The Second Plane Child and the Role of the Adult
Note: This essay was one of many that I wrote from lecture as part of my AMI elementary training between 2014 -2016.
The Developing Mental Abilities of Second-Plane Children
The first-plane child is a sensorial explorer so the Human Tendencies are operating on a sensorial level. The young child also has an Absorbent Mind, first unconscious then conscious. This enables the child to investigate and incarnate all the facts that so delight him. The first-plane child is also focused on constructing the individual self. Dr. Montessori
Used the term introvert to describe the child of this stage, addressing his natural and healthy self-absorption. The child’s attention is turned inward. It is focused on that great self-creation that occurs through the incarnation of his surroundings.
As the child transitions into the second plane, this begins to change. The psychological center moves outwards. Interest turns to a wider social environment and Dr. Montessori used the term extrovert to describe this shift in focus. At about age 6, the child moves into the second plane. Sometimes the transformation is so dramatic that Dr. Montessori likened it to a “new birth.” The Absorbent Mind is gone but a mind that can reason has been growing and developing and wants more experience. The child is ready to make more judgments and think logically. The child also shows a very striking degree of imaginative power.
We must ensure that our teaching practice strokes this new reasoning, logical, analytical blossoming. We create a classroom environment in which the second-plane child can reason. His ability to reason will grow, develop so long as his Human Tendencies are respected and are allowed full scope for expression.
Psychological Characteristics of Second-Plane Children
There are physical changes that herald some of the psychological changes. The soft roundness of the body changes and the children become more wiry and muscularly defined. Often the hair starts to coarsen. The first set of teeth start to fall out.
There are also some special psychological characteristics of second-plane children.
One of the first changes is that children who were once very happy and content to spend time with family start to break away. This is akin to the 2-year old asserting independence but the 6-year old asserts independence in a new way. They enjoy the security of a family but have a drive to spend more time with peers. This is another point of parent education because parents do not often embrace the change – they want their children to maintain that special, singular bond with them. There will still be a deep bond but it needs to allow for new independence. Family time is sacred and important but now the child must have a balance of family time and socialization with peers. We need to help parents know that it is inevitable and natural for second-plane children to want to spend more time with their peers.
Sometimes the second plane is called the ‘age of rudeness.’ The delightful manners of the first-plane child vanish. This can be one of the most abrupt changes. This expression of independence is related to the child’s new need to separate from the family. He is driven to question, challenge, and assert psychological and physical independence.
The child displays certain physical toughness – he wants to display toughness at every opportunity. The child will seek out activities that involve physical risk. He will make light of injuries. No longer will every little scrape require a Band-Aid or mother’s kiss.
From the ages of 6-12, the child is stable, physically strong, and mentally capable. He has outgrown the common illnesses of the very young and has built up a degree of immunity. There is still time before adolescence when once again, the human being becomes more fragile. The second plane is a period of tremendous capacity and we must help the child make the most of it.
The child is very strongly conscious of his social group. Children of this age are often physically daring. They seem driven to assert themselves, proving to themselves and others that they are ready and able to go beyond the boundaries of the family unit.
Another very common characteristic of the second-plane child is messiness. The sense of physical order that was so vital to the first-plane child more or less evaporates. Some children at this age resist washing their hands or taking baths or showers. They can be completely covered in mud and be completely happy. They certainly are capable of caring for their bodies, it is just that they prefer not to. Some children want to wear the same clothes over and over again. Let’s be aware of this and help parents set reasonable expectations. Children should wash their hands when it really matters, like after using the bathroom. Perhaps a child can shower once every two or three days. If we compromise, we are less likely to have extreme head-butting situations and are more likely to win their cooperation. We must be clear and firm about the ‘musts.’ They will not do it on their own initiatives, but they will do it if we require it and accept some of their terms.
Second-plane children also show an altered taste in clothing. The younger child may like to dress as his friends do, perhaps even a little nicer. The elementary child still wants to dress like his peers but perhaps be a bit more eccentric or exaggerated. It is easy to see how the expression of these characteristics pushes the child away from the attachment to the family. Armed with newfound toughness and courage, the child begins the individual process of detachment. This detachment is absolutely necessary because he needs to feel self-secure. He needs to feel secure as he begins to explore the wider world.
We want to help parents understand that changes are normal. If a child received the support and assistance to independence needed in the first plane, he will still have those strong and secure, loving family relationships. The transition to the second plane with its invitations of rudeness and remoteness will not be such a cause for worry. Though if those earlier needs were not met, the child is unlikely to accomplish the same smooth separation.
