The absorbent mind receives impressions which it processes and categorizes, filtering bits of impressions, and fitting them into an inherited intellectual structure. During the years from three to six, the child refines and integrates the basic abilities created in the first three years of life. These sensitive periods only last until a necessary need is fulfilled. Education does not need to be imposed on a child. Given a learning environment, he will be free to act and develop himself along the lines of his inner direction.
Children learn through movement because it is movement that starts the intellect working.
The prepared environment consists of purposeful activities, presented by the teacher at critical periods, and later available for use by the child who chooses which activity he wishes to do. The Montessori materials always start with the concrete and gradually build up to the abstract. The teacher shows rather than instructs, she uses actions instead of words. The main reason for presenting the Montessori activities to the child is to provide appropriate experiences that satisfy the child's developmental needs. Each activity provides some such experience to aid some particular stage of development.