Explain How the Principles of Montessori Philosophy Underpin the Sensorial Activities
Different modern psychological research has determined that flashcards, drills and worksheets are not effective ways of teaching young children. Young children are not able to grasp abstract concepts. Instead, they learn by doing and using their five senses. Therefore, sensory activities help children to learn while they have direct, concrete, hands-on experience with the world around him (2006). Children needs frequent and varied physical activity to overcome early life sensory impairments, build optimal brain functioning, at the same time, regulate moods. It is important to focus on choosing fun games that involve balance, hand-eye coordination, motion in space, hanging, sliding, repetitive motion and deep pressure on muscles and joints ( 2007). Every child craves or refuses sensory input depending on their different preferences. All children exhibit the need for sensory activities and will usually respond to them by focusing better in the classroom, increasing interactions with peers, at the same time, improving the overall daily functioning ( 2006). It is important to take note of the fact that children need every opportunity to use, explore and wake-up their senses (2007), which is important in order to motivate the learning process of children. Furthermore, it can also help to maintain the level of learning to the age and focus of the children and that is to include fun and games while learning. This is important because the more excitement and joy children feel while learning, the more willing or motivated they are to learn.
There are different Montessori sensory activities which help preschooler to improve their sight, touch, hearing and smell. This helps the children to improve their sense which is helpful in preparing them with higher level of curriculum and learning activities in the future.
One of the important activities is the Silence Montessori Activity. This help to improve children’s senses by making them to identify objects by sound. The said activity can be done in two manners. First, the teacher/instructor can ask the children to sit comfortably and then listen and identify sound that they will hear in the environment or children will be blindfolded, and then they must identify the object that the teacher/instructor will present. This activity enables the children to improve their skills, particularly in listening. Thus, this is very important in the future education or curriculum because there are different studies which show that children tend to learn more by listening. Aside from that, it also improves the concentration of children by focusing on the sounds and the different sounds which can be heard in the environment. Concentration is very important in any curriculum and subject in the future because it can help the students to be more focus on the subject.
Another important activity is the Mystery Bag Matching. Two of every item (prisms, cubes, spheres and cylinders) will be placed inside the bag and let the children distinguish and find two things that match without looking. Thus, it will develop the sense of touch of the student, at the same time, develop their critical skill. This is important because critical skill is very important in the higher level of education, therefore, it is important to introduce activities that will improve the said skill during the early age which will enable children to practice and improve.
On the other hand, in order to improve sense of smell, it is important to include the Smelling Jars Montessori Activity. This focus on presenting four different sets of salt and pepper shakers with a cotton ball inside. Students will have to identify the smell of the jars, at the same time arrange the jars in pairs, by comparing the smell and grouping it. This activity enables the children to develop their sense of smell which is important in everyday life. Furthermore, because the activity enables the children to group the smell, it enables the children to develop their sense of identifying and decision-making on how to group the jar sets.
In general, it can be said that Montessori activities focuses on developing the senses of the children. Senses are considered as the primary base for the literacy and learning development of each and every individual. These senses can be used in order to judge things, and judging or decision-making is considered as the basic aspect in the process of learning, which will be used not only inside the classroom but also in the real world and in daily life.
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