Triangles and Parallelograms and Squares, oh my!

Since birth, every child has been absorbing thousands of impressions from his environment. The Sensorial Area in the Montessori classroom helps the child refine these impressions and bring order them. The material pictured above is called the 'Constructive Triangles' and it gives the child the experience of making linear shapes from triangles. 

It is so exciting for the child to start to recognize these shapes in the greater environment! The children start to recognize rectangles, squares, circles, and much more! 

The Montessori environment and materials allow for discovering and naming shapes using all the senses. When the child can recognize the shape in the greater environment, she can recognize it anywhere. 

As you know, the child takes in everything without a filter. Maria Montessori called this the 'Absorbent Mind.' Through the refinement of the senses, the child opens the door for even more learning opportunities. 

This is the beginning of exploration and discovery - as the child becomes more conscious of shape, dimension, color, sound, and depth, she can explore with greater joy, discovery, and focus!

The photographs in this post are courtesy of Meg Porter at Meg Porter Photography.