COMPREHENSION ON MONTESSORI TERMS - ABSORBENT MIND, THE SENSITIVE PERIODS AND NORMALISATION

University Degree Education and Teaching

COMPREHENSION ON MONTESSORI TERMS

ABSORBENT MIND

The Absorbent Mind is one if the internal aids that the child as a spiritual embryo from birth till age six uses to reconstruct himself. It is a special mind that absorbs impressions and information from the environment and is a universal characteristic of young children. In general, the Absorbent Mind can be described as the process through which the child gains knowledge from his environment. There are two phases of the Absorbent Mind; The Unconscious Absorbent Mind and The Conscious Absorbent Mind.

From birth till age three the child has an unconscious mind that absorbs impressions and information from his environment without him knowing for at this time he has not developed a will for performing actions. “The child absorbs these impressions not with his mind but with his life itself.” (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 3, Pg. 22). It can be likened to how a sponge absorbs as much as it can of anything with which it comes in contact. It has no destinations in what it absorbs. It can also be likened to a camera that takes in complete images that are fixed forever in the unconscious. There is no discrimination; it simply records that to which it is exposed. This is in contrast to the adult brain that stores things more like a painter, consciously choosing what details to include or omit. The adult mind only remembers what it notices or considers important. The child mind remembers everything.

The child absorbs impressions by the aid of the Horme which is a driving force within a man. The unconscious Horme activates the absorbent mind of the child to absorb impressions from his environment. At such a time we notice the child starring intently at objects in his environment. The turning fan entices him. His mother’s lips amaze him. Bright coloured light captivates him. His horme activates his mind unconsciously, his subconscious receives the impressions from the unconscious mind and because he has no memory of his own, the subconscious places it in his preconscious mind, otherwise called the Mneme where it is stored. “This vital kind of memory which does not consciously remember, but absorbs images into the individual has been given a special name by Sir Percy Nunn who calls it the Mneme.” (The Absorbent child, Chapter 7, Pg. 57).

During the Unconscious Absorbent period, the child lays a foundation for his personality. His work during this period is to become independent from the adult for his basic human functions. He learns to speak, to walk, to gain control of his hands and to master his bodily functions. It is at this time that adults must be most careful because “the unconscious mind though it seems to feel nothing and remember nothing does something worse, for impressons made at this level are handed over to the Mneme. They become graven on the personality itself. This is the greatest danger of mankind. The child who is not protected with a view to his normal formation will later aveng himself on society by means of the adult who is formed by him.” ( The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 3, Pg. 24). Once these basic skills are incorporated into his schema, by about three years old, he moves into the next phase of the absorbent mind, which Montessori called the period of conscious work or the conscious absorbent mind.

From Age three to six the child goes through the phase of the Conscious Absorbent mind. At this time he has memory. Once he finds constructive work to do, his senses trigger his subconscious and it (subconscious) retrieves stored impressions from the conscious Horme to the conscious mind for refinement. It is only when he finds materials he can manipulate with his hands that this can happen because “the hands are the instruments of mans intelligence”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 3, Pg 25). The conscious Horme dies off gradually giving way to Will. During the period of the conscious Absorbent mind, the child creates his intelligence. “The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age six. For that is the time when man’s intelligence itself, his greatest implement, is being formed.”

“The child is truly a miraculous being, and this should be felt deeply by the educator.” ( The Absorbent Mind, Clio Press Limited, Chapter Pg. 121

Bibliography

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Montessori-Pierson Pub, The Netherlands, 2010

THE SENSITIVE PERIODS

This is a preview of the whole essay

“The child is truly a miraculous being, and this should be felt deeply by the educator.” ( The Absorbent Mind, Clio Press Limited, Chapter Pg. 121

Bibliography

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Montessori-Pierson Pub, The Netherlands, 2010

THE SENSITIVE PERIODS

The term ‘Sensitive Period’ was coined by the Dutch Scientist Hugo De Varies and adopted by Dr Montessori. It refers to a period of time in which a child concentrates mainly on one aspect of his environment and excludes everything else. This is when we see a child repeatedly doing an activity with passion and conviction per se, and it seems like nothing can deter them to accomplishing that task until it is satisfied. It is a time of intense concentration and mental activity on developing a particular skill at that particular time or phase in growth. It is driven unconsciously by an inner force that the best way an adult can support this passion is to prepare the environment and encourage this special time of learning.

