Montessori sensitive periods in child development

once again sorry for delay as i study, study and study just to make sure that every info that i put in front of you is authentic! and beneficial for you parents out there....

well if you've been following my blog u must have learned that 0 to 6 years of age is the time when a child develops his basic nature !

within Maria Montessori’s framework due to her studies with children, she has observed the occurrence of sensitive periods. In other pedagogies it can get called developmental milestones or windows of opportunities. It is those periods in the child’s life when a certain ability manifests itself strongly. For example every child knows how to suck milk to satisfy his hunger and survive. He knows how to cry in order to communicate needs to the mother. He moves his limbs alot to strenghten his muscles. he begins to put hands in his mouth when he is about six months of age. he does so because a strange sensation begins in his mouth. this urge to put things in the mouth is natural and has a purpose.... the purpose of preparing and developing gums to bear teeth. similarly child crawls and tries to walk without anyone teaching him, no matter how many times he falls off, out of a strong inner urge. in other words, nature has its own way to make children reach maximum development. During these periods the child has an especially strong sensitivity towards a particular piece of knowledge or skill. The sensitivity lasts for a certain period and does not reoccur ever! (once a period is passed there is no way to teach children certain skill to his maximum potential)

can we say, that the child will have difficulty bearing teeth or will not proper healthy teeth if we just dont let him put anything in the mouth. Or the child will not achieve proper balance or will have difficulty walking for the rest of his life if we just tie him up for a few months when the urge to walk is on him. The answer is yes, there are examples when a child had an accident just when he was about to walk. the legs were plastered and the  child could not practice walking  when the urge was there and later on in life he had trouble walking.           Simply it is a period of time in which the child concentrates mainly on one aspect of his environment and excludes everything else. This is when we see a child repeatedly does 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, age / 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.

This can also be used as basic guidelines as to when a child is ready to learn and when to introduce certain items to children. This can also be determined by observing the child for when they are focused on a certain type of work and follow the child’s interest.

How did Dr. Maria Montessori a physician who was born before the twentieth century began and died in the middle of it, developed an educatinal approach that prepares young people for the 21st century? lets find out

hey there my lovely Friends I'm so sorry for the delay in my blog post , i was really caught up. anyways I'm back with my new post not exactly new as i have posted it earlier but then something went wrong and my post got deleted:( but the good news is i have re composed it for you my lovely friends... so lets get started....
   before we get started i would like to share something very important with you
 we all have problems in life and did u ever noticed most of our problems are results of problematic experiences of childhood...
why ??? let me explain...u must have heard famous quote "Nature never change" this nature is developed during the first 6 years of age! every human being's basic nature develops during first 6 years of age! if we are scared of something during this phase we will be scared of it in future too or vice versa (this is the time when u have to work really hard with your child but in a right manner.)
       and i found Montessori method really helpfull i will share with u later first Let me introduce you to Dr. Maria Montessori
Dr. Maria Montessori was an MBBS and she studied psychology too. she worked with special children there she have seen them being treated like trash or animals it was hard for her to see children like this (mentally or physically challenged though)
she developed materials for them and engaged them in activities while using those specially developed materials by Dr. Montessori herself. She observed them working with those materials in a particular environment ( environment is really important). after a year or so those special children showed success in education which was a miracle at that time.
after the success of special children (with limited I.Q level). She was concerned if special children can show success, what kept normal kids back in education???
this was the question which led her to develop an educational system for children.
many people ask  How did Dr. Maria Montessori a physician who was born before the twentieth century began and died in the middle of it, developed an educational approach that prepares young people for the 21st century?
the answer is really simple she OBSERVED children carefully and discovered their true nature!
every child is born with same natural needs no matter in which date or place of the world he or she is born, the natural needs of a child are universal that is why Montessori education is use full for children of present time too.
a child is born with an absorbent mind which is unconscious till 2.6 years after 2.6 brain is still absorbent but conscious. children are born with a strong urge to explore their environment and  learn to live independantly. its that urge, curiosity that makes them so active and restless and if they dont find appropriate environment they become unhappy, frustrated and cause more trouble.
the phase from birth till 6years is very important it is full of  a series of  "SENSITIVE PERIODS"

these periods overlap eachother. many educationists say that a child's learning ability during this time is 100 times more than a fully grown adult! and children can learn any thing (from education to manners, morals etc) to their full potential and if these periods are overlooked u can never teach children any thing to 100 percent full potential they may learn things but as i have said earlier not to their full potential.
in my next post i will try to explain more about sensitive periods and how we parents shuold behave and what are the most common mistakes we parents make.....