Maria Montessori’s Sensorial curriculum is designed to refine the child’s senses through activities that isolate each one. To train the auditory sense, a child first learns about silence, then identifies sound. Later he will match and then grade sounds from loudest to softest.
Identification of Sound
In order for children to understand the concept of sound, they must first learn about silence. In The Montessori Method [Dover Publications, 2002], Maria Montessori tells the story of a mother coming to visit with her sleeping infant. The young children gather around and Montessori challenges them to be as still and as silent as the sleeping babe. She points out any slight movement or sound that the children make.
Sleeping infants are not always readily available, but children can still practice being silent. The directress can encourage the children to make their bodies still and breathe quietly. While practicing being silent, the children can take note of what they can hear elsewhere and share it after a given amount of time.
In another game, a child sits blindfolded or with eyes closed in a chair in the middle of the room. The other children are directed to go to different corners of the room, as silently as possible. The blindfolded child has to point out where she hears noise.
Children can individually practice being silent when sitting on a quiet rug. Some may choose to practice yoga breathing techniques while being on this rug.
Once the child understands silence, he can go around the room to identify objects that make sound or no sound. Or the directress can set up a basket of items that he can sort by those that make sound and those that make no sound.
Matching Sounds
The Sound Cylinders are uniform cylinders that make different sounds when shaken. Six red will match up with six blue. In the presentation, the directress will shake a red cylinder by her left ear, then shake a blue one by her right ear. If they match, they are placed together on the rug. If not, another blue one is tried, until the sounds match.
Grading Sounds
The Sound Cylinders vary from soft sounds, like salt shaking, to louder sounds, like pebbles. The salt shaker can be identified as a “soft” sound. The pebble shaker can be identified as a “loud” sound. The cylinders can then be ordered from loudest to softest.
Children can then go around the room and identify objects that make loud and soft sounds. They can even try to find different objects that make similar or identical sounds.
Identifying sound versus silence begins training the child’s ear to discriminate between sounds. He can then practice matching and grading sounds from loudest to softest. These activities in the Montessori Sensorial area help the child to better observe and appreciate the world around him.
Resource:
Montessori, Maria. The Montessori Method. New York: Dover Publications, 2002.
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