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The Philosophy
Stages of Development
Maria Montessori observed that all children pass through stages of development
throughout their lives. She believed that from birth to 6 years, whatever the
child was exposed to, his mind would absorb. This she named the Absorbent Mind
stage. She believed that from birth to 3 the child had no control over what he
absorbed, but between the ages of 3 and 6 the child could choose what he wanted
to learn and absorb it effortlessly. From age 7 onwards the child’s mind had
matured so that learning would require conscious effort as it does with adults.
In the Absorbent Mind stage every child goes through 4
sensitive periods:
| Birth to
6 |
Language - This is how and when the child learns to speak. Attracted to
human sounds, the young child, effortlessly, learns his mother tongue and any
other language he is exposed to on a regular basis. |
| Birth to
4 1/2 |
Order - During the sensitive period for order, a child has an intense need
for repetition and orderliness in his environment. Just as a 2 year old may
stop and straighten the pink tower, another child may exhibit his need for
order by repeatedly washing a table. The child who spontaneously returns a
misplaced piece of work to its original spot on the shelf is in the sensitive
period for order. The need for external order fades and orderliness becomes
internal as the child nears 4 1/2 years old. |
| Birth to
5 |
Movement - The child practices movement for the purpose of refining
coordination. One child may carefully carry and balance glass pitchers on a
tray in order to acquire grace in his body. A young child who carefully walks
the crack in a sidewalk, does so to see if he can rise to the challenge of
coordinating his movements. Little fingers that adamantly refuse help to tie a
shoe or open a milk jug display the innate desire for perfection in movement.
These are all
characteristics of this sensitive period. |
| 3-4 1/2
years |
Refinement of Sensory Perception - It is during this period that the child
is fascinated by things which stimulate the senses. The child cannot help but
explore everything in the environment and learn about the color of things and
how they look, how things feel or smell, and how things sound. As Aristotle
said, “There is nothing in the mind that was not first in the senses.” |
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