to make large figures

      Reinforcement of Ex # 4 and 5

7 - Combining quantity (beads) with symbols (LNC)

      Set of Large Number Cards and quantity of Golden Beads (the bank)

      Collect beads and then corresponding LNC

      Reinforcement of Ex # 3 and 6

8 - Combining quantity and symbols in sequence - Bird's Eye View

      Golden Beads - all quantities in 45 pieces and set of LNC

      Stacking up number cards in hierarchical order and then the corresponding beads

      Reinforcement of Ex # 2 and 5

9 - Changing unlimited quantities and carrying over

      A bead bank, set of Large Number Cards

      Introducing the idea of carrying over when beads are add up to 10 or higher number.

Pre-requisite for golden bead material, 

- The child can count and can recognize numbers 1 to 10.

- He/she has the ability of corresponding between symbols and quantities.

List down the exercises for early addition and early subtraction.

Early Addition Activities

1 - Snake Game (Initial and Complex)

     2 sets of short bead stairs, box of 10 x 10 golden beads, bead marker

     Reinforcement of the concept of conservation and reversibility

     Introducing adding numbers to 10

     

     5 sets of short bead stai, box of 25 x 10 golden beads, 1 black and 1 white stair, marker

     Introducing carrying a number over

2 - Addition with Small Number Rods

     2 sets of small number rods

     Practicing addition

     

3 - Addition with the Short Bead Stair

     Short bead stair, marker, exercise cards/sheet, pen/pencil

     recording addition and writing answers

4 - Addition Strip Board

     Strip board, 2 sets of number cards, stage 3 card, pen/pencil

     Counting up to 18

Early Subtraction Activities 

1 - Subtraction with Short Bead Stair

      Short bead stair, marker, exercise cards

      recording subtraction

2 - Subtraction Strip Board

      Subtraction strip board, a blank strip, set of number strips 1 to 9, exercise card, pencil

      Subtraction up to 18

Outline Seguin Board exercises in sequence.

1 - Seguin Board A - Exercise 1 - naming quantities 11 - 19

      Golden beads - 9 tens, short bead stair

      The child builds short bead stair, take 1 ten and unit from short bead stair

       Three period lesson

2 - Seguin Board A - Exercise 2 - naming symbols 11 - 19

      Seguin Board A with numeral cards

      Introducing written symbols from 11 - 19

      Combining quantity and symbols  

      

3 - Seguin Board A - Exercise 3 - combining quantities and symbols 11 - 19

      Seguin Board A and numeral cards, box of 9 tens, box of short bead stair

      Building numbers with beads and then on board.

      

      

4 - Seguin Board B - Exercise 1 - naming quantities 10 - 90 

     Golden beads - 45 x 10s

      Introducing numbers 10 - 90 - ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety

      Three period lesson

      

5 - Seguin Board B - Exercise 2 - naming symbols 10 - 90

      Seguin Board B

      Introducing written symbols from 10 - 90

6 - Seguin Board B - Exercise 3 - combining quantities and symbols 10 - 90

      Seguin Board B, Golden Beads 45 x tens
      Reinforcement of numerals 20 to 90
   

7 - Seguin Board B - Exercise 4 - combining quantities and symbols 10 - 99

      Seguin Board B, Golden Beads 9 x tens and 9 x units
      Using quantities and symbols to experience numbers 10 - 99