Dr. Montessori spent so much of her life watching children – thinking – wondering. She began to notice patterns and began to note her observations. She summarized her observations into discussions about the various ages. She grouped them into four planes – or sections of grouped developmental growth.
Birth to Six Developmental Plane
“Help me do it myself.”
Goal: to transfer power to the child. – empowerment through transparent lessons.
Method: to guide the child to strengthen their muscles and control their will.
Work: the child rests in order to work.
Health: Illness is common – strengthening immune system.
View of the Complexity of Life: Defense of the Self
Core Goal Satisfies: Physical
Notes: When instructing, leave them begging for more. Let them have independence.
Characteristics of Three to Six
- Observer of the family
- Sensorial exploration
- Sensitive period for movement
- Activity with hands
- Sensitive period for language
- Becoming an individual
- Absorbent mind
- Need for order
- Love of the environment
- Attraction to facts and reality
- Want to know WHAT
- Absorbent Mind
- Concrete
- Matrix of Information
- Parallel Play
- Accepts Limits
- Specially Prepared environment
- Independent functioning
- Mastery of Materials
- Word Based
- Sensorially explores life around him: family, customs, attitudes
- Need for order for self-construction and classification of facts and reality
- Communication exploration to function independently in language – rudimentary skills in reading, sparking and writing.
- Activity with Hands – building a functioning conscious intellect through repetition
Sensitive period for: Order Movement, Repetition, Language
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