Children able to be literate? Contributions of Sensory Education to Integral Development

Abstract

This study arose from reading and problematizing the work School of Childhood by Comenius (2011), when he states that parents who want to have a doctor before their time, will sometimes have a fool. Given such an assertion, the central question of this article is when to make children literate? What precedes the acquisition of the written language by the child? The core of the discussion is about the process of early schooling, the readiness for literacy and initiation into the world of letters, as well as the education of the senses. The general objective is to analyze the aspects that the child presents, mainly around 4 to 6 years and 11 months of age, in order to become literate. Among the specific objectives, we highlight the promotion of the awakening of the sensitive and amplified look of educators and family members, based on the contributions of education of the senses. This qualitative, bibliographical study revisits concepts that address the integral development of the child from the Pikler approach, the literacy process and school maturity, and the theory of senses in Waldorf Pedagogy. We conclude that early childhood is the germ of all human life and that what matures is the child's physical body. To awaken the volitional senses (Touch, Vital, Self-Motion, Balance), the personal and interpersonal skills, the creativity and confidence of the childhood are the basis for integral child development.