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The sensorial area consists of materials that educate and refine the child’s senses. The child learns to recognize similarities and differences; to discriminate between similar objects; to grade similar objects. This is important for later mastery of tasks involving math and language.

The primary purpose of the Sensorial exercises is not that their correct usage be mastered, but rather that “the child train himself to observe; that he be led to make comparisons between objects, to form judgments, to reason and to decide”. (Dr. Maria Montessori – Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook)  

Qualities discriminated with the visual sense are size, shape and color; with the tactile sense, texture, temperature, and pressure; with the auditory sense, intensity and pitch.

Basic taste sensations of sweet, sour, bitter, and salty are discriminated with the gustatory sense; various odors-fragrances are used to discriminate the olfactory sense. Montessori included the stereo Gnostic sense with which the child discriminates using non-visual tactile-muscular ability.

The Sensorial materials are designed to simplify learning and awareness of the environment by:

    * Isolating difficulty
    * Isolating the sense
    * Encouraging mastery through repetition
    * Possessing self-correction
    * Presenting an attractive appearance to the child

By working with the Sensorial materials, children develop the organizational and patterning skills inherent in math and language concepts which build upon the sensory awareness stimulated by the Sensorial Materials.