Many of the sensorial exercises are a remote preparation for academic learning. For example, the child who has learned to listen carefully will be able to perceive subtle differences in the sounds of the letters. Of equal importance to language skills are the geometric materials, which help the child to concentrate on different shapes.
To be able to write, a child must commit to memory the shape of the letters and their corresponding sounds. In addition, a child must develop the muscular skill necessary for using the pencil with control. The material which Dr. Montessori designed offers the children the opportunity to learn the shapes and sounds of letters in a way that is completely independent from his or her perfection of the motor skill.
The child, therefore, in the Montessori classroom learns to write not only by writing, but by performing a number of purposefully structured activities which prepare him or her both indirectly and directly for facility in handwriting.