Sensorial Frenzy

This week some newly found interest has blossomed in the Sensorial area.  The Sensorial area of the classroom is where children refine their senses.  We have some extensions out with some of the classic Montessori materials that are stirring up the children.  Our Brown Stair and Pink Tower can be chosen together with a friend (or two!) to make designs or copy pictures that we have taken.  Some of the pictures the children are copying with their materials are challenging and it's so fun to watch them problem solve and work together to build it to their liking.  The Pink Tower can also be chosen along with pink paper where the children can trace each cube, then glue it to a piece of paper to build the tower on paper and take it home.  Today an extension was shown with the Triangle Box where the children can trace the triangles, then glue them on a piece of paper.  The extensions are presented in the hope that the children will be intrigued and choose to get their hands on the materials they may have chosen many times before, but are interested in doing the work in a little bit different manner. 
 

Another work that was out today was the Geometric Solids-cube, cylinder, sphere, cone, ovoid, ellipsoid, square based pyramid and triangle based pyramid.  It's another work that is fun to do with a friend. Today, one friend wore the blindfold, and the other friend  handed the child a Geometric Solid.  The child wearing the blindfold had to guess which one it was based on how it felt. It's a great way for the children to rely solely on their tactile sense as well as practice the vocabulary.  This concrete experience with this work is imprinting on their brain and will benefit them later in life when they encounter these shapes/solids.  They will have a real sense, understanding and memory of what these Geometric Solids are. 

I also got to see observe a little girl giving another little girl a lesson.  The one little girl just started at CMS on Monday.  She saw a work she was interested in so I invited another child to give her a lesson.  She did it beautifully!  The new little girl came up and asked me if she could have a chair while she watched her lesson.  I gave her one and she sat and watched patiently for 15 minutes while the child gave her a lesson.  They chatted and she asked questions.  The child giving the lesson had the new child follow her back and forth as she cleaned as well so she understood every step of the lesson.  The child then put the work away, the new child chose it and completed it with no problems.  Love it~I could see a little friendship blossoming as they worked together.

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