Adults do need to enforce limits but we must do it with an awareness of the young person’s psychological needs.
Every child is unique and some characteristics exhibit themselves more strongly in some children and may manifest themselves differently from child to child but the general pattern remains and we need to be aware of it.
Herd Instinct
At the same time, the attachment to the family is the real foundation for this new spurt of independence. The child who is secure in the knowledge that the adults in his life love him and will be there for him can safely extend his field of exploration and test his new abilities. The venture into the wider world leads the child to form bonds with other children. Sometimes this characteristic is called the herd instinct.
Elementary children typically form groups with their peers. Sometimes these are formal clubs, defined by rules and rituals and customs. Sometimes they create a private language that is used by the club members. The drive for this seems to be particularly strong between the ages from 7-10. As long as the children are safe, we should not criticize, laugh at, or interfere with their clubs. They need and deserve our respect for the developmental process they are going through.
Loyalty and Justice
A related characteristic to this group identity situation is the intense loyalty shown toward each other. If a child gets in trouble with an adult, his comrades typically stick up for him. Though children can be antagonistic toward adults, if they do know of an adult under some kind of threat or distress they often band together to help that person. If a respected teacher becomes ill, children will rally together in support of him. There are profound historical examples of children helping people escape from war zones and hiding others to keep them safe.
Children at this age have opinions about who belongs to their group or their club. As teachers, we can influence them to some degree by keeping our classroom groupings fluid. We encourage children to work with a wide range of companions or partners in a wide range of activities. The teacher can do this subtly while still respecting the children’s choices.
Second-plane children also show a very strong characteristic toward justice. In their own social groups, they often devise their own code of ethics. They are creating their own society according to parameters they feel they can manage because they have made the rules and can abide by them. As the children venture out of the classroom into a wider, adult society, they encounter many established rules. They realize they have no real choice about whether or not they will obey those rules. The practice-cultures that they themselves establish are important preparation for understanding the larger society. It also helps them to understand how adherence to certain rules and order maintains companionable interactions.
Morality
Along with the acute sense of justice comes a developing characteristic of morality. They learn to understand the importance of rules and values and are trying to determine what is right and what is wrong. The conscience comes into being.
It is during this time that we come to the issue of tattling. It’s easier to deal with this if we keep in mind why it is happening. It is usually not happening to get somebody else into trouble but because a child wants to know, “Is what that child is doing acceptable in our community?” There are some responses to tattling that we can employ, for example: Thank you for telling me about that, I’ll deal with the situation – or – He should not be running in the classroom (end of discussion). The teacher should not choose that moment to talk to the tattler in any more detail because it encourages more tattling. There are also times when quick and direct intervention is necessary, when someone’s safety is at risk. Tattling usually occurs with the new children to come into the class – they’re trying to figure it out for themselves. If you deal with it calmly, matter-of-factly, then you diffuse the situation and tattling can (almost) disappear.
Independence at the Second Plane
Second-plane children need a greater amount of independence than they had in the first plane. There are two types of independence they are seeking:
1. Independence from a smothering family attachment
2. The special independence that is granted by the group to which the child belongs
It is through interactions with the social groups that the child is enabled to do things for himself and by himself, apart from the family. The family is always important but it has less influence now than previously. As the child gets older, his peers have an even greater impact. His focus turns to his friends and his wish to be accepted by them. This attitude continues through childhood into adolescence. In the first plane the child experienced the love and acceptance of his family. Within that loving bond, he found value in himself through his interactions with the environment. Now, however, he wants a new way to evaluate himself. He wants to test himself beyond the bonds of family and home. Self-evaluation now occurs through the acceptance by the new group to which he belongs.
Another aspect of the child’s independence is his need for a wider field of exploration. Home and the Children’s House and a few extended destinations sufficed for the first-plane child but at the second plane an enclosed classroom is not enough. This young person must get out into society He must see and experience for himself how it operates. It is impossible to bring the whole of the wider world into the classroom. The child’s explorations are no longer merely sensorial. He is now a reasoning being and his interests expand far beyond what can be directly experienced by his senses.
Hunting Instinct
A characteristic of this plane is sometimes referred to as the hunting instinct. This is related to the child’s curiosity about how things work. A child will collect various objects. A child may have a great interest in insects and will study them, sometimes harming them in their exploration. We need to understand the desire to do this. We remember that the child is exploring and then direct the child to other avenues of exploration that do not involve harm to any living creature or organism.
