The metal inset work in the Children’s House Community is made up of ten blue, 2-D shapes inset into pink frames. They can be thought of as “stencils.”
The insets include a rectangle, square, triangle, trapezoid, pentagon, ellipse, oval, circle, quatrefoil and a curvilinear triangle. The first five shapes are “straight-lined” and the last five are “curved-line,” which give practice using the lines and movements involved in forming every letter of our alphabet! (Children practice with counter-clockwise movements, as well as downward and left-to-right strokes.) A small knob on the blue inset allows children to practice their pincer grasp which is essential for developing the fine motor movement for pencil control.
The metal insets are the first direct preparation for handwriting, and, for young students transitioning into the classroom, is the first work they do that involves holding a pencil! It also indirectly introduces geometry, develops hand-eye coordination, control of movement, and building precision, accuracy and aesthetic sense. It also aids in developing concentration.
Children first place a piece of paper under the pink frame and set the blue inset off to the side. They hold the frame down, then trace around the inside of the frame, beginning from the top left point. Once they have traced around the inside of the frame, they set it aside, then place the blue inset on top of their traced shape. Using a different colored pencil, they trace around the inset. The goal is to trace without lifting up the pencil. Once the child completes the shape, he chooses a third color to fill the shape.
To successfully trace the inset and its frame, the child will need to develop the coordination muscles to hold the pencil correctly, use a touch that is light and with even pressure, all while controlling the frame or inset with their non-dominant hand.
Children are fascinated by their ability to reproduce the shapes they see in the metal inset and its frame, and this will soon lead to the ability to reproduce letters and words! There are many extensions that involve combining multiple shapes and colors as well as pin punching, which children love.
The metal inset work is a brilliant activity that prepares the child for writing, for rather than tediously making repetitious vertical strokes on a traditional handwriting worksheet, the same muscular memory is built through an activity that is both fascinating and enjoyable to the child! The child is also able to express himself through a variety of designs and colors, “freely and in any way that he wishes.” (The Montessori Method.)
Dr Montessori said of the metal insect activity, “The security which our children attain is likened to that of children in our ordinary third elementary grade. When for the first time they take a pen or a pencil in hand, they know how to manage it almost as well as a person who has written for a long time. I do not believe that any means can be found which will so successfully and, in so short a space of time, establish this mastery. And with it all, the child is happy and diverted.” She even goes so far as to call traditional letter tracing and tedious repetition “barren and miserable”!
Indeed, what child would not rather make beautiful, multi-colored shapes and designs rather than fill out worksheets?
