Essai n°3 - Education des sens

L'enfant découvre le monde par ses sens, et les utilise pour comprendre l'environnement dans lequel il cherche à s'inscrire. C'est autour de ce principe que l'essai suivant se tisse. Il s'agit de décrire et de comprendre l'intérêt de l'aire Sensoriel dans la classe Montessori.

Maria Montessori said : “A child is by his nature an avid explorer of his surroundings because he has not yet had the time or means of knowing them precisely.” (Montessori, 1997 p.102). Exploration  is made through the use of the senses that allows the child to perceive the world around them, leading them to the goal of development, known as the understanding of the world and the child’s integration within it. Senses are innate and present in our bodies since we were born. But the development of those senses is our responsibility. Then, we can ask ourselves: how can we develop them to their full potential? Maria Montessori designed a series of material in order to answer this question. But how does the use of the sensorial materials in a Montessori classroom enable the child to make sense of their environment, and how is this preparing them for later learning? First, we will see the importance of first-hand experience and the sensorial basis of learning for children. Then we will discuss the human tendencies and sensitive periods to understand how the sensorial material help the child to categorize and organize previously absorbed sensory experiences. To continue, we will focus on the “mathematical mind”, and the role of the sensorial material in its development. Last, we will explain the roles of the favorable environment and the empathic practitioner in supporting child’s development.

For Montessori, “[t]he hand is an instrument of man’s intelligence” (Montessori, 2007). It is through the hand that the child can discover the shapes and get in contact with the objects of the world around them. “The opportunities to manipulate objects stimulate and reinforce specific neural pathways implicated in development of key abilities” (Isaacs, p.100). Indeed, manipulating objects allows the child to build a mental image of those. It is what Montessori calls the “materialized abstraction”: through the senses, the child receives stimuli from the environment they explore, which result in sensations. Then, they will form some precepts from these sensations. When the child is ready, language will help them to create a concept, and acquire a full understanding of the object (MCI, 2010); “From sensations to ideas – from the concrete to the abstract” (Montessori, 1912, p.227).

            For Montessori, education is a whole process, whose aim is to help the child to fit in the world they belong to. Therefore, they need to discover it, by experiencing it with their senses in order to understand it. She deplores the fact that education nowadays focuses only on intellectual knowledge: “We have but made thinkers, whose tendency will be to live without the world” (Montessori, 1912, p.221).  For her, each learning experience has to be based on a sensorial approach. Sensorial development is the foundation of intellectual development: “Both hand and senses can be perfected to perform much higher tasks and thus become ever more worthy servant of the spirit that retains them in its service. Any real education of the intellect should also raise the potentialities of these two faculties, which are capable of almost indefinite improvement.” (Montessori, 1997, p.148)  About the education of senses, she states: “This education, therefore, is physiological and prepares directly for intellectual education, perfecting the organs of sense, and the nerve-paths of projection and association” (Montessori, 1912, p. 220). The main example is the development of the mathematical mind, which will be discussed further on.

The child, from three years old, enters the conscious absorbent mind – or “social embryo” as Montessori calls this stage. One of the main sensitive periods presented in this moment is the refinement of the senses. The child needs to practice and improve their senses. Following their tendencies to explore the environment, as well as the tendencies for repetition, exactness and precision (Stephenson, 2000), they aim to discriminate and order all the information absorbed in the mneme for the past three years.

            The sensitive period for order is visible from the birth and relies on the same human tendencies. It explains the child’s urge for constancy and order.

            The sense of movement plays an important role in Sensorial education: linked with the tendencies to explore their environment and to work with the hands, the child moves and uses their muscles to get in touch with the world. By touching, they build a muscular memory and increase the integration of concepts.

            The sensitive period for language plays an important role in the conceptualization of the world: naming the object is the last step before the conceptualization is completed. It is embedded in the tendencies for thinking, for imagination and for communication. When the child tries to solve a problem, during the exploration of the sensorial material, the teacher should engage conversations to force them to express their thoughts, as well as introduce them to a specific vocabulary to enable the generalization of the concept.

