Dr. Montessori identified four “planes of development,” with each stage having its own developmental characteristics and challenges. The Early Childhood Montessori environment for children ages three to six is designed to work with the “absorbent mind,” their “sensitive periods” and the tendencies of children at this stage of their development. The years from 3-6 are one phase of growth, with physical, intellectual and psychological characteristics common to that whole period. Learning that takes place during these years comes spontaneously without effort, leading children to enter the elementary years with a clear, concrete sense of many abstract concepts. This process seems to necessitate an educational approach with an extended time frame within which the individual child has room to grow at his/her own pace. In accord with this thinking, a Montessori school program, including the developmental learning aids and the work activities which go with it, is sequential and meant to be experienced over a three-year time span and not in an individual, successive, one-year capsules.
The 3-year cycle also relates to Montessori’s valuable concept of age-mixed and ungraded classes. However, it is not just a simple matter of 3-4-year-olds, 4-5-year-olds, and 5-6-year-olds spending time together in one environment. The hope is really that the younger children might learn from older ones who, in turn, have come up from “the ranks” and are well on their way to being self-directed. Such quality is hard to achieve with frequent and substantial turnover. Montessori teaches us that the human personality comes into full engagement and self-realization in successive stages and sub-stages of life – 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, and beyond. Along the way, different things are introduced to these children within prepared environments, such as math, language, art and music. The design at each level of a Montessori class, has the child’s individual and physiological development in mind. The three year cycle allows the Guide to follow the natural transitions occurring within each child over a period of development, enabling them to meet the child’s individual needs and/or interests when those sensitive periods arise.
Within each 3-year cycle, a body of information and skills are presented. Failure to complete the 3-year cycle results in the child not achieving the “total possibility” offered by the class. Many loose ends, partially developed skills and incoherent knowledge are obvious. Montessori recognized sensitive periods in the development of children’s lives when they show strong interest in certain aspects of their environment. She designed her progress to introduce aspects of learning at a time when the children are most receptive. The third year is the culmination of this process. Within each 3 year cycle, a sequenced body of information and skills is presented. Much depends on the repetition, at successive stages of development, of similar exercises, so that understanding is fully assimilated through senses, feelings and thinking. Failure to complete a 3 year cycle will leave gaps in knowledge and understanding that may be difficult to fill at a later stage. The 3 year cycle ensures completion of the work necessary to the development of the whole child at that particular age.
To receive the full benefits of a Montessori education, a child who enrolls should remain in the program for 3 years or more. Each step of a child’s development and learning from the time he/she enters the Montessori classroom serves as a solid foundation for the next. The child who does not finish the program will never experience the same benefits, joy and satisfaction of having reached the end. A good analogy would be reading a book but never knowing what the last chapter is. If you never know how it ends, your experience won’t be the same. The Montessori program works in the same way.
The 3-year Montessori experience tends to nurture a joy of learning that prepares them for further challenges. This process seems to work best when children enter a Montessori program at about3 and stay at least through the kindergarten year. Children entering at age 4 or 5 do not consistently come to the end of the 3 year cycle having developed the same skills, work habits or values. Older children entering Montessori may do quite well in this very different setting, but this will depend to a large degree on their personality, previous educational experiences and the way they have been raised at home. Montessori programs can usually accept a few older children into an established class, so long as the family understands and accepts that some critical opportunities may have been missed, and these children may not reach the same levels of achievement seen in the other children of that age. On the other hand, because of the individualized pace of learning in Montessori classrooms, this will not normally be a concern.
