What is the Sensitive Period for Language?
Dr. Montessori described sensitive periods as a window of time in which a child’s interests are focused on developing a certain skill, like a spotlight illuminating an area of development.
Dr. Montessori identified many different Sensitive Periods occurring from birth through the age of six, including:
order, movement, small objects, grace and courtesy, refinement of the senses, writing, reading, language, spatial relationships, music, toilet learning and mathematics.
The Sensitive Period for Language is the longest:
It spans from birth to age six, throughout the entire First Plane of Development!
During this time, children are drawn to language and words like moths to a flame. They are particularly attuned to the human voice and to mouth and lip movements.
They are thrilled by the names of specific objects, rhyming words, and pronunciation of complicated words.
We can support the Sensitive Period for Language by:
- telling oral stories
- naming objects all around us
- using the real words for things
- singing songs
- reading poems and books
- and having rich conversations!
Thanks to the Sensitive Period for Language, a child has the potential to learn two or more languages fluently before the age of six.
After that time, a child will have to exert a conscious effort to learn vocabulary and memorize grammatical structures of an additional language, rather than simply absorbing it from their environment.
Further reading:
The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori
The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori
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