Hundred Board

After reading my post about the typical Montessori day, one reader emailed me asking if the students truly find interest in these academic activities at such a young age. In a future post, I plan to write a bit about Sensitive Periods. To give you a synopsis, Montessori believed that children go through periods of extreme interest in certain topics. For instance, a three-year-old might experience a sensitive period for order, a four-year-old for language, and a five-year-old for social connectedness. Currently, G is in the heart of her sensitive period for language and g is in a senstivie period for opening and closing- typically to lids on washed containers. She'll spend 20 minutes working with one container and repeat the process again and again.

I explained to the reader that some children show extreme interest in Mathematics and will choose lessons like the Hundred Board daily. I perused my school pictures and found a child enjoying the Hundred Board. Placing the small tiles on the board is called the "Point of Interest" in the lesson. Each Montessori "work" has a Point of Interest that captures the child's attention, whether it's a clinging sound, a shiny bowl, or a tiny object. This particular three-year-old truly enjoys small objects and sequences of numbers, therefore the Hundred Board is just right for him. I'm looking forward to giving him the extension lessons on this work- placing the odd or even tiles and placing the tiles in a spiral.

Maybe he's also experiencing a Sensitive Period for hoods? :)