The first-plane child collected an enormous amount of facts and sensorial impressions. We think of this as the child questioning the ‘what’ of the world. The second-plane child now questions the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of the world. The rational mind provokes these questions. The child wants to discover the reasons behind the facts. He wants to understand the relationship of one thing to another. The young child is fascinated by the fact that birds fly – the older child wants to know why and how birds fly. In one of Dr. Montessori’s books she tells a story about the fish that dies in a mixed classroom. The Primary children simply stated that fish had died. The Elementary children wanted to know how they died, when they died, and so on.
One of the reasons that nomenclature is so important to younger children is it’s an answer to the insatiable desire to know ‘what.’ The vocabulary gives the child foundation for questions that are going to come up in the second plane. If the child has not been given the opportunity to build up this foundation of fact, he will not have as much to question and to explore at the second plane.
Imagination
Imagination includes exploration of the invisible and unknown. This same urge continues into adulthood. It is what seduces scientists and explorers and scholars. The Elementary child is assisted in this kind of endeavor not only by his reasoning mind but also by that second beacon of mental ability: the imagination.
The imagination works in concert with the reasoning mind. It is very active at this time in the child’s life. Just listen to some of the stories they make up and tell each other and us. We know that Dr. Montessori advised that we not feed the very young child a lot of imaginative food because of the importance of the child to become grounded in reality. Reality is also what they are truly interested in.
The situation changes in the second plane. The child begins to use imagination in collaboration with the reasoning mind as a springboard to understanding. These two aptitudes – reasoning mind and imagination – are the twin pillars that support our work with Elementary children. The exploration of what cannot be perceived with the senses can only be achieved with the imagination. The child’s imaginative powers allow him to explore the universe, facets of the Earth that are not part of his environment, and human society in its many manifestations.
Imagination with the reasoning mind enabled human beings to explore and understand what cannot be explored sensorially. Elementary children are still interested in reality – they still do want to determine what is real and what is not. They have an easier time making the distinction. One way we support them is through our choices in literature because we read a wide variety to them. Sometimes they ask if a particular story is true. They find adventure stories and stories of heroic deeds interesting.
Hero Worship
We can help children discover heroes through the stories we tell and the stories we read, as well as through current events that we bring to their attention. If we do not help them find real heroes then they are attracted to media heroes, who may or may not have true heroic qualities. Dr. Montessori also connects this with a sense of justice and compassion that children show at this age. Elementary aged children often direct this sensitivity to children who are less well off than they are – perhaps to younger children or those in need. They are very capable of identifying with others.
Although this is the age of reason, Dr. Montessori also understood and acknowledged that second-plane children sometimes feel more keenly with their sentiments than with their intellects. We should take these sentiments into consideration when we give our presentations. We want to offer the children opportunities to develop empathy, compassion, and justice.
With their newly expanded intellectual capacity second-plane children have a great need for Great Work. We must allow them to be engaged in real, big projects and purposeful activity that engages them. We want them to take full advantage of gifts they have at this time in their lives. We want them to put their minds to work and develop those synaptic connections that will enrich their experience for life. To do this we must offer the right material at the right time.
Recent studies document the brain’s spontaneous ‘house-cleaning’ during adolescence, implying that there is a natural paring-down of synaptic connections created in childhood. As teachers, we must optimize each child’s experience so he forges as many of these connections as possible. After the ‘house-cleaning’ there are more strong connections that remain.
Human Tendencies and the Second Plane
Some of the child’s familiar characteristics remain although we do see a shift in characteristics. Because of this, we see a shift in the expression of the Human Tendencies. Activity is still vital at this stage. Understanding continues to develop through manipulation. The hand is still the instrument of the mind but we also see many steps made in the direction of mental manipulation. Repetition is still essential to the learning process.
We also see some differences. Effective repetition for the Elementary child involves variation and amplification. Activities pursued using these avenues are more likely to be successful than requiring a child to do the same thing over and over again. The kind of repetition provided by workbooks and worksheets does not stretch the mind. Tasks of this kind actually limit the child’s potential – they provide only tedious and repetitive busy work. They are insulting to the child’s intelligence.
Our children should be free to make their own discoveries and create their own examples of problems and facts. This concept is sometimes daunting to adults. Adults often think that they must keep track of everything each child is doing and learning. They believe that if the children are offered such freedom than the adult’s task becomes impossible. We do not have to keep track of everything! We do not have to record everything. We must be sure that we cover the basics and we must keep track of our presentations. We must be sure that we fulfill the State’s requirements. Beyond the required minimum, we can leave the course of the child’s education up to him. Keeping track of everything the child does, for example, creating a strict weekly planner of activities, may give us security but it robs the child of his security.