            Education of the senses must happen in the first years of life, because it is at this very moment that the child conceives basic ideas and forms intellectual habits (Montessori, 1997). She advises to use the time between three to six years old, “when there is a natural inclination to perfect one’s senses and movements” (Montessori, 1997, p.146).  The child gathers many sensory impressions during the first three years of their life, during the unconscious period of the absorbent mind. After three years old, it is time for them to put order in the mneme, to organize and classify those perceptions. “This is the time when we should, therefore, methodically direct the sense stimuli, in such a way that the sensations which he receives shall develop in a rational way” (Montessori, 1912, p.220). The design and use of the sensorial materials encourage the child to work in a systematic way, contributing to logical thinking.  As “material abstractions” (Montessori, 2012), they aim “to help the child to attain a maximum refinement of their senses and to help them discriminate between stimuli” (MCI, 2010, p.7). It gives the child the means to reach perfection of their senses and to put order in their sensations: by being auto-educational (for individual use with control of error), by isolating one sense and by containing a rational gradation of stimuli (Montessori, 1912). The material has to be clear and ordered, to allow experience, exploration, and repetition from the child and a minimum intervention from the teacher (MCI, 2010).

The “mathematical mind” is a mind which is especially interested in mathematics. For Montessori, all human beings, having enjoyed a favorable environment, should enjoy math: “Thanks to the preparation of their minds, they feel pleasure. Observations of exact mathematical relationships must be stored in the subconscious, so that when the conscious mind is brought into these things, an interest is aroused.” (Montessori, 2012, p. 71) If the child has had a lot of sensorial experiences with mathematical concepts in the first years of their life, when they are able to consciously conceptualize them, it will ring a bell and make sense (Montessori, 2012).

            The activities of the sensorial area help the child to develop rational cognitive skills, such as matching, grouping, one-to-one correspondence, concepts as length and size, plan or solid shapes, exploration of fractions. They introduce them indirectly to algebra and geometry (MCI, 2010), preparing their minds for later deeper understandings.

“[The child is] an ardent explorer of a world that is new to him. And, what he needs, as an explorer, is a road (that is; something which is straight and limited) which can lead him to his goal and keep him from wandering aimlessly about” (Montessori, 1997, p.102). This road is the favorable environment, and the designer of the road is the teacher. To facilitate exploration and discovery, the environment should provide order and freedom to the child, allowing them to experiment and explore. It should allow the child to move, to help themselves independently from the adult. As said above, the auto-corrective material improves children’s autonomy. The only way of learning is to do it themselves. Indeed, no teacher can teach a child how to smell without letting the child use their nose. “We can not create observers by saying, ‘observe’, but by giving them the power and the means for this observation, and theses means are procured through education of senses” (Montessori, 1912, p.229). Thus, the teacher must not interfere in the slightest way. Using Montessori’s vocabulary, the empathic “directress” (Montessori, 1912) should observe the child working as a psychologist would, letting the child to take their time and absorb the environment. Their aim is to “guide the spontaneous education of the child” (Montessori, 1912, p. 174). 

            In the video clip included in the unit, we can see a little girl using the knobbed cylinders. She is focused, working on her own. When she makes a mistake, no adult rushes to her to correct what she did. At the end, she realizes that she has done something wrong in her exercise and fixes the problem by herself, using the auto-corrective quality of the material. She went to the shelf to help herself and used her fingers to take the knobbed cylinders from the solids insets, feeding her need for movement. Thanks to the presentation of the teacher, she knew where to find it, how to use it and how to put it back to its place, following her sense of order. Then, she refined her senses doing the activity (such as visual, tactile, baric, stereognostic senses). In a  nutshell, this sensorial activity shows us how the favorable environment and the empathic practitioner support the child’s need for exploration and discovery.

The world is an endless source of stimuli for our senses. Walking out of my house, I feel the sun and the wind on my skin, I look at the blue color of the sky and I smell the dry hay coming from the fields. Those sensations will help me to understand that it is summertime. But our senses need to be trained and refined, to build a strong foundation to later learning. Thanks to the sensorial material in the favorable environment in a Montessori classroom, the child is able to improve the faculty of senses and understand the world around them, in order to find a place where they can bloom, like the poppy flower in my garden.

