Montessori education builds on the continuing self-construction of the child – daily, weekly, and yearly – for the duration of the programme. Although Montessori schools are divided into multi-age classrooms – assistants to infancy (ages 0-3), pre-school (ages 3-6), primary (ages 6-12) and secondary (ages 12-18) – the prepared environments introduce an uninterrupted series of learning passages, a continuum. The prepared environments described below will each reflect the natural learning characteristics of the child at each stage of development. Montessori education for children aged 0-12 years is widespread around the world. More recently there has been a concerted effort to develop the secondary programme for 12-18 year olds.

By Nienhus Montessori

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