The Wonderfull Twos
The Child’s superpower
Wow, your child is amazing, and one of their superpowers is called ‘Sensitive periods’. I know it doesn’t sound so impressive but read a little more and you may be surprised.
Sensitive Periods refer to phases when the child is particularly attracted to specific developmental needs and interests. During these periods, the child seeks out new skills related to these periods, with minimum effort, but great intensity.
“When a particular sensitiveness is aroused in a child, it is like a light that shines on some objects but not others, making of them his whole world” - Maria Montessori.
If you search the internet, you will find many different lists of Sensitive Periods with contradictions regarding duration. Here is a list of the ones we will look at a little about:
Coordination of Movement: (birth till four)
Language: (birth till six)
Small Objects: (one till three)
Refinement of the Senses: (birth till six)
Order: (birth till four)
Social Behaviour: (two till five)
The sensitive periods happen during the first six years of your child’s life; A time when the brain and body are developing at an incredible speed. The child has a hunger to obtain vast amounts of information and a need to create many new skills. Each period grows with intensity over the duration peaking halfway and gradually stopping.
Let’s take a closer look at these periods. Some are constantly spanning the whole span from 0-6 years, whereas others are for a section of time, building on the information already acquired by the child.
Movement, Language and the Refinement of the Senses start from birth and continue throughout the entire six years. These skills are continually working, allowing the child to gain knowledge, experience and control.
Whereas Social Behaviour starts at two years old. After the child has mastered the primary language and developed coordinated movement, They are now ready to further their knowledge by understanding how to act in a social context.
All of the sensitive periods occur at different times, but all peak around eighteen months to three years of age. This timeframe coincides with the common phase called the “terrible 2”. A stage where a toddler is described as emotional, uncooperative, and even problematic. If you had a superpower, that was diverting your attention to numerous different aspects, wouldn’t you be emotional, uncooperative and problematic?
Knowledge of your child’s sensitive periods will give you a key to understanding what they need in their environment or why they behave in a certain way.
We can observe these Sensitive periods in our children in many different forms. Have you ever noticed your child acting in ways similar to these?
Sit for a long time looking at a small ant on the floor. (Small Objects)
Asking you “what is this” to the same picture over and over. (Language)
Wanting to walk up the steps and then down the steps, continuously. (Movement)
Keep touching all the vegetables in the supermarket. Picking them up and feeling them. (Refinement of the Senses)
Play role games, mimicking your conversation on a pretend telephone. (Social Behaviour)
Shrieks, literally and loudly, when he comes across disorder: fallen leaves on the sidewalk instead of in the grass. (Order)
These are just a few examples of Sensitive Periods displaying themselves and telling us that the child needs to gain specific information or exercise a skill. Can you think of situations your child has done that fit into one of these sensitive periods?
On these occasions, it may be hard for a parent to stop or redirect the child’s actions. If a child is not permitted to exercise their Sensitive Periods, It can lead to tantrums or arguments. If you see their activity is related to a sensitive period and you have a little time, gift it to your child as their work is essential.
It’s a great idea to keep these sensitive periods in mind as it will help you see your child's actions and behaviours differently.
Here are some tips that can help you and your child.
Observe your child before interrupting them, watch if they are focused on a task and if they are, give them time to finish what they are doing.
If you do not have time, calmly engage with your child, and talk about what they are doing; This will help them slowly re-engage with their surrounding environment. Then together, you can set a limit for when they will stop.
The sensitive period for Language and Movement are working parallel. This means that when you are talking and moving at the same time, the focus of the child must choose which one to follow
When you are talking with your child, it is best to keep movement to a minimum.
If you want to show your child an action, don’t speak until you have finished.
Children can often become quite shy in a social setting, especially if they don’t feel confident with how to behave. Role-play social situations at home or giving a clear, concise explanation will help your child feel positive and understand the actions and language needed.
I hope this helps you see your child more deeply. By understanding these Sensitive Periods, we can understand how to help the child and ourselves at the same time. Remember being patient and observant is the no.1 parenting tool; it allows us the time to process what is happening and evaluate a response according.