Mon matériel pour Activités de la vie quotidienne

Pour la formation Montessori que j'ai entreprise, nous devons réaliser du matériel qui suit la philosophie et les principes Montessori, ce pour chacune des aires de la classe. Je vous présente mon matériel pour la section Activités de la vie quotidienne. Il est destiné aux élèves du secondaire, à partir de 10 ans environ (avec possibilité d'adapter les niveaux de difficultés en fonction de l'élève).

Il s'agit... d'apprendre à trier le linge avant de faire la machine! En effet, je me suis demandée: qu'ont TOUS les étudiants de première année, fraîchement sortis du nid, en commun?

" - Môman? Mon pantalon en velours, je le lave avec quoi et à combien? "

ça vous dit quelque chose, non?!

Alors voilà, je me suis dit que si dès l'enfance on apprenait à nos futurs grands dadets à lire les étiquettes et à séparer correctement le blanc des couleurs, on ferait des économies de téléphone, de patience maternelle et de vêtements à racheter car-mon-pantalon-en-velours-est-en-taille-8-ans-maintenant. 

Voici les photos de mon activité:

Essai n°2 - Activités de la vie quotidienne

Voici le deuxième essai que j'ai rédigé dans le cadre de ma formation Montessori. Il concerne les premières activités que le petit Montessorien découvre en entrant à l'école: les activités de la vie quotidienne. Bonne lecture !

In a Montessori classroom, the activities of Everyday Living play a fundamental role. Preparing the child for their future life, they are made to help the child to reach many objectives: the direct and the indirect ones (MCI, 2009, Module 6, Chapter 1, p.3). The first objectives are obvious: they concern the development or refinement of a particular skill that the child will reach by using the material. But mastering these skills will also allow the child to gain order, concentration, social skill and independence. We can ask ourselves now: how do they meet those indirect objectives? First, we are going to present both the direct and indirect aims of such activities, focusing on the objective of independence. Then, we will illustrate our point with examples taken from each of the three areas of activities. To finish, we will see how the adult can facilitate the reach of those objectives, helping the child to help himself.

First, let us focus on the four main indirect objectives that underpin those activities: concentration, social aspects and skills, order and independence.

            Concentration grows as the child repeats the activity many times to perfect the skill. They chose an activity and focus for a long time in order to solve the problem they freely decided to face, being then fully involved. A child learns to regulate attention and to concentrate thanks to movement directed by the mind (Feez, 2010).

            By learning how to behave in the classroom and among their social group, the child can be part of this group. From 3 years old, the child has reached the second stage of the absorbent mind – the social embryonic stage is developing. Therefore, the child stops being self-centered and starts to be conscious about other people and their needs. The activities of Everyday Living such as grace and courtesy or care for oneself and for the environment foster the good behavior of the child, facilitating the “social cohesion” (MCI, 2009, Module 6, Chapter 1, p.6).

            Order is linked with the human tendency for exactitude, and the sensitive period for order. The environment – both emotional and material - has to be organized and predictable, so the child can absorb it and build his/her understanding of the world. Therefore, the environment has to be clear, simple and systematic. The child has to learn to be part of this environment, using it without disturbing it (picking a piece of material and putting it back to the shelf after the activity, for example). 

            Independence is the goal of growth. With such activities, they perfect the skills they need to act freely in their everyday life and do what they want to do by themselves. It boosts their self-esteem, self-confidence and initiative in order to take new challenges in their lives.

            Those indirect objectives lead the child, in Montessori’s holistic point of view, to become a competent member of society, in command of their body and soul through the control of movement and attention.

Among those indirect objectives, independence is the main one. Let us now focus on this one.

The child, following his hormic impulse, “[has] an innate desire to do things by [himself]” (MCI, 2009, Module 6, Chapter 1, p.6). Maria Montessori insists on this point: “The child’s nature is to aim directly and energetically at functional independence. Development takes the form of a drive toward an ever greater independence.” (Montessori, 1988, p.83) This “drive” is coming from the horme, a “vital force inside him that guides his efforts towards their goal” (Montessori, 1988, p.83). We should underline the difference between the horme and the will. Whereas the horme is strong in the first months of age, the will is a conscious power, which blooms from the age of 3.