Sensitive periods can also be used as a basic guideline as to when a child is ready to learn and when to introduce certain items to him. This can be determined by observing the child for when he is focused on a certain type of work and follow the child’s interest. “The child has a creative aptitude, a potential energy that will enable it to build up a mental world from the world about it. He makes numerous acquisitions during the sensitive periods, which put him in relation to the other world in an exceptionally intense manner.” (The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori). During a particular sensitive period, the child is attracted only to certain elements in the environment for a short time, as one sensitivity recedes another sensitivity arises to take its place. This may explain why a child clings to one toy for a period of time and abandons it for another at another time. S

The purpose of each sensitive period is to help them acquire a certain skill or characteristic necessary for their growth. It enables the child to learn this skill effortlessly. To aid this acquisition of skill the child has a potential within him called the ‘Nebulae’. As they acquire the skill or characteristic, their sensitivity for that particular activity decreases and another sensitivity increases. Maria Montessori describes it as a window of opportunity.

It is important that we (Parents and teachers) know when a child is going through a sensitive period so as to encourage this learning time by giving the child the necessary materials he would need. If a child of his own free will keeps repeating an activity over and over again, shows a special attraction to a particular object, material or activity and insists on going back to it or when he is deeply engrossed in a particular activity despite distractions but will only willingly withdraw after he completes the activity- then he is going through a sensitive period.

There are six sensitive periods common to all children from birth till age six. They are those for order (1-2yrs), small objects (1-2yrs), co-ordination of movement (2&1/2-4yrs), social aspect of life (2-5yrs), refinement of the five senses (2-5yrs) and language (0-6yrs).

Sensitivity to order appears in children between the ages of one and two. My daughter at that age will always insist on taking her dads shoes to the shoe rack once he took them off. We always wondered at how she found it interesting and wished she would have extended it beyond shoes only!

Sensitivity to order is characterized by a desire for consistency and repetition and a passionate love for routines. The child may seem disturbed by disorder in his environment and would cry and throw tantrums, insisting that things are put back in their place. He shows delight and happiness when order is followed. This is because he uses the order in his environment to reconstruct himself. I would not be surprising to see a child working repeatedly with the knobbed cylinders because at this time there is usually a particularly strong desire to sort and sequence.

Again between the ages of one and two, the child is sensitive to small objects. A child at this age will focus his attention on the tiniest of detail in his environment instead of observing the whole view. The child takes interest in observing and manipulating very small objects which present greater challenge to the senses and co-ordination than large objects. It is amazing when a child is able to sight and reach out for a tiny speck on the ground after an adult has just swept it clean. Truly “when a particular sensitiveness is aroused in a child, it is like a light that shines on some objects but not on others, making of them his whole world.” (The Secret of childhood, Pg. 42).

Sensitivity to language is noticed from birth till age six. A child stares intently at the lips of his parents as they speak. He absorbs as much as he can and almost magically, he babbles his first words and soon bursts into language. The child hears many sounds but he is only sensitive to human language. Deprivation of language stimuli during this period can lead to severe language defects.

From age two to five the child is sensitive to the social aspect of life. He begins to attend closely to the observed and expected behavior of individuals in his environment. At some point, he engages in parallel play sharing toys with specific friends only. This sensitive period enables affection and friendship to develop.

Again between the ages of two and five, the child is sensitive to the refinement of his five senses. It is characterized by his fascination with sensorial experiences (taste, smell, sound, weight, touch). At this age he has a curiosity to explore which result in him being able to make increasingly refined sensorial discriminations. “Nothing is in the mind that was first not in the senses.” (The Discovery of The Child, Chapter , Pg. 99).

The sensitivity to co-ordination of movement occurs between the ages of two and a half to four years. The child develops an inner compulsion towards movements that are co-ordinated and controlled. Just like the other sensitive periods, the child must be allowed freedom in the prepared environment to enable him develop to his full potential.

Each one of these sensitive periods must be aided by the right environment. The environment must be prepared to meet the developmental needs of the child. “There is an interchange between the individual, the spiritual embryo and its environment. It is through the environment that the individual is molded and brought to perfection.” (The Secret of Childhood, Chapter 6, Pg. 35).

