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Define the Term Sensitive Periods and Explain How the Teacher's Knowledge and Understanding of These Periods Determines His/Her Preparation and Custodianship of the Prepared Environment.

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Define the Term Sensitive Periods and Explain How the Teacher's Knowledge and Understanding of These Periods Determines His/Her Preparation and Custodianship of the Prepared Environment.
The term, Sensitive periods are blocks of time in the child’s life when he is particularly absorbed with one characteristic of his environment to the exclusive of all others area of life. The activity provides the child is drawn to inherently aid to the child in her physical, mental and emotional development. During these sensitive periods, the child learns the skill or knowledge with the greatest ease and to the greatest perfection. We must recognize this as natural and powerful motivator for learning. Learning during a Sensitive Period is effortless, but these periods are also transitory and irretrievable.

In order to understand how children move between stages, it is important to understand how children take in stimuli from the environment and use it to grow. In Montessori study, found that there are periods in children’s live which they become biologically mature enough to gain certain skills that they could have easily picked up to that maturation. Research has shown that babies and toddlers brains are more flexible with regard to learning to understand and use language than older children. The adult can recognize a sensitive periods by the child intense desire for particular activity. If the child is left free to participate in the activity, she will work repeatedly and with deep concentration, if the child is not interrupted she or he can develop tremendous powers of concentration during this activity. Children need adults to notice their achievements and provide an environment to support their further development. This can be done by observing a child progress and accessing their needs in all areas.

Children are ready to open to develop skills during specific stages; however it doesn’t just happen over night. Instead they need prepared environment stimuli to develop these abilities. For example, babies have the ability to grow in length and weight in amazing amount during the first years but if they are not fed and nurtured enough during that time,

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