Dr. Montessori’s concept of sensitive periods explains that children, from birth to age six, move through periods in their development when their minds are highly receptive to learning certain skills and knowledge. During this time the child has a strong desire to learn particular skills, and does so in a seemingly effortless manner, due to an intense inner drive. She also discovered that learning can still take place outside of the particular sensitive period, but it becomes far more difficult for the child to master it.
During her many years of studying and observing children, Montessori recognized that during these periods, children were drawn to and focused on single aspects of their environment and that they easily acquired certain abilities. She created manipulative materials to fulfill these needs, and after observing the children’s interactions with them, created a series of activities that would enable them to satisfy their developmental requirements a time of their choosing.
As parents, we have all noticed how our children respond to certain activities at one stage more than the other. They focus in on a certain task, returning to it again and again, concentrating on it intensely for long stretches of time. Then, for reasons unknown to us, their passion for the activity is gone and they move on to something else. It is during a sensitive period that their developmental needs guide them to mastery of a task. By using the sensitive periods as a guide and observing our children, we can provide the tools and create an environment in our homes that enables and encourages our children to act on these needs when they occur.
Dr. Montessori’s Chart of Sensitive Periods
Sensitive Period | Age |
Movement | Birth-1 |
Language | Birth-6 |
Small Objects | 1 - 4 |
Order | 2 - 4 |
Music | 2 - 6 |
Grace & Courtesy | 2 - 6 |
Refinement of the Senses | 2- 6 |
Writing | 3 - 4 |
Reading | 3 - 5 |
Spatial Relationships | 4 - 6 |
Mathematics | 4 - 6 |
Interestingly, the Suzuki Method for teaching children to play musical instruments follows many of the same theories and practices as the Montessori Method, including the concept of sensitive periods. These include:
- Following the natural order of child development
- Playing an instrument from a young age, with formal training beginning between the ages of three and five (note the sensitive period for music)
- Sensory training
- Scaled-down instrument size for stringed instruments
During my time as a Montessori teacher, a five year old girl named Laura joined our class in the middle of the year. Her mother was German and her father was Spanish. Laura spoke both of these languages fluently, but spoke no English. The teachers and children welcomed her but she very shyly sat on the sidelines. She attended school each day, observing but not participating in any of the classroom activities, or interacting with any of her new classmates. This continued for approximately one month. Then, one day, she walked into the classroom, said “good morning”, and joined into all the classroom activities, speaking flawless English, with no trace of an accent. This is a true example of the power of the sensitive period for language. Any of us who took a language class during our school or adult years knows the difficulties of learning a foreign language with its grammar, vocabulary, tenses, and pronunciations. Yet this child mastered it all in only one month.
"A child's different inner sensibilities enable him to choose from his complex environment what is suitable and necessary for his growth. They make the child sensitive to some things, but leave him indifferent to others. When a particular sensitiveness is aroused in a child, it is like a light that shines on some objects but not others, making of them his whole world." - Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood
February16, 2011
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