Dr. Maria Montessori developed the Color Tablets as part of the Sensorial area to teach children about colors, shades, and gradients. The Color Tablets offer a sensory experience with visually appealing tablets that inspire students to explore and learn through touch and observation. The Color Tablets are presented in three boxes and are a well-known, engaging tool for young learners.
Three types of Color Tablet boxes:
Box 1: Three pairs of primary-color tablets
Box 2: Eleven pairs of primary and secondary colors tablets, plus black, gray, pink, and brown
Box 3: Nine sets of 7 tablets. Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, plus gray, black, pink, and brown
The Importance of the Color Tablets
Children start their journey with the Color Tablets by sorting them into distinct color categories by matching them to each other. Children then learn to arrange the tablets in a graduated sequence, progressing from the lightest to the darkest shade. This progression refines their visual discrimination skills and makes the concept of gradients and shades easy to grasp.
Students gain confidence through sorting and arranging the Color Tablets and graduate to more advanced activities as they master each new task. Teachers model activities where children match color tablets to corresponding color cards or use them to create unique patterns and designs. These new tasks help develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and other cognitive development.
The Color Tablets also lay the foundation for important concepts of sequencing and visual discrimination, engaging the brain to refine the initial stimulus to get things in the correct order. They also force children to block out distractions while developing and lengthening concentration to achieve their goals. The tablets offer a structured but open-ended approach, allowing children to explore independently and creatively.
The Montessori in a Minute Series
The Montessori In A Minute series regularly explores the unique benefits of Montessori philosophy, its fundamental materials, and areas of the classroom. For all parents at Hudson Montessori School (Jersey City, New Jersey), the school hosts Parent Education Nights every year to teach parents about the Montessori method and how the students learn curriculum components using a Montessori framework.
Contact us to learn more about Hudson Montessori School's theme-based learning approach to education, the Montessori philosophy and methodology, or how the school fosters the love of learning for children aged 2 to eighth grade.
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