The materials for Sensorial work came from Dr. Montessori’s own
observations. This material has either never been seen or never been used by
the child in his everyday life, contrasting with the materials used in the
Practical Life Exercises. The child will receive no new experiences through the
use of the material. This was purposefully thought through in order to give the
child what he knows, but might not yet realize, and to then refine his
knowledge.
Dr. Montessori observed the importance of the manipulation of
objects to aid the child in better understanding his environment. Through the
child’s work with Sensorial material, he or she will learn make abstractions, to
make distinctions in his or her environment, and the child is given the
knowledge through his own experiences rather than through being told.
Sensorial Exercises were designed to cover every quality that can
be perceived by the senses: size, shape, composition, texture, loudness or
softness, matching, weight, temperature, etc. Because the Exercises cover such
a wide range of senses, Dr. Montessori categorized the Exercises into eight
different groups: Visual, Tactile, Baric, Thermic, Auditory, Olfactory,
Gustatory, and Stereognostic.
Visual
Exercises: the child learns how to visually discriminate differences and
similarities between objects.
Tactile
Exercises: the child learns through his sense of touch. Although the sense
of touch is spread throughout the surface of the body, the exercises given to
the children are limited to the tips of the fingers. This allows the child to
really focus on what he is feeling, through a concentration of a small part of
his body.
Baric
Exercises: the child learns to feel the difference of pressure or weight of
different objects. This sense is heightened through the use of a blindfold.
Thermic
Exercises: the child works to refine his sense of temperature using tablets
or bottles made of materials with different capacities to conduct heat. Dense
minerals such as stone, steel or copper conduct heat very well and feel cool to
the touch whereas porous, organic, materials such as rubber, wood, or felt
conduct heat poorly and feel warm to the touch.
Auditory Exercises: the
child discriminates between different sounds and will become more sensitive to
the sounds in his environment.
Olfactory and Gustatory Exercises:
the child is given an introductory exercise in smelling and tasting. The child works
to distinguish one smell from another or one taste from another and then can
then take these senses, and apply them to other smells or tastes in his
environment.
Stereognostic
Exercises: the child learns to feel objects and make recognitions based on
what he feels. Dr. Montessori discovered
that when the hand manipulates an object, an impression of movement is added to
the touch. Such an impression is credited to a special muscular or “sixth”
sense, which permits the impressions to be stored in a “muscular memory”. This
memory recalls movements that have been done before.
Read More | Introduction |
Practical Life | |
Sensorial | |
Language | |
Writing | |
Reading | |
Math |
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Geography |
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Science | |
Art and Music |