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Along with controlled error and freedom to choose your own work, nothing is quite as Montessori as the three-period lesson. The three-period lesson is a focused and precise way of presenting new vocabulary and concepts to children in a consistent manner, allowing them a sense of comfort and security. They know what to expect every time something new is presented and can focus their entire attention on the concept rather than on the structure of the lesson. The structure of the three-period lesson is simple. It is made up of three phases: 1 This is… (Naming Phase) 2 Show me… (Recognition, Association Phase) 3 What is…? (Recall, Confirmation of Knowledge Phase) The Three-Period Lesson and Generalization: Helping Cognitive Processing in the Montessori Environment If we look at Bloom’s taxonomy, the three-period lesson aligns with the first three levels of the pyramid: (Cornwell, 2011) from http://juliaec.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/blooms_taxonomy.jpg While the process of the three-period...

“We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child's spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself.” — Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method (p. 88) Over the last few weeks we have been looking at equality and achievement in literacy as it relates to gender. We know that during the sensitive period for writing and reading (age 4–6) children spontaneously begin to read. By using the Montessori materials designed for learning to write and form words — the Metal Insets, Sandpaper Letters, and Moveable Alphabet — the child has already had exposure to the sounds of the written word. “Indeed, writing prepares the child to interpret mechanically the union of letter sounds of which the written word is composed.” (Montessori, p. 297) Reading, however, is more than mechanics. It requires fluency and comprehension. The question, then, is how do we keep the enthusiasm of early readers as we move from mechanics to fluency? The Montessori environmen...

“What is clear is that when the child is born, he has neither hearing nor speech. So what exists? Nothing, yet all is ready to appear.” — Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 117. Chapter 11 of The Absorbent Mind is a continuation of Montessori’s discussion on language development during the first plane of development. In this chapter, she continues her description of the natural progression of language, speculating that the sensory-motor centers for language comprehension and production are “specially designed for the capture of language, of words; so it may be that this powerful hearing mechanism only responds and acts in relation to sounds of a particular kind — those of speech. If there were no special isolation of the sensitivity which directs this — if the centers were free to welcome every kind of sound — the child would start making the most astonishing noises.” (Montessori, p. 119) Studying the Works of Montessori - The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 11: How Language Calls to t...

“All children pass through a period in which they can only pronounce syllables; then they pronounce whole words, and finally, they use to perfection all the rules of syntax and grammar.” — Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 111. Last summer, my teenage son and I were visiting my sister and her family. One morning, my son found himself tending my 5-month-old nephew while the adults were getting ready. The baby, not used to his cousin, began to cry. I hurried downstairs only to hear my son say in exasperation, “I don’t know what you want. If only you could use your words!” We have all been there. Trying to decipher baby and toddler speech can be frustrating. Mono-syllables are easily misunderstood and lost in translation, leaving both child and adult bewildered and confused. Language, says Montessori, “is an instrument of collective thought. ” (Montessori, p. 108) Simply thinking a thing is not enough; there must be communication and mutual comprehension. Studying the Works of Mon...