In the child’s world, knowledge is born through the senses. When the child touches, observes, compares and experiences, then he really learns. In the Montessori environment, this principle takes shape through simple but meaningful activities, such as playing with color plates.
Initially, every child knows colors sensory, explores, pairs and compares them. When the moment comes, we all form a circle together and start a game of observation: each child holds a color plate and searches in his environment for objects that match that color. Thus, something that until then was abstract — color — takes on substance. It becomes a pencil, a page, a broom, matter.
This process is a moment of realization. Children realize that the color they are holding is not only in the box of tiles, but lives all around them. Older children begin to notice nuances, too, discovering that “red” isn’t always the same — there’s bright, soft, dark. Thus, their eye is trained to see detail and difference.
The magic of this experience is hidden in the fact that the child, before structuring his mind, first needs to conquer the world with his senses. Through movement, touch and search, the abstract becomes concrete. The child doesn’t just hear what the color is — he really knows it, because he has touched it, looked for it, found it.
What if he’s wrong? Then a new opportunity for learning begins. Reality itself will show him the difference as children compare, discuss and correct together. In the Montessori philosophy there are no mistakes — there are only opportunities to discover what is right through practice, observation and the joy of discovery.
Sandy Flamiatou