Dr. Maria Montessori said that the first 24 years of life are made up of four planes of development:

• The 1st plane – birth to 6 years old
• The 2nd plane – 6 to 12 years old
• The 3rd plane – 12 to 18 years old
• The 4th plane – 18 to 24 years old

The 1st and 2nd planes of development are complementary and they constitute childhood. The 3rd and 4th planes of development constitute adulthood.

The 1st and 3rd planes of development are parallel to each other. Children exhibit the same characteristics: in both cases, the children focus on themselves and have the same needs. They also require the same level of help from adults. Despite the huge developmental differences between the two planes, emotionally, we need to treat the children in the same way! Despite the age differences, in many ways you treat the children the same ways!

The 2nd Plane

If your child is currently enrolled in lower elementary, they are in the 2nd plane of development. Let’s talk about the 2nd plane. There is a big difference between the 1st and the 2nd plane. Children in the 1st plane explore facts sensorially and they have an absorbent mind. In the 2nd plane, you will find changes in your children. Children in the 2nd plane have a mind that can reason; they can think logically and they start making judgments.

In the 1st plane, individual construction is taking place. The child’s interests are for her/himself. In the 2nd plane, children realize they cannot continue being self-focused and open up to the wider society. In the 1st plane, children are close to the family as the first social unit. In the 2nd plane, friends become more important to the children and they spend (and would like to spend) a lot of time with them.

Children need experience in the wider society so as to serve the wider society in the future. They need to start separating from their family. They need to become tough and the ‟softness” of childhood disappears during the 2nd plane. They want to be recognized as ‟big kids”. These intentions shown up as untidiness and sloppiness. They don’t want to take baths, etc. In response, we, as adults, need to establish what our expectations are. We need to acknowledge the characteristics of children going through 2nd plane development. However, we still need to guide and help them to be orderly and tidy.

During 6 to 12 is the strongest time physically. They are very capable. They have the greatest intellectual years and we should not waste these years.

Another big change in the 2nd plane is that they tend to form groups. If children are allowed to form a group, they will organize it themselves and establish rules for the group. We need to be respectful of this ‟practice society” they are creating. Children in a group show great loyalty. If one of them is in trouble with adults, the others will come to his/her aid. They also get together and help adults when they feel it is needed.

This is the age when children develop the idea of right and wrong; what is acceptable and what is not. Especially for 6 to 9 year old children, they have the characteristic of ‟tattletale”-ing. We have to understand that they are not actually trying to get each other into trouble. We must talk with them about right and wrong, conflict resolution, and let them figure it out (with our assistance). (Hopefully,) around 7 to 8, the tattletaling will disappear.

Children in the 1st plane are sensorial explorers of facts. Children in the 2nd plane are interested in what they can see as well as what they cannot see and what they cannot take in by their senses. They need to know how things function. They always ask questions, “How?” and “Why?” They aren’t satisfied with just the facts. They are not sensorial explorers any more. They have a very active imagination. They explore through imagination. In the 1st plane children need to understand reality and fact; this is the foundation for the 2nd plane. Facts are used to imagine around and create things. So we show and give the child facts in primary and in elementary we show and tell about the creation of the universe. We tell stories using their imagination. We help the child to understand the functioning of the universe and imagination can help him/her to see and understand what we cannot see.

I mentioned it briefly above but a final characteristic during the 2nd plane of development is that they have great potential. They have such a need for work, for real tasks and big projects. It is their strongest time and also their most intellectual period of life. We want to provide a prepared environment within the classroom where children can learn, explore, and go forward with their great curiosity and imagination. Then, they will no longer be satisfied to be only in the classroom. Exploration has to be a wider field and cannot be constrained to just the classroom. They need to work both in the classroom and in the society that is outside of the classroom.

This “exploring outside the classroom” is another topic called Going Out.

I would love to explain about other planes of development. If you are interested to know about them, please let me know! Otherwise, I will be adding more about them on this website in the near future.