Sensorial

The Sensorial exercises never cease to amaze me! They have always been my hands-down favorite to present to the children. The longer I have been in Montessori, the more I can appreciate how very powerful these materials are.

Not to go on too terribly much about Sensitive Periods, because we know how important they are at shining that laser focus on elements of the world necessary for the development of the child. Working in tandem with the Absorbent Mind to curate necessary experiences for growth and intelligence. I think one of the more misunderstood Sensitive Periods is the one regarding the senses. Rather than a Sensitive Period for the senses, it is a Sensitive Period for refinement of the sensory perceptions.

I think the misunderstanding comes that the sensorial area refines the actual senses. Children already have incredibly acute senses! What it does is refine how the brain perceives sense information/stimulus as well as support children in refining those classifications and categories of sense information.

So a 2 ½-year-old or a 3-year-old has some fairly broad categories for sense information that was absorbed completely unconsciously in the first three years of life. And our Sensorial materials are allowing that sense information to come to the conscious to be further organized and refined into these detailed categories and classifications. We don't just give the child the greatest contrast, we give them qualities in between so they can pair them before putting those qualities/attributes in a sequential order- which takes a lot of practice and refinement in perception. The more experience a child has to manipulate, explore, compare/contrast, and play (yes, play!) with Sensorial materials, the more acute their perception of that sense information becomes.

There is more to these materials than that though! There are the preparations for writing, mathematics, and even the foundations for art! Think about the experience with shape, form, dimension, color, and design that the materials offer. They truly are amazing!

Which is your favorite Sensorial material? 

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