At the center of all of Montessori education is the personality and characteristics of the child at each stage of development.
The child from birth to 3 and continuing on until age 6 has the unique ability to absorb information about the world around them. He soaks up information effortlessly and spontaneously. The child is guided by sensitive periods — specific periods of time that urge the child to gather information that will support his development. The child must move and be in contact with the environment and is dependent upon an order in that environment that will help him to make sense of the world. And finally, the child is guided by an intense interest and innate ability to absorb the language(s) that fill his world.
At Pacific Crest we provide experiences and materials that match these innate characteristics, recognizing that they last for just a short period; but when taken into account the child emerges from this first plane with profound capabilities and an orientation to the world that will guide him in the next stage when his drive towards an intellectual understanding of the universe begins to unfold.
