{"id":779,"date":"2019-01-03T06:38:27","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T11:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/?p=779"},"modified":"2019-01-03T06:38:27","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T11:38:27","slug":"making-sense-of-it-all-the-montessori-sensorial-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/03\/making-sense-of-it-all-the-montessori-sensorial-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Sense of It All – The Montessori Sensorial Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nBy Alex Chiu<\/p>\n

This month, The Montessori Children\u2019s Academy will host the third in its series of Parent Education Workshops on January 9th from 7-8PM at the Short Hills campus. The topic for this upcoming workshop is the Sensorial area of the Montessori classroom, a hallmark of Montessori education. The Sensorial materials were designed by Dr. Montessori as a way for children to be able to explore and then make sense of their environment. Because she believed that sensorial exploration began at birth and that children had a developmental period where they were exceptionally receptive to what they took in through their senses, she created the Sensorial materials.<\/p>\n

Dr. Montessori said, \u201cThe senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world\u201d (The Absorbent Mind). Each material in the Sensorial area isolates a different sense, and Dr. Montessori categorized her Sensorial materials into eight groupings based on which sense was being used: Visual, Tactile, Baric, Thermic, Auditory, Olfactory, Gustatory, and Stereognostic. The Montessori Sensorial materials help children organize, compare, order, and classify things based on how they look, feel, sound, smell, taste, etc. While this may at the surface appear very simple, a child\u2019s discovery of these various qualities helps to build the foundation for learning in other areas.<\/p>\n

For example, when children use the Pink Tower, a centerpiece of the Sensorial area, they can discriminate the size of each pink cube from the smallest to the largest. However, if we take a closer look at the depth of the learning behind this simple work, we can recognize that children are gaining so much more. First, as with most Montessori materials, there is only one Pink Tower, so children must either wait for a turn to use it or learn to use it cooperatively with another classmate. Next, the child must go through a multi-step process to prepare to do the work. A work rug must be unrolled. Then, taking one cube at a time, the child must navigate the classroom from where the Pink Tower is stored to his or her work rug. This takes several trips back and forth, as there are 10 cubes!<\/p>\n

Once using the material, the child may arrange the cubes in a variety of formations. Horizontally on the rug, the child can see how the cubes compare in size. Vertically, the child can build the tower. Children can be quite creative as they use these materials, sometimes creating beautiful displays in an endless array of patterns and designs. This promotes not only discovery of the size discrimination, but it also provides an outlet for creativity and artistic expression.
\nAs with all Montessori materials, the work is self-correcting, and the child, through the control of error built into the work, will see whether or not he or she has placed the cubes in correct size order. If a larger cube is place on top of a smaller cube, the tower would not look visually accurate, and in some cases, would topple over because it\u2019s not structurally sound. There\u2019s no need for a teacher to intervene in this work, as the child can see for him or herself whether or not the work was completed correctly.<\/p>\n

On an even deeper level, the Pink Tower is an introduction to mathematics. Each tower is made with 10 pink wooden cubes that increase in size from 1cm cubed to 10cm cubed and represents the base 10 number system. From the youngest age of 3, children are exposed to the concrete material that later helps them understand more advanced mathematical concepts. As an early introduction to mathematics that can grow with the child as he or she is ready, it leads the child to move on to the cubing of numbers and cubed roots with the Montessori Golden Bead Material in the Math area in a natural and progressive manner.<\/p>\n

Each colorful and beautiful Sensorial material, from the Pink Tower to the Red Rods, the Knobless Cylinders to the Color Tablets, the Trinomial Cube to the Geometric Solids, the Sound Cylinders to the Rough and Smooth Boards, has a plan and a purpose behind its creation. While initially the children may simply be intrigued by the materials because they are attractive and colorful, they eventually are drawn into deeper learning as they investigate the many aspects of each work. Their senses are refined and awakened, and they come to make sense of their world in a much greater way. Again, as Dr. Montessori so cleverly understood, the children\u2019s work with the Sensorial materials indeed \u201copen(s) the way to knowledge\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alex Chiu This month, The Montessori Children\u2019s Academy will host the third in its series of Parent Education Workshops on January 9th from 7-8PM at the Short Hills campus. The topic for this upcoming workshop is the Sensorial area of the Montessori classroom, a hallmark of Montessori education. The Sensorial materials were designed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,71,73,25,4,144,54,52,145,140,147,70],"coauthors":[13],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7icff-cz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1304,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/12\/understanding-montessori-math\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":0},"title":"Understanding Montessori Math","author":"Tori Inkley","date":"June 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Arati Joshi, Early Childhood Head Teacher \u201cChildren display a universal love of mathematics,which is par excellence the science of precision, order, and intelligence.\u201d~ Maria Montessori Dr. Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori Method of Education, believed that a child is born with a \u201cmathematical mind\u201d. From birth, children\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-4.04.15\u202fPM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-4.04.15\u202fPM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-4.04.15\u202fPM.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-4.04.15\u202fPM.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-4.04.15\u202fPM.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-4.04.15\u202fPM.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1392,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/04\/making-sense-of-the-sensorial-area-in-the-prepared-environment\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":1},"title":"Making Sense of the Sensorial Area in the Prepared Environment","author":"Tori Inkley","date":"November 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Imelda McShane, Early Childhood Head Teacherand Doreen Adamo, Early Childhood Head Teacher \u201cThere is the obvious value of the training and the refinement of the senses which,by widening the field of perception, furnish an ever more solid and richer basis to the\u00a0development of the intelligence. It is through contact\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Sensorial-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Sensorial-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Sensorial-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/a-joyful-start-to-the-montessori-journey-with-mmcm\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":2},"title":"A Joyful Start to the Montessori Journey with MMC&M","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"May 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By: Camilla Nichols-Uhler and Alex Chiu This fall, The Montessori Children\u2019s Academy (MCA) proudly launched an exciting new program called Montessori, My Child, & Me (MMC&M). \u00a0Designed for children ages 18-30 months, this program offers young children the opportunity to explore a modified Montessori environment with their parents or caregivers.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":581,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/01\/the-gifts-of-a-montessori-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":3},"title":"The Gifts of a Montessori Education","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"December 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"By Alex Chiu During this busy holiday season, many people find themselves frantically searching for \u2018that perfect gift\u2019. They are looking for the right size, color, and fit. Or they are trying to find something unique and one-of-a-kind. Some parents have their children write out wish lists of items they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":522,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/26\/the-language-of-montessori\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":4},"title":"The Language of Montessori","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"September 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"By:\u00a0 Alex Chiu If your family is new to Montessori, you might think you hear your child speaking a \u2018new language\u2019 when he or she returns home from school each day. As the children are learning their new classroom routines, they are also learning some of the terminology unique to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/wordcloud-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":249,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/09\/the-prepared-environment\/","url_meta":{"origin":779,"position":5},"title":"The Prepared Environment","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"September 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Be prepared!\u00a0 This is the motto for scouting organizations worldwide.\u00a0 Maria Montessori would have a said \u201cSi Preparato!\u201d in her native Italian tongue.\u00a0 And this is the message that Dr. Montessori shared with educators as she created her Casa di Bambini for the children she first taught.\u00a0 Providing a carefully\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Montessori Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Montessori Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/montessori-philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"What is Montessori, Montessori classroom, Montessori preschools","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_1402.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_1402.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_1402.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_1402.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_1402.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":785,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}