Happy third birthday to your little one! Well, he is not so little anymore, right? Today he is three years old, and he is officially not a toddler anymore; he is entering the primary years, and with it comes many new experiences, interests, and signs of maturity that you have not observed from him yet. In this month’s article, we will look into the transition of the unconscious, absorbent mind he had for three years to the conscious, absorbent mind he now has until his sixth birthday.

Dr. Maria Montessori observed that the mind of children under the age of six works in a very unique and special way. It absorbs everything in the environment; that is why she referred to it as the Absorbent Mind. She divided it into two different periods; the unconscious absorbent mind from birth to three years, and the conscious absorbent mind from three years to approximately six years old. 

Today your child is passing into the conscious stage of development. This means that your child´s mind still has the sponge-like quality of absorbing everything, but now he will be able to seek specific information to learn and experiences to live. He has many abilities by now, but he will want to expand them and even develop new faculties. Before, he had a sensitivity for movement, order, and language; now, you will start to notice that he is more predisposed towards learning sequencing, early math, music, letters, shapes, sounds of words, and even writing skills. Of course, this does not happen in the blink of an eye; it takes around three years to pass through all of these sensitive periods. They have their own rhythm, and your child will take advantage of it naturally; there is no need to pressure him or set unrealistic expectations like reading and writing by the age of four.

He will also continue to refine the gross and fine motor skills developed in the past. You will notice that he will have the innate desire to make decisions by himself without the need to offer him choices. He will want his independence and space to try to practice new things. Dr. Maria Montessori refers to this stage as the one of “Let me do it myself,” meaning that children will demand the opportunity to practice and experience trial and error until they are satisfied that the task has been accomplished.

Language skills will be more advanced. He will start to show interest in socializing and having more extended conversations with others, especially peers. He will be able to ask more elaborate, open questions to keep the conversation flowing. As part of social development, he will become more aware and empathetic of others; he will be interested in helping and enriching relationships spontaneously. His personality will be defined and constructed by the end of this conscious stage based on all of the experiences he has had throughout these years.

Remember, this is a transition, it is a significant shift, and it is not something that your child will go through in just one day. As part of the process, many times you will still recognize the toddler in your child, and he will want to come back to you, feel safe, and cuddle. Then he will want to go back to his new stage and be treated as a “big boy.” Be patient, be there for him, and observe him navigating and take steps to become older and stronger.

This stage will be of high activity; he will be an active learner. He will want to do all the activities he sees at home; he will seek real-life experiences. Foster these experiences as much as you can since these are the ones that will help him construct the adult he will become.

Quote of the Month

¨Whereas the child used to absorb by gazing at the world while people carried him about, now he shows an irresistible tendency to touch everything … He is continuously busy, happy, always doing something with his hands.”

-Maria Montessori



Have a Little Extra time?

Peer to Peer Learning by Montessoriguide.org

Watch this 10-minute video that was recorded in a Montessori school environment at the Primary level. At this level, the community of children ranges from 3 years old to 6 years old. Being part of a multi-age group has many advantages for children; one of them is the peer to peer learning. You will observe various examples of it and how children react to others helping them. 

Link to watch it at Vimeo.com https://vimeo.com/78782805