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. During these periods the child has an especially strong sensitivity […]

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Many parents are curious about baby sign language. Sign language was made popular by the movie “Meet the Fockers” where Robert De Niro’s character was teaching his grand child to communicate.

So the question is: Is sign language effective and helpful to non speaking children or is it just a novel child minding strategy that is popular at the moment?

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Sensitive period for weaning - If the introduction of solids is done at this age the interest is captured and can later on prevent problems with feeding. Children are best breast fed until at least a year and supplemented with solids. At times by 10-12 months the child may not want breast milk, one must […]

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Sensitive period for understanding Manners and Courtesies
For children aged 3-6 there are grace and courtesy lessons in a Montessori classroom. For children aged 0-3 grace and courtesy is modeled by the adults. This entails the parents to be using their manners with the children and other adults that may be around.

More Montessori Sensitive Periods:
Sensitive Period […]

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Sensitive period for numbers - This is the time when we introduce the math curriculum is introduced in a Montessori classroom. Counting used to be a part of language and at this period they are interested in numbers as an entity and a separate type of language.

More Montessori Sensitive Periods:
Sensitive Period for Order (age 18 […]

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Sensitive period for refinement of the senses is characterized with the child’s fascination with sensorial experiences (taste, smell, sounds, weight, touch) results in the child learning to observe and make increasingly refined sensorial discriminations. Nothing is in the mind that was not first in the senses. One can let the child smell different herbs, […]

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The sensitive period for movement can be divided into different classifications. For acquisition of gross and fine motor (walking and the use of the hands) is from 0-2.5 years of age.The environment we prepare for this is the opportunities for the child to crawl, pull up, encourage to walk with or without assistance and […]

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The sensitive period for language is from 7 months in utero up to 5.5 to 6 years of age. There are several aspects of language from spoken language, to written language and reading.This is an integral part of a child’s life to be able to use words to use words or language in order to […]

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Sensitive period for order starts from birth and peaks at 18 months to 2.5 years and prolongs to age five. This is characterized by a desire for consistency and repetition. There exists a passionate love for established routines and is when a child may seem disturbed by disorder. The “terrible twos” are […]

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