Early Childhood Education - Essay Example

Early Childhood Education Abstract The essay aims to proffer the Montessori approach to sensorial training and why it is relevant to early childhood education. The essay will also discuss several examples of materials and activities used to refine the different senses of a child, to wit: (1) Color Boxes used for the visual and chromatic sense; (2) Sound Boxes used for the sense of hearing; (3) Smelling Bottles used for the sense of smell; (4) the Thermic tablets for the thermic sense; and finally (5) explain how the materials and activities help the children become more aware of their environment. Early Childhood Education “Beauty is found in harmony, not in discord; and harmony implies affinities, but these require a refinement of the senses if they are to be perceived” (Montessori, 2004). Maria Montessori cites the ancient saying, "there is nothing in the intellect which was not first in some way in the senses" and she adds, “senses being explorers of the world, opens the way to knowledge” (Montessore-Book.com, 2011). The Montessori system of early childhood learning believes that the education of the senses is of highest importance for the two aspects of general education, namely the biological and the social. The biological aspect refers to the natural development of the person while the social education prepares the child for his environment. The development of the senses of the child in its formative years, which is between three and six years of age, precedes that of the higher intellectual powers (Montessori, Chap. X, 2004). Montessori believes that their sensorial curriculum can aid the development of the senses of the child in its early years. The aim is not to sharpen the senses but rather to refine the child’s senses so that he can differentiate even the slightest differences in order to truly observe and appreciate the world around him. Each material and activity specifically isolates one sense at a time, to maximize its refinement. The training will help him understand what he sees, hears, touches, tastes and smells. In her curriculum, Montessori further breaks down the five basic senses into nine isolated senses namely: visual/seeing, auditory/hearing, olfactory/smelling, tactile/touch, and gustatory/taste, chromatic/color, baric/weight, thermic/temperature, and stereognostic/tactile-muscular. Several sensorial materials and activities are used in the Montessori method. One of them is the Color Boxes which is directed toward the visual and chromatic sense. Children learn about the colors of the earth and their visual sense is refined. Color Box 1 teaches the three primary colors: red, blue and yellow. The initial lesson is merely matching the three sets of colors, to demonstrate an ability to distinguish between the three. Color Box 2 is similar to Color Box 1, except that it includes eleven colors: gray, black, white, pink, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The initial presentation is again matching the eleven pairs of colors, starting with the primary colors, after which the color names are taught to the child. Color Box 3 begins the introduction to the different degrees, or tints, of colors. After understanding the concept of darkest and lightest, the child can move on to Color Box 4 which consists of seven tablets ranging from the darkest to the lightest of one color. The final box is the Color Box 5 which is basically the same as Color Box 4 but repeated eight times, to incorporate all nine of the colors. These exercises can help the child appreciate the true beauty of the world around them. In the Montessori sensorial training, the sense of sound is also given importance because they can interpret the world through their ears. The four concepts focused on this training are silence, speaking human voice, noises and music. This is essential for the child because listening is one of the building blocks for language development, reading and comprehension. An example of the material used in the development of auditory sense is the use of the Sound Boxes. They are uniform cylinders in a box that make different sounds when shaken. Each cylinder is partially filled with different substances such as sand, rice, bead, etc. The Sound Box activity will train the child’s ear to discriminate between sounds and match and grade sounds from loudest to softest. Another activity enjoyed by children using their sense of smell is the Smelling Bottles. The teacher prepares the bottles with a variety of pairs of scents and the child matches the bottles with the same scent. If herbs or spices are used, the child can also learn the names of the herb or spice. The purpose of this activity is to make the child aware of the different scents in the environment. The thermic sense is also explored in the sensorial training of Montessori. Aside from using the hands to determine texture, they are also used to discern heat. It is important that a child knows the difference between hot and cold because this can prevent the child from burning himself. The Thermic tablets are used to introduce the concept of hot and cold. These tablets are uniform in size and made out of different materials. They may be metal, stone, glass, plastic, or wood and consist of five different temperatures. Two of each are in the box and the child tries to match the temperatures of each tablet. Later on, the child can move on to grading the temperature by using Thermic bottles. The skill learned in this activity is important because it also provides the child with safety skills. The materials and activities mentioned above all aim to refine the basic senses of the child. Hopefully, he will be able to consolidate all of them to understand and appreciate the world around him. Montessori believes that “education of the senses make men better observers” (Montessori, Chap. XIV, 2006). Sensorial training will also directly prepare the child for practical life. While the other early childhood education approaches emphasize the intellectual development, the Montessori method gives utmost importance to the perfection of the senses. For Montessori it is necessary to begin the education of the senses in the formative years of a child to prepare him for his future life in society. Since a child is exposed to various stimuli in the environment and it is impossible for him to isolate himself, it is essential that we provide him with the necessary skills to understand and appreciate more the world where he lives in. References Montessori-Book.com. (2011). Montessori Sensorial. Retrieved 4 May 2011. http://www.montessori-book.com/Sensorial.html Montessori, M. (2004). Chapter X. Generalizations on the education of the senses. The discovery of the child (pp.175-180). Delhi, India: Aakar Books. Montessori, M. (2006). The Montessori method. New York, NY: Cosimo, Inc. Read More