            Thus, the young child follows unconsciously this intrinsic desire – “the divine urge, the source of all evolution” (Montessori, 1988, p.84) - to live their life by themselves, without the help or assistance of the adults. They work with great interest and commitment because they fulfill a natural and biological need (Standing, 1998). For Montessori, the natural development is the conquest of independence, step by step towards freedom. Montessori notices different periods in this conquest: first the baby is stuck in the womb, totally dependent from the mother. Then, from birth, they have an urge to face the outer world. By the age of 6 months, a great step towards dependence happens: the child is no longer dependent from her mother’s milk and is able to feed themselves with other food. This critical period is characterized also by the beginning of language: little by little, the child learns how to express their needs so they no longer depend on other people’s guessing. Another great step towards independence happens by the age of 1 year: the child begins to walk, “[setting] him free from another prison” (Montessori, 1988, p.86). After independence in his moves, he is seeking for independence in his thoughts, and wants then to develop his mind by his own experiences. The goal of growth is “independence of body and mind” (Montessori, 1988, p.91).

            Independence is not a static condition; it keeps on changing all lifelong. According to Montessori, independence is a physiological state, that the child develops though exercises such as those of Everyday Living. They help the child to make voluntary choices, not controlled by impulse but by their own willpower (Feez, 2010). This is why, as teachers and adults, we have to help the child to help himself. 

The activities of Everyday Living are organized in three main areas: activities to develop and refine manipulative skills, activities for care of self, and activities for care of the environment. How do they help the child to gain independence, concentration, social skills and order?

            First, let us focus on the activities to develop and refine manipulative skills, such as pouring from jug to jug. With this activity, the child will obviously master how to hold the jug, how to check the level of the liquid. But he/she will learn much more. Let us take the example of Amber, a 4 years old toddler from the Children’s House. One morning, she decides to work on this activity. First, she takes the trail from the shelf and put it on a table. She pours the liquid from one jug to another, with almost no hesitation. It is not the first time she works on it. But even if she is almost an expert, she enjoys repeating this movement. By trying many times, Amber develops her concentration. After a while, when her interest has gone, she decides to do something else. Thus, she puts back all the material in the exact position it was settled when she took it, and stands up. She follows and fosters order in the environment around her. She carries the trail to the shelf where it was, and put it back on place. Then, she goes for another transferring activity. Eventually, the material is already being used by another child. Amber decides to wait for her turn, and goes for her snack. Waiting for her turn and replacing the material back as it was before are two important learning of Everyday Life Activities for social skills and order. Moreover, by learning how to pour a liquid from one jug to another, Amber actually learns to fulfill her future needs, when she will be thirsty and will want to help herself a glass of water. Or when later she will want to make the pancakes dough and measure the milk with the measuring glass. With this activity, Amber is learning how to be more independent.

            The second area concerns the activities for care of self. Eating is one of the major activities of the type, like sharing mealtime. This activity supports order: everyday at 12.30, Amber takes her table mat, places her spoon and fork next to her plate, and seat down. It fosters her social skills as well, as she learns how to follow the grace and courtesy rules. After waiting for everybody to be served at her table, Amber will enjoy a conversation with her friends. This moment of sharing reinforces the cohesion in the social unit. Moreover, mealtime facilitates her independence inside and outside the classroom, as Amber learns how to eat with a nice behavior and in a clean way.

            The activities for the care of environment are the last area. In P3, the children bought golden fish one month ago. We could see that those animals created a link between the teenagers, as they shared a common interest. A group cohesion had been created around the fish tank. It also helped them to develop empathy, and self esteem, as they realized that alive beings relied on them for food and care; developing their social skills. By having to organize and remember to feed the fish or clean the tank, they gain in concentration and order. Then, they become more independent by learning how to take care of an animal if they want to have one at home later.

