SENSORIAL (AGE 3 YEARS TO 4 YEARS)

 SENSORIAL (AGE 3 YEARS TO 4 YEARS)

SENSORIAL (AGE 3 YEARS TO 4 YEARS)

Sensorial is derived from the word senses. Senses are called breathing pores of the mind, its because of our senses that we are aware of the world around us.

Sensorial apparatus designed by Dr. Maria Montessori relates to the training of senses. The sensorial material opens up the world for the child and he learns to appreciate the beauties of nature.

Dr.  Montessori defined senses as;

"Bridges which connect us to the environment".

It is through our senses that we develop our intelligence. It has been compared that a human baby and a baby animal are both born without intelligence but the remarkable difference is that a human baby develops his intelligence whereas the animal baby does not.

A new born baby starts life with no ideas in his mind, but within a short span of time accumulates a store of impressions. This is possible because the child possesses within himself the capacity of abstracting or taking in essential qualities from particular things. 

According to Aristotle;

"There is nothing in the intellect, which was not first in the senses but it exists in the intellect in a different mod than in the senses".

The child intelligence will depend on sensorial development. To aid the development we introduce the sensorial material to him. Dr. Maria Montessori mentions three aims of education which are discussed below:-

1- Biological aim

2- Social aim (to be able to adjust to the society)

3- Professional aim (to ear his living and also to utilize the environment and make changes)

All the three aims need the senses to be highly refined. The development of senses is mean so much attention and importance, because only if the senses are refined and sharpened, the children will appreciate and absorb different things from the environment better. This will lead to better adaptation and creation of intelligence.

All Montessori schools are equipped with sensorial apparatus. These materials are specially designed and developed and each apparatus is presented to each individual child in a systematic manner and according to his age. This apparatus helps to fulfill the above aspects of education. The material is also called the didactic material. The material is prepared for all the senses that is tactile, auditory, gustatory, olfactory and visual. Another sense which was introduced by Dr. Montessori is stereognostic sense (which is a combination of tactile and muscular memory).

Dr. Montessori calls them, "Keys To The Universe".

HISTORY OF SENSORIAL APPARATUS:

Before Dr. Montessori, two french doctors Jean Itard and Seguin were working with mentally defective children. To educate them, they had devised the sensorial material. Dr. Montessori also designed a series of material in the first period of her experimental work with defective children. She first gave the material to the deficient children and later on to normal children. She found out the difference between the two by the way they used the material in deficient children, the interest to use this material had to be aroused whereas for normal children the material itself was enough to arouse their interest and they repeated an activity till their inner urge was satisfied. Dr. Montessori observed the children working with the material and it helped her to eliminate or modify the material.

LIST OF SENSORIAL APPARATUS FOR TRAINING OF DIFFERENT SENSES:

1- Visual sense

2- Tactile sense

3- Stereognostic sense

4- Later visual sense

5- Auditory sense

6- Gustatory sense

7- Olfactory sense 

1- VISUAL SENSE:

All objects have three attributes, which can be distinguished visually.

- Dimensions 

- Color

- Form

APPARATUS FOR DISCRIMINATION OF DIMENSIONS

1- Cylinder Blocks  (visual sense)

2- Pink Tower  (visual sense)

3- Brown Stair or Broad Stair  (visual sense)

4- Red Rod or Long Rods  (visual sense)

5- Knob-less Cylinders (later visual sense)

APPARATUS FOR DISCRIMINATION OF COLOR (CHROMATIC SENSE)

1- Three boxes of Color Tablets (visual sense)

APPARATUS FOR DISCRIMINATION OF FORM AND SHAPE

1- Geometry Cabinet (visual sense)

2- Geometry Solids (stereognostic sense)

3- Boxes of Constructive Triangles (later visual sense)

4- Cubes of Binomial and Trinomial (later visual sense)

5- Square of Decanomial (later visual sense)

2- TACTILE SENSE:

Three impressions are formed through touch.

- Surface texture

- Weight of atmospheric pressure (baric sense)

- Temperature (thermic sense).

1- Sensitizing of hands 

2- Touch boards

3- Touch tablets

4- Fabric boxes

5- Baric tablets

6- Thermic bottles 

7- Thermic tablets

3- STEREOGNOSTIC SENSE:

Its an ability to identify objects based on touching alone without seeing them.

1- Geometry solids

2- Stereognostic bags a,b,c

3- Grain tray

4- Mystery bag

4- LATER VISUAL SENSE:

It's an advanced type of visual sense which is introduced to the child at later stage.

1- Constructive triangles

2- Binomial cube

3- Trinomial cube

4- Knobless cylinders

5- Square of decanomial

5- AUDITORY SENSE:

Sense of hearing is called auditory sense.

1- Sound boxes

2- Music bells

6- GUSTATORY SENSE:

Sense of tasting is called gustatory sense.

1- Preparation for tasting bowls

2- Tasting bowls

7- OLFACTORY SENSE:

Sense of smelling is called olfactory sense.

1- Smelling bottles

AIMS OF SENSORIAL MATERIALS

The main aims of the sensorial apparatus are discussed below:-

1- Training and refining of senses:-

The Sensorial apparatus is called by Dr.Montessori the material for development or the key to the world .These materials train and refine the senses of a child.Whatever impressions are going into the mind of the child,they become the part of the child's mind.These impressions are the basis of future intelligence.He understands the environment well and can distinguish well.The material is precise and concrete and it helps the child to find out minute differences.The understanding or the perception of the child becomes better.

2- To clarify and classify impressions:-

A child from 0-3 years is in the unconscious absorbent mind period. During this period he absorbs all the impressions from the environment.Thus the function of sensorial apparatus is not to present the child with new impressions but to bring order in the impressions which he has already received and is still receiving.The child is able to classify the impressions  because of the isolation of a single quality in the material which focuses the child's mind on a particular attribute.

3- To detect organic defects:-

The sensorial material is not used for the sole purpose of detecting defects in a child but a directress through observation is able to detect some of the defects in early stage which might be otherwise missed and then discovered later on when the child has become too old to be helped.For example,the color tablets helps in the detection of color blind children and sound boxes aid in the detection of hearing defects.

4- To enrich vocabulary:-

This material correct words are given when the child has had some mental experience to increase his vocabulary and to help him express his views and thoughts vocally.

5- Leads to abstraction and exploration:-

By working with this material child is able to abstract ideas.