Abstraction
Because of the great functioning intellect of Elementary children, assisted by their powers of reason and imagination, their minds are receptive to abstraction. We must allow them the time they need to work with materials and to arrive at their own understanding. It is through continued manipulation, experimentation, and repetition that each child makes a personal leap to abstraction.
Children arrive at abstraction at different times. This is one of the reasons we limit the materials in the classroom. We do still have ‘keys’ at the elementary level but we limit the number of examples of each key that we have available. The teacher first introduces the key, and then she encourages the child to take that key and work with it to discover what he can do with it. We allow the children to create their own examples, embark on their own experimentation, and come to their own understanding. Eventually each child will come to an understanding of abstraction without the presence of concrete materials.
Becoming interested in Great Work is a step that shows the child is exercising independence. By being able to create his own examples and his own challenges, he is able to build his independence. This is very different from the traditional situation in which the teacher limits the child’s work by imposing assignments. Assignments diminish a child’s sense of independence. Elementary-aged children need large blocks of uninterrupted time to pursue their Big Work. We want them to delve into what interests them and to pursue it as deeply as they wish to. They need the freedom to work on a chosen project or activity for as long as they need, until they reach a point of satisfaction. This satisfaction then becomes the touchstone for the child’s self-evaluation.
Security
As they did in the first plane, children in the second plane still need a sense of security, but this security no longer depends strictly on an external order. The elementary-aged child now strengthens this sense of security through honest self-evaluation. He learns to trust his own assessment of his abilities and to look honestly at his strengths and at areas that need strengthening. Through self-evaluation the child determines what he can do to contribute to the social group and also what he needs from the social group. This is part of being in a social group and a member of society. We need to understand and become comfortable with our own strengths and challenges and accepting those of others. Whether we are evaluating a strength or challenge, isn’t it our nature to always want to become better? This kind of self-evaluation begins in the second plane.
By the end of the child’s experience in the Children’s House, he has developed a strong sense of security. He has become a leader and a helper. When this same child comes to the Elementary class, it may seem that these qualities have disappeared but we should not assume that our new charges have failed to develop qualities of leadership. We need to remember that they are being asked, in a new environment, to forge a new connection with the environment and with other members of that community. It is very natural for these new members to depend on us at the beginning for a bit of encouragement and a bit of praise. Soon enough, they will begin to feel secure in the new environment and second-plane confidence will appear. Until that happens, the teacher gives sincere and helpful encouragement.
As they begin to learn to assess their own work, they stop relying on the teacher’s praise. For example, we will show them how to correct their own math work. We help them build their sense of security and responsibility from the very beginning, through Care of the Environment. We remember that the child is constructing himself as a member of society in which he is able to assert himself and evaluate himself. The Human Tendencies, intellectual abilities of imagination and reason, and psychological characteristics of the second plane are all guiding his development.
Dual-Prepared Environment and Going Out
What kind of environment should we prepare for the children? What environment will allow the children to develop to full potential in this plane of development? To answer these questions, we must keep in mind the characteristics of the mind and the psychological characteristics. We also must acknowledge the child’s urge to participate in the society of the world. We must take into account the powerful Human Tendency to explore. Part of the child’s exploration will take place within the classroom but the rest will be done outside the classroom, in the larger society. At the Elementary level we have what we refer to as a ‘dual-prepared environment. It consists of our beautifully prepared classroom and the world outside the classroom
One of our tasks is to prepare the children for this outside exploration. The Practical Life activities at the Elementary level are often designed for this purpose. We help the students learn how to travel from the enclosed classroom to wherever they need to be. We coach them on planning, transportation, how to use resources such as public libraries and museums. We show them how to approach adults in various venues, how to ask good questions, and how to take good notes. The outings that the children take in small groups must be purposeful. The children who participate share a common interest and a specific goal.
These are not field trips! A traditional field trip for a whole class is something usually planned by the teacher. Our Montessori outings, called Goings Out, are planned and carried out by the children themselves in pursuit of experiences and information not available in the classroom. This is one of the reasons we limit the information and materials in the classroom, including books. An example in Geography would be the work of the river. We introduce the topic with a model of a river in the classroom but you cannot really experience a river without seeing one, observing the banks, the flow, the sounds, twists and turns.
Going Out is not reserved as a reward and is not only a possibility in the case of children who have completed a project. It is a possibility for the children to pursue research. Goings Out should be very much a part of the everyday life of a Montessori Elementary classroom. Children are able to do real research, exploring their own interests, instead of being limited by what the teacher knows about a subject. Teachers certainly offer guidance and give suggestions but the children make their own plans – they own the experience.
