Awakening the Senses

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Awakening the Senses
Braids
Christinas World

• It was the most imaginative, rich childhood you
  could ever want. Thats why I have so much inside
  me that I want to paint.
• Andrew Wyeth (Merryman, 1991, p. 21)

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Aesthetics

• An abstract concept
• Means perception in Greek
• Involves the love and pursuit of beauty as found
  in art, movement, music and life
• Is an awareness and appreciation of the natural
  beauty found in nature and ones surroundings
• Being a beholder of beauty

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Examples of Aesthetic Experiences

• Touching the sparkling
• design of frost on a window
• Stopping to savor the
• aroma of freshly baked bread

Viewing the translucent silkiness of a spider web
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Aesthetics

• A branch of philosophy concerned with an
  individuals pursuit of and response to beauty
• It involves
• Attitude
• Process/experience
• Response

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Aesthetics

• Teachers Role
• Expose, not impose
• Aesthetic model
• Provide for a wide variety in the arts
• Aesthetic classroom
• Books
• Art visitors
• Art trips
• Sensory literacy

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Aesthetic Development

• Children are born with a sense of wonder. Their
  aesthetic sense develops through
• Sensory experiences
• Exposure to their own cultural styles
• Experiences with other aesthetic styles
• Messages from the media
• Adult and peer reactions to arts performances

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Developing Sensory Awareness

1. Describe the sensory qualities of things and
   events.
2. Put out displays of interesting objects.
3. Ask questions that invite children to describe or
   compare sensations they are feeling.

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What Is Sensory Perception?
Exteroceptors
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What Is Sensory Perception? (continued)

• Visual perception
• Auditory perception
• Olfactory perception
• Gustatory perception
• Tactile perception

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What Is Sensory Perception? (continued)
Infants are born ready to learn through their
senses and make meaning of those interactions
from interacting with others.
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What Is Sensory Perception? (continued)

• Sensory integration is the processing of
  information gathered by the senses.
• Sensory integration dysfunction (SID) is being
  over- or under-sensitive to touch, movement,
  sights, and sounds.

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Why Is Sensory Perception Important?

• Sensory impairment and lack of sensory
  stimulation can lead to developmental and social
  issues
• Under- or over- sensory stimulation can inhibit
  the development of deep understanding.

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How Should Sensory Perception Activities Be
Selected?

1. Select sensory-rich stimuli.
2. Alert children to the experience.
3. Allow for choice of interaction.
4. Actively engage verbally and non-verbally about
   the sensory qualities.
5. Observe and build on the childrens reaction.

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How Should Sensory Perception Activities Be
Presented?

• Visual
• Tactile
• Olfactory
• Taste
• Auditory

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Additional Senses (Montessori)

• Chromatic- Montessori views this as a subset of
  the broader sense of vision. It involved the
  ability to identify, match, and discriminate
  among colors.
• Thermic- deals with the
• perception of temperature.
• 
  

This wooden box with compartments holds 8

stainless steel bottle with screw-on tops. The
teacher prepares the exercise by filling the
bottles with water of various temperature. The
exercise of pairing and grading the thermic
bottles helps refine the thermic senses.
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Additional Senses (Montessori)

• Sterognostic- being able to recognize objects
  through tactile-muscular exploration without the
  aid of vision

Feel-it Bag
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Additional Senses (Montessori)

• Baric- Recognizing objects as heavy or light

The Baric Tablets introduce and refine the
concept of the baric sense. While blindfolded,
the child endeavors to discern the weight of the
tablets of wood. Error is controlled by the color
of the wooden tablets, the lightest color wood
being the lightest weight to the darkest color
wood being the heaviest weight. The set consists
of a box with 7 light-weight tablets, a box with
7 medium-weight tablets and a box with 7
heavy-weight tablets.
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Additional Senses (Montessori)

• Kinesthetic- involves the whole body,
  sensory-motor muscular response

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Elements of the Arts

• These ingredients are the building blocks of the
  artist, composer, dancer, and actor. All arts
  performances and works contain one or more of the
  following

Line Shape Color Texture
Pattern Rhythm Form Space Movement
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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Line

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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Color

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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Texture

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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Shape

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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Pattern Rhythm

Insert image 4.11
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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Form

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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Space

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Elements of the Arts (continued)

• Movement