God’s most beautiful creation- the baby enters the world with no knowledge of the things around. He sees, observes and learns. Children learn by themselves so many things and often make us wonder from where they picked the things they do, but mostly these are the reflection of actions of people around the baby. Then gradually they go school and enter the education world, his world of books. And these days even the books of the younger group are of the sensory approach to education, in which educationists want the child learn on his/her own by simply providing pleasant experiences. This sensory learning experience is the primal experience through which the education of a child starts. Good sensations experienced in early childhood are the best stepping stones to the more formal forms of education later.

LEARNING BY THE CHILD
Learning by the child happens in stages. The stages which a child crosses in the quest for learning are:
1. Sensation: The child first uncovers knowledge of the world through his five senses i.e. touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. The sense of touch is the first understanding of the external world. One of the earliest memories is the first stepping stone to learning. The touch of the fur of a cat helps form the first impression of a cat as a furry, soft creature.

2. Perception: The second phase of learning is through the use of all the five senses together with the brain and the nervous system. This helps the perception of a child. The sense organs transmit various sensations about the cat to the brain through the nervous system to form a perception of the cat in the mind. So a cat is now perceived by the brain of the child as a creature which is soft to touch.

3. Conception: When the child has the capacity to form a clear picture in his mind, even when the object is not there, it is referred to as the stage of conception.  My son often repeats the word 'BABY' when he hears a child crying next door. For him anybody who cries is a baby.

4. Imagination: The stage of imagination is beyond perception and conception. In this stage anything is possible even the unrealistic and impossible is possible. In this he can tell things of the things he knows but did not happen. For example the child not only has a concept of the cat, but now has the power to create a story of a cat.

5. Thinking: When the brain is guided by reason and logic, the process is thinking. When the child understands that there can be other animal other than cat that is thinking stage.

6. Reasoning: is the final stage in the learning process. It is forwarded with logical questions. Like birds fly because they have wings.

The early experience is the foundations of your child are learning. Follow the sensory approach and see your child shine in knowledge.