The Effectiveness of Montessori Sensorial Materials With Preschool Children

The purpose of this study was to compare the perception and sensorimotor development of preschool children who used specific Montessori sensorial materials. Based on the literature, it was assumed that; 1. Because of the development and accentuation of form and tactile stimulation in the preschool child, extensive use of Montessori equipment designed in form for tactile and visual exploration and learning would influence development of visual perception. 2. With the perceptual-motor training of the Montessori sensorial materials, the subjects would make gains in fine motor coordination.

It was hypothesized that the gains in scores on the Marianne Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the Animal House and Block Design subtests on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence would be positively related to length of time spent with Montessori sensorial materials offered to children at a special time over a period of ten weeks in a day care program.

The subjects for this study were 15 preschool children, 8 girls and 7 boys ranging in age from 50 months to 71 months with a mean age of 60 months. The subjects were attending the University of Tennessee Day Care Center. The day care children were selected because of their exposure to the Montessori materials and because they were considered to be homogeneous in middle socio-economic backgrounds. The subjects had opportunity to select the Montessori materials for a 45 minute period five days a week for a 10 week period. The children had a choice of working with the materials or participating in a free play period in a regular playroom. Records were kept of the time spent with the materials. The materials were organized, demonstrated, and used according to the Montessori method of education The writer and a student teacher demonstrated the materials to the children and worked with the children during the experimental period.

The instruments used for evaluating progress in form perception and fine motor coordination were the Marianne Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the Animal House and Block Design subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence.

The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to correlate differences in pretest and posttest scores with time spent working with the Montessori materials. Frostig scores and WPPSI Animal House and Block Design scores were all separately correlated with time spent with Montessori materials. Raw score correlations ranged from -.06 to .39. Scale score correlations ranged from -.13 to .16. The scores did not correlate significantly with time. The hypothesis was rejected.

It was concluded that more appropriate tests for measuring visual perception and fine motor coordination and a longer period of time for the experimental period could have improved the study. Also, because of apparent overall gains on test scores, unrelated to time spent with the materials, many other possible environmental stimuli could have affected visual perception and fine motor coordination improvement.