We’ve talked about some of the distinguishing features of the Montessori method, such as the focus on independence, the use of individual presentations and distinct structure, and the very specific materials.
Another unique aspect of the Montessori Method is the sensorial curriculum. This is truly a cornerstone of Montessori theory, and the sensorial materials were the first to be developed by Dr. Montessori. The refining of the senses is a first priority, before mathematics and writing and reading.
Now, I want to stress that saying the sensorial curriculum is unique to Montessori does not mean that other methods and curriculums do not include any sensory learning. All quality early childhood programs will have sensory experiences included in their curriculums, and many will have a sensory table or area available at all times. The distinguishing factor with the Montessori Method is again that level of intentionality, planning, and purposeful materials to very strategically expand a child’s sensory explorations and understanding.
Our senses are how we experience the world. They are how we observe and understand our surroundings. An infant watches the world around them, hears new sounds, feels the textures of their environment, tastes anything and everything they can find, constantly experiences new smells as they learn, and uses all of this input to begin to make sense of the world around them. That sensory exploration is the foundation for early learning. So shouldn’t we all, as early childhood educators, foster the development of our senses and help our students as they make connections about the world around them?
Maria Montessori said, “we have a two-fold aim in education. One is biological and the other social. The biological objective is to assist the natural development of the individual; the social objective consists in preparing the individual for his environment, and this also embraces professional education, which teaches an individual how to make use of his surroundings. The training of the senses is, in fact, of utmost importance on both counts. The development of the senses actually precedes that of the higher intellectual faculties, and in a child between the ages of three and six it constitutes his formative period.”
I really want to stress that point: the training of the senses is of the utmost importance in both the biological development of the child and the social development. Developing the senses allows a child to function in their environment and make sense of the world around them.
In Montessori programs, the sensorial education is designed to focus on refining the child’s senses through the repeated manipulation of specifically designed materials. Again, we have a level of intentionality here that goes above and beyond. The materials are designed to isolate and provide concrete examples of abstract concepts, such as dimension, form, color, texture, sound, and scent. The purpose is to provide the child with a structure and vocabulary for information he receives through the senses. We are helping to build a framework a child can use to categorize the environment. This also helps to develop concentration, a sense of order, and intellect, as a child discovers how much they can learn through the use of their senses.
Going back for a moment to the social objective in education- that idea of preparing an individual for his environment and teaching them how to make use of their surroundings. The ability to recognize and process the sensory input from the world around us is key to our ability to operate in that world. A child who has not had the opportunity to focus on and learn about their senses and how to process and categorize the input can easily become overstimulated in an environment. There is a constant flow of sounds, smells, tactile experiences, and visual stimuli. That is a lot for a small mind to process. When we have not provided the opportunity for our youngest learners to focus on that sensory processing, we have missed the chance to set them up for success as they continue to grow.
Maria Montessori also focused on nine senses, rather than the standard 5. She of course developed materials for the traditional five senses, visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory. But she also included four other senses that she believed to be important in a child’s development.
“The thermic sense is the ability to experience and differentiate between temperatures.
“The baric sense is the ability to experience and differentiate between weights.
“The stereognostic sense is a higher brain function that combines the tactile and muscular sensory input of texture, form, and/or weight into a coherent experience of an object.”
And finally, “the muscular sense, also called the kinesthetic sense, is the ability to feel movement and posture. All movement trains this sense, but concentration upon the body during activities helps to refine the sense.”
In developing her methodology of sensory curriculum, Dr. Montessori designed a variety of materials with the express purpose of stimulating and refining the senses. Those materials include Cylinder Blocks, the Pink Tower, Touch Boards, Thermic Tablets, Baric Tablets, Geometric Solids, Sound Cylinders, Smelling Bottles, Tasting Bottles, and many more.
As a child grows in the Montessori environment, they continue to focus on their senses and direct them toward their surroundings. This allows the child to develop his perception, or understanding of the world, based on sensation, or the direct sensory experience that arrives at the brain from the senses. The child thus begins to see the world as organized, and can construct relationships between images, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings, rather than experiencing them as a disconnected jumble of sensations.
Sources:
Gausman, D. (2021). North American Montessori Center: Montessori Sensorial, Early Childhood (3-6). North American Montessori Center.
Episode 7