The Montessori Child at Four Years

I don't think about childhood development as much as I did when Otis was a
toddler. However every now and then I think 'wow' I haven't seen you do that
before - 'that's new'.  We know through Montessori that children do not grow
or development at a consistent rate throughout life but rather through
phases, through stages of development. 

Montessori described the stages of development as a rhythm of six year

cycles, each cycle having an opening and closing phase. The first phase of
each cycle opens up to a set of particular experiences and consequently to
the related acquisitions and conquests, and the second half consolidates
these achievements in preparation for the next cycle. 
 Image source: Greenspring Montessori. 

The four planes of development include Infancy from 0-6, Childhood from 6-12, Adolescence
12-18 and Maturity from 18-24.

Image source: Des Peres Montessori

The opening phase of infancy is from birth to three and the closing phase is
from three to six. This puts the four year old in the closing phase of infancy.
But what does this mean? 

The line of regression indicates the passage into the acquisitive stage when
assimilation, refinement and acquisition of skills occur. I have especially
noted this with Otis'. Since turning four I have really noticed a explosion in
his fine and gross motor skills. The child who was learning to jump can now
hop - backwards and forwards, the child learning to draw a complete circle
can now write his name. 

In many ways this is a great age/stage for parents, the child is past the peak
of the sensitive period and as these skills are refined it is a time where we
notice the outcome. I see it as the consolidation period before the child
enters the second plane. 

The Four year old is in the sensitive period for:

 Sense of order

 Coordination, movement, refinement of gross motor skills and physical

independence

 Language

 Sensory discrimination/development

 Interest in small objects

 Basic concepts in mathematics and music

 Grace and courtesy and social behaviour

Montessori also wrote about this closing phase of infancy (3 to 6 years) as

the time the child moves from the period of the 'unconscious worker' to the
period of the 'conscious worker'. 

The child is now aware of what they are learning and are no longer
unconsciously absorbing. "The mind's power to absorb tirelessly from the
world is still there, but absorption is now helped and enriched by active
experience. No longer is it a matter purely of the senses, but the hand also
takes part. The hand becomes a 'prehensile organ of the mind'. 

So, from the age of three till six, being able now to tackle his environment
deliberately and consciously, he beings a period of real constructiveness.
The hidden powers he was previously creating are now able to show
themselves, thanks to the opportunities for conscious experience which he
finds in the world about him." - Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. 

"The richness, the depth and the usability of the construction is a reflection
on the support of the adults in preparing an environment rich in
opportunities. The child must be left free to carry out this work
without obstacles either from the adults or the environment. The
child must be free to make his own mistakes and to adapt his behaviors to
what is most supportive in living and doing. It is not the task of the adult
to construct the child. It is the task of the child to construct himself,
creating the man or woman he/she is one day to be! This is a critical period
of time when the child discovers that the world is a marvellous, interesting
place to know." Shannon Helfrich, The Conscious Worker.