Vision of the Whole
Parents often question Montessori teachers asking, ‘What are our Elementary children going to study?’ We know for the Primary child the answer would be that we give the children the world. Dr. Montessori said the intention toward second-plane children must be to give them the universe: “The universe is an imposing reality, and an answer to all questions. We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.”
The child at the second plane needs a complete vision of the Cosmos. He is not satisfied with mere parts. He craves the totality. If we can give the children a vision of the whole then their reasoning minds and their imaginations naturally start to look for those elements that compose the whole. In order to support this complete vision, we cannot teach subjects in isolation. Biology, math, history, language and all the rest are related parts of the whole. We want the child to see that they are all part of the same universe.
The children in the Casa dei Bambini worked with materials that gave them keys to the world. We also offer keys at the Elementary level. Sometimes these keys will be stories, other times they will be presentations with materials or a combination of each. Our task is always to offer keys to our universe – to the world and its functioning – including the plants, animals and non-organic features of our Earth and their relationships with each other and with humans. We offer these keys by appealing to the children’s active imaginations and reasoning minds. We offer them visions of things that they cannot necessarily experience in this place and time. For example, we cannot experience how the Universe was created but if we help the imagination to function then we enable the intellect to grasp these ideas and to seek to understand what they are and to come to a personal understanding.
Many of our presentations take the form of imaginative stories. We often illustrate them with charts, maps, timelines, photos, and demonstrations. These strategies serve to give impressions to second-plane children. Our presentations do not necessarily always offer the children exact and precise facts – our goal is to give an impression that can later be refined through factual research. When the children embark on their own explorations they then have a more meaningful experience than if we were just to give presentations with a list of facts. We tell our stories to open doors to the functioning of the Universe. Five of our stories are considered Great Stories. These are told with an air of solemnity and expectancy, and a sense of the extraordinary. They serve the purpose of igniting the children’s interest.
We tell the children about certain tasks that are performed by the various elements and creatures of the Earth and about how these tasks are performed in such a way that they benefit the rest of creation. We want the children to start to wonder, what would happen if some of these elements or creatures stopped performing some of these tasks? Bees have been pollinating plants since there were bees and plants. What would happen if one day if bees went on strike? Our stories lead the children to question the balance of our world and to appreciate it. One question may be, What about human beings? Do human beings have a task? We happen to be the species that has the power to choose. We want the children to learn to choose wisely.
We present our stories and our key lessons to the children after our presentations they follow up with their own activities. These are left to their own choice. They may choose to look at pictures in a book of something we’ve talked about. They may choose to read further about a topic or they may wish to investigate something that is related. Perhaps they will want to draw a picture of their own or make a model or create a skit. Perhaps they will want to repeat some of the same demonstrations we have shown them. Perhaps they’ll want to find some demonstrations of their own. As the children initiate and pursue their own investigations they become aware of the Cosmic Tasks that are carried out by all the elements, living and non-living, in our world. This should lead to what Dr. Montessori called, “gratitude to God and gratitude to man.” We can rephrase this: gratitude to creation and gratitude to humanity.
Dr. Montessori believed that we could help children develop this sense of gratitude by giving them a vision of the universe and how it came to be. We help them recognize how the fundamental needs of all human beings are fulfilled and how they have been fulfilled during all the time of human life on Earth. When we do this we help the children see how human society functions. They learn that many of the things we take for granted today often have come from women, men, and children who are anonymous to us. Anonymous ancestors have made contributions that make our lives so comfortable today. We may not know the name of the person who created the first rocking chair, but we can be grateful hat we have a rocking chair as we soothe our babies. By offering children these types of visions, we help them realize that despite the diversity of people and customs from around the world, human kind is essentially one entity. All human beings have the same essential needs – these needs have been met in a variety of ways often determined by biological, geographical, and historical circumstance.
Public School Curriculum
We must answer the question of how we can make sure our children have the literacy and numeracy skills so they can function well in society. These children will eventually leave our classrooms. They will need to be prepared for subsequent school environments. They will need to take their places in a broader society as well. There are certain expectations regarding reading, writing, and mathematic skills. Specific standards vary from country and state but the truth of the matter is that there are expectations to be met.
Every Elementary classroom should have a simplified version of the local, traditional school expectations. These should be available for the children to look at. We make a point to let the children know about them and we make a point to give presentations that meet them. We refer to this information as the public school curriculum. One of the first tasks of the Elementary teacher is to find out what that local public school curriculum is. If the need is present, translate it into language that the children can understand and use. It is a vital tool in every Elementary classroom, useful to both teacher and children (but not