The Role of the Third Year Student in the Montessori Classroom

In the Montessori classroom, third-year students apply
their knowledge and model behavior for younger students

When Maria Montessori developed her educational method, she created programs that encompass a three-year learning cycle. This three-year cycle corresponds with Montessori’s planes of development, each of which spans six years of the child’s life:

• First plane: 0–6 years (Absorbent Mind)
• Second plane: 6–12 years (Childhood)
• Third plane: 12–18 years (Adolescence)
• Fourth plane: 18–24 years (Young Adult)

Within each plane of development, there is a natural separation and transformation that occurs every three years.