Bibliography

Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, Fides Publishers, Switzerland, 1966

Maria Montessori, The Discovery of The Child, Montessori-Pierson Pub, The Netherlands, 2010

NORMALISATION

Maria Montessori used the term normalisation to describe a unique process that she observed in child development. She observed that when children are allowed freedom in an environment that is set up and created to meet their developmental social, emotional and academic needs, they thrive and blossom.

Normalisation is a term borrowed from anthropology which means ‘contributing member of the society’. It is a state of the child being in total harmony with his environment. The mind and the body (i.e. the centre and the periphery) of the child must be in harmony for a child to be normalised. In a Montessori classroom, children learn to focus and concentrate for sustained periods of time while deriving self satisfaction from their work. “Normalisation comes about through concentration on a piece of works.” (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 19, Pg. 188). Maria Montessori described normalization as “the single most important result of our work’’ (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 18, Pg. 186).Normalisation occurs in children when development is proceeding normally and they exhibit certain characteristics.

Normalised children have a love for order. This expresses itself in an intense love of the environment. Children are very sensitive towards order within the environment and they desire to preserve it. This helps the child to order himself and his mind.

The ability to choose work freely and to find serenity and joy in the work is a characteristic of a normalised child. “The children in our schools have proved to us that their real wish is to be always at work.” (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 19, Pg. 184). Work in a Montessori environment means any activity which involves the child’s whole personality and has the conscious aim of constructing his personality. The normalised child enjoys choosing his work. Giving him choice also gives him the feeling of being respected which in turn gives him the desire to want to choose his tasks and perform them well. For him, work is a form of self expression.

“The first essential for the child’s development is concentration.” (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 22, Pg. 202). Concentration appears as individual children in a group become absorbed in their own work- each one in a different, freely chosen activity. By choosing his tasks the child will concentrate on doing them properly and learning everything possible from them. While the child concentrates he is busy growing and his intelligence is constructed through the outside world.

The normalised child’s mind is constructed through reality and he finds this foundation in the outside world through his senses and movement, and later by the reason and imagination. The information he receives is worked upon, assimilated and raised to the order of intelligence. He does not live in a world of fantasy.

A love for silence in a normalised child does not mean that he likes to work in physical isolation but rather in psychological isolation which is as a result of concentration. During this time the child will be consolidating his thoughts and ordering his mind so to speak.

The normalised child no longer wants to have everything to himself. His possessive instincts have sublimed. “In a normalised child, his freedom to take an interest in all kinds of things, leads to his focussing his attention not on the things themselves, but on the knowledge he derives from them.” (The Absorbent mind, Chapter 21, pg. 199). He willingly shares materials and takes turns so that everyone may work with it. Their attitude is that of love and not possessiveness. They show patience in getting materials and have respect for the love of others.

The normalised child acts from real choice and not from curiosity. He is motivated in his actions by real choice. He is familiar with the activities he is choosing therefore it is not merely for exploration.

Normalised children want to be obedient because it involves the joyful exercise of the will. “These children, who sought their work in freedom, each absorbed in a different kind of task, yet all belonging to the same group, gave an impression of perfect discipline”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 19, Pg. 184). Through work the child undergoes the various developmental stages of the will.

The aim of the Montessori system is to lead the child towards independence. He acquires as much independence as is possible for him to acquire at each stage of development. In normalised children, there is no place for competition instead the children help one another. The older ones show a deep interest in the progress of the younger ones.

Another stage in character formation in the normalised child is that he shows spontaneous self discipline. Self discipline refers to preserving and completing cycles of activity that are freely begun. He is able to carry through any activity that he has freely begun. The discipline he shows is so complete that the directress does not have to be there all the time. This discipline is one of the fruits of freedom.

The crowning characteristic of a normalised child is Joy. It is something that you see on his face. It is a deep and mysterious emotion which comes from acting in obedience to the laws of our nature. It is difficult to describe but very easy to see!

Something that we must always remember is that the hand and the mind are connected. Therefore when the child repeats movements, they concentrate on them which help the normalisation process.

In conclusion, we can say that normalization can only occur through concentration on purposeful work, a concentrated effort of the hand, guided by the mind. It is up to the Montessori teacher to prepare the environment so that the child is free to develop his mind and his personality. “Only normalised children, aided by their environment show in their subsequent development those wonderful powers that we describe: spontaneous discipline, continuous and happy work, social sentiment of help and sympathy for others.”( The Absorbent mind, Chapter 19, Pg. 188).

Bibliography

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Montessori-Pierson Pub, The Netherlands, 2010