PLANES OF DEVELOPMENT

Help us, O God to enter into the secret of childhood, so that we may know, love and serve the child in accordance with the laws of Thy holy justice and follow Thy holy will."

(Maria Montessori)

Maria Montessori, based on her scientific observations of children, developed Four Planes of developmental growth for the child. She concluded that a child's growth is more like that of a butterfly, with a number of critical transformations in the first six years, followed by a period of uniform growth while the mind is "being organized" in the intermediate stage of childhood, ages 6-12, and followed by another period of transformation during the ages of 12-18.

Each formative Plane lays the foundation for the next successive Plane.

The application of the "Age of Moral Virtues"  to each Plane of Development is my personal addition:

Age of Prudence: (0-6yo)

	Construction of the Physical
	Concrete Plane
	Learns with Absorbent Mind (0-3yo unconscious learning,  3-6yo conscious learning)
	Sensitive periods where learning is easier/faster
	Fundamental for the formation and character of the individual
	Basis for other virtues—helps us to accomplish good in the practical order

Age of Temperance:  (6-12yo)

	Construction of the Intelligence
	Cosmic Plane
	Learns through reasoning, with imagination and logic
	"The Bridge" to Abstraction - intellectual mind is organized
	Want to learn about the Universe and its Creation/start Great Lessons/unit studies
	This virtue develops a sense of moderation and appreciation of the world’s gifts

Age of Justice:  (12-18yo)

	Construction of the Social/Moral
	Cultural Plane
	Social find place in society typical 12yo will have HS education
	Creation of the adult
	Erdkinder: Children of the Land - board at farm/own community work the farm/store/hotel - compare to apprenticeship/family business
	Virtue that forms the consciousness of fairness and honesty to do right to God & neighbor

Age of Fortitude: (18-24yo)

	Construction of the Spiritual
	Conscience & Discernment Plane
	Spiritual emergence to adulthood - to find one’s place and function in the world
	Virtue that enables one to stand up for what’s good and true/courage to do what God wants

Sensitive Periods

Maria Montessori discovered that the unrealized potential of the child's mind is one of the greatest secrets of childhood. When the proper materials are made available in a prepared environment, children spontaneously acquire knowledge beyond what is generally thought to be possible for their age.

She also found that all children, around the world, experience Sensitive Periods in certain areas of their development during the first six years of their life. It is during a Sensitive Period that a child will exhibit a concentrated attraction to certain elements in the environment. During these appropriate stages of development a child will learn more quickly and with less effort than at any other time in his life.

For example, if you look at the Sensitive Period for Reading you might note that most children do not start 1st Grade until they are 6 years old. By that time the Sensitive Period for Reading is already past. I experienced this with my daughters. My first girl was pronouncing the sounds of letters at the age of 3. At that time I was planning on sending her to school, and did not feel I was "qualified" to teach her to read. As a result she did not read easily until until the end of her 1st grade year. By the time my second daughter was three years old, we were homeschooling the older children. At age 3, she too was sounding out letters. This time I "followed the child" and gave her opportunities to learn more. She was easily reading at the age of 3.