One of the most important pioneers in the area of child development, Maria Montessori opened the first Children's House in Rome in 1907. She developed there her theories and put them into practice. Today, there is a network of Montessori schools around the world. This text makes the acclaimed methods used in those schools available to all parents who wish to give their child the best possible start on the road to reading and writing. There are sections on how human beings acquire language, how to create an environment which gives the best chance for language to flourish, first steps towards reading and writing, and learning to write the letters. Also covered are the following subjects: starting to read; reading with meaning; and creative and accurate story writing. This book contains age-graded games and activities to aid learning, and has a resources section designed to be appropriate for different geographical regions and/or languages. It includes a reading list, resources list and suggestion for scripts.