Educating a child's 'senses' - a model now recognized and emulated everywhere
We are big fans of Maker Spaces. The Maker movement is no more than a return to education through tactical means, through the practical life materials.
Now and then educators acknowledge Maria Montessori who set the stage for this trend, about a century ago.
Dale Dougherty, the founder of MAKE magazine and creator of Maker Faire, among other things once referred to Maria Montessori and her approach to “education of the senses.”
He talks of the program encouraging children to explore the sense of touch: metal containers of water heated at six degree intervals, tablets made of three different woods, and other tablets -alternating strips of smooth paper and sandpaper.
He then quotes Maria Montessori:
“Any object presented, any idea given, any invitation to observe, is greeted with interest, because the child is already sensitive to such tiny differences as those which occur between the forms of leaves, the colours of flowers, or the bodies of insects.”
No wonder Montessori, a hands-on stsyem, gets results! No wonder so many other programs emulate the method.