The years between three and six are the years that a child most easily learns the ground rules of human behavior. The child who has had the benefit of a Montessori environment is freer at a later age to devote himself more exclusively to the development of his intellectual faculties. The structure of Montessori learning involves the use of many materials with which the child may work individually. At every step of his learning, the teaching material is designed to test his understanding and to correct his errors. Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child.
Children move themselves toward learning.
This is the core of Dr. Montessori's educational philosophy. Social adjustment, though it is a necessary condition for learning in a schoolroom, is not the purpose of education. Patterns of concentration and thoroughness established in early childhood produce a confident and competent learner in later years. Schools have existed historically to teach children to observe, to think, to judge. Many public, private, and parochial elementary and secondary schools are now utilizing this approach.