Montessori Language: An Honest Review of the Waseca Reading Program
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The Waseca Reading Program is a systematic and sequential approach to introducing the phonetic and non-phonetic elements used in the English language. In this post, you will find out more about the Waseca reading program, see it in action in our home and get an honest review of our experience with it.
What is the Waseca reading program?
The Waseca reading program is a well-structured, self-directed reading program that is now used in many Montessori classrooms around the world. The program consists of nine colour-coded reading levels, each following a four-step approach that takes children from spelling words using the moveable alphabet to reading words with the same phonetic principle to writing them out (if they are ready).
The reading program classifies each of the nine levels as follows:
Red– basic three-letter CVC words isolating each short vowel sound
Orange– blends grouped with common letters to make beginning blends, ending blends, then both
Yellow– consonant digraphs like sh, ch, th, tch
Green– endings with –ng and –nk
Aqua– silent e rule as applied to each vowel
Blue– different phonograms used to make each long vowel sounds
Purple– various dipthongs such as r-controlled, oy, ow, aw
Pink– silent letters
Gold– less common rules such as soft consonants
At each level, the child is required to go through the following four steps:
spell out word depicted on the picture card with the moveable alphabet
match label cards to words spelt by decoding phonetic information
(self-correction of their own spelling often happens here too)read words that follow the same phonetic principle in a booklet
trace and write words
When should I introduce the Waseca reading program to my child?
A child should be very familiar with all the letter sounds using sandpaper letters and language objects. Next, they are introduced to the moveable alphabet. Once they have begun to blend sounds together, they can begin using the Waseca reading program.
For an overview and guide to the Montessori approach to language development, click here.
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Our experience with the Waseca reading program
We had heard about this program and seen it on social media for some time but never purchased the program until recently. Ryaan (age four) suddenly seemed to show an interest in blending sounds together and sounding out words he would see in his environment. He attends a Montessori-inspired nursery and came home with a book to read, and that’s when I realised he was ready.
We decided to purchase the digital version of the red set and see how he reacted. I didn’t want to invest in the entire set if he wasn’t going to be doing much reading at home with me but preferred to do it in school instead. It turns out that he was so interested in reading that he liked to work on it at home after school and on weekends too.
We started with the red set, where Ryaan had to spell out words using the moveable alphabet, and proceed with all the steps outlined above. The red set focuses on CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, which I realised he was already quite familiar with at that stage. As a result, he got through the red set pretty quickly. Even though he could already blend sounds and read CVC words when we started, the practice of going through all seven boxes in the red set made him much more confident with blending sounds.
Watch the short video below to see Ryaan using a small section of the Waseca reading program.
Photo credit (left): Waseca Biomes
I have loved using this reading program with Ryaan so much, and he loves working with it too. I will say, though, that we have never used any other programs, so we don’t really have anything to compare it to.
I purchased the digital version and then printed, laminated and cut everything at home. If you don’t have the time or patience to do so, then the physical version might be a better option. I would have loved the physical version, including the cute little colour-coded drawers they come in, but unfortunately, space is an issue for us at home, so we stuck with the digital version. We only keep out the set that Ryaan is currently working with, and the rest stay inside for storage so that it doesn’t occupy as much space on our shelves.
The set Ryaan is working on sits on our shelf in a photo storage box. Six of the levels have individual boxes, while the last set is just stored in a zip lock pouch since the container only holds six boxes. It doesn’t look anywhere near as pretty as the drawers from Waseca Biomes, but it does the job.
How we display each colour-coded level of the Waseca reading program
We have found this program very easy to follow, and it has really helped Ryaan gain confidence with his reading. We are currently nearly done with the yellow set and will be moving on to the green set soon.
If you are interested in purchasing the Waseca reading program, click here for $15 off your purchase.