The environment is fundamental in the process of growth: “the behavior of every individual is product of his environmental experience” (Montessori, 1988, p.88). As adults, we have to prepare the environment, in harmony with the child’s needs and learning progress. Knowing the phases of development and sensitive periods will allow the teacher to create adequate activities for the children of their class. Keeping in mind the indirect objectives for Activities of Everyday Living, the teacher will be able to design activities and organize the classroom in order to favor the autonomy of the child. The environment has to be rich, so he has many opportunities to acquire independence. The teacher has to design activities with control of error, so the child can work in autonomy, without relying on the adult approval.   

            The teacher has to be patient, and follow the child. We have to let him/her repeat and imitate as much as they need to do so. The child wouldn’t bloom at his full potential without freedom. Montessori says: “only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur” (Montessori, 1988, p.96).

            Let us take the example of the walk. Maria Montessori had studied the physical development of the child; from his birth until the moment he is able to walk (Montessori, 1988). We can see that the process needs a long time, and it is only when the body is ready (bones, muscles, scalp) that the child stands up to his first steps. Nature knows when the moment comes, and as adults we have to allow nature to speak and not rush any steps: “in this way it is nature who commands and not the nurse” (Montessori, 1988, p.131). Therefore, when we are outside with the child, “we must walk with the child and not having the child with us” (Montessori, p.129). And this until the child is able to walk alone, totally independent from the adult. In his path towards autonomy, the child needs to face challenges of life by himself.

            I have testified some days ago a scene in the Children’s House that illustrated well the behavior of a good teacher. Fedja was pouring himself some water when he accidently dropped the glass. The glass broke into many pieces spread all over the place. The teacher was right next to him. Instead of rushing towards the broom to pick up the glass, she let Fedja staring at the ground for a second, before he went to take the cleaning material. By not intervening when the glass broke, the teacher allowed Fedja to solve the problem he was facing on his own.

            Unfortunately, many times we see parents doing everything for their children. I met a 5 years old boy who had no idea of how to close his jacket alone, because her mother was always doing it for him. But this behavior is actually going against the natural will of the child, who wants to be independent. Maria Montessori says that: “To a certain point, every help given to the child is an obstacle to his development. We must give children service that assists his development, not service that obstructs development” (Montessori, 1989, p.134). In a word, we have to help the child to help himself, and this is possible only in a prepared and adapted environment.

            This is why the furniture and classroom have to be designed according to the children’s size and strength: to underline just few elements of the environment, the instruments used in the Activities of Everyday Living have to be real objects, not toys (Montessori, 1989). The glass of Fedja has to be made of glass; otherwise he won’t know how to react if he drops a real glass at home. The adult has to pay a special attention in finding and designing material with real objects, but adapted to the child. The teacher can also use colors to make it more obvious (as the set for hand washing for example). Using real objects as grownups makes the children filled with a special joy (Montessori, 1989). 

            The aim of the adult is to the child to perform the task in a more perfect way: “in a word, there is no action which we do not try and teach so as to approach perfection. We leave nothing to chance”, says Montessori (Standing, 1988, p.216). After thinking and elaborating the piece of material with different level of difficulties, the teacher will demonstrate his use to the child. We have to show the actions in details, as objectively as possible, so the child is not confused about the movements and can act in his own way.

            Maria Montessori states that “if the child is prevented from enjoying these experiences at the very time when nature has planned for him to do so, the special sensitivity which draws him to them will vanish, with a disturbing effect on his development and consequently on his maturation” (Montessori, 1988, p.95). Thus, an adult who wants to rush a kid, or force him to do an activity too resistant for the child will become a barrier to the child’s development. The child will deviate from what his horme urges him to do, and won’t be ever able to reach his all potential.

Allowing children to grow as independent adult is the aim of education. The child has to be allowed to be autonomous since his/her birth, expressing his hormic impulse to live his life by him/herself. Adults have to prepare and adapt the environment of the child so he/she can behave freely. This is the only way we can help the child to help himself, until he/she doesn’t need our help anymore. Then our mission as teacher or adult will be fulfilled.