1. Definition: times of intense desires, which “correspond to special sensibilities to be found in creatures in process of development; they are transitory and confined to the acquisition of a determined characteristic.
1.1. They are motivations, or attractions towards acquisition of necessary aspects of human development, which in the First Plane have everything to do with functional independence and adaptation.
2. Sensitive Periods in the First Plane of Development
2.1. 1.Order (through age 4 1⁄2)
2.1.1. External
2.1.1.1. external sensitivity is gathering images from the environment
2.1.2. Internal
2.1.2.1. internal sensitivity has to do with the baby learning about their body, its parts, and how it all works
2.2. 2.Movement (through age 4 1⁄2 - 5)
2.2.1. Movement is connected to the Human Tendency for Exploration, for what else drives an individual to move but an intense interest to explore, to touch and hold an object, to discover what happens when the body is moved this way or that.
2.2.1.1. “Dr. Montessori strongly asserts that mental development must be connected to movement, that movement is an essential factor in the child’s construction of himself”
2.2.1.2. Basis for gaining functional independence
2.3. 3. Development and Refinement of Sensory Perceptions (through age 4 -4 1⁄2)
2.3.1. The baby will incarnate things it is attracted to
2.3.1.1. “first he must see the furniture, and feel the ground with his feet, before he is able to successfully negotiate his path around the living room”
2.4. 4. Language (through age 6 and beyond)
2.4.1. Lasts the longest of all the sensitive periods
2.4.1.1. Spontaneous
2.4.1.2. Self-constructed
2.4.1.2.1. Sounds
2.4.1.2.2. Nomenclature and language order of the mother tongue
2.4.1.3. May be dormant for a long time as the child gathers sensory input from the environment and classifies the aspects of language internally
3. External Manifestations of Sensitive Periods
3.1. There are five observable signs that a child is acting under the directive of a Sensitive Period
3.1.1. 1. An intense interest in a specific, particular type of activity.
3.1.2. 2. Once the activity is begun, the child concentrates deeply on it, to the exclusion of all other available choices.
3.1.3. 3. A restful and tranquil state comes at the finish of the activity.
3.1.4. 4. The child passionately repeats this activity, over and over again, perhaps over the course of a few days or even weeks.
3.1.5. 5. Once the need has been met and the acquisition achieved, the child is indifferent to what was once irresistible.
3.2. If a sensitive period is thwarted or disturbed, you will see tantrums and other angry behaviors
4. Current Neuroscience and Sensitive Periods
4.1. Sensitive phase, windows of opportunities, critical periods all refer to same thing
4.1.1. Blind kitten experiment
4.1.2. Think about dendrite production and pruning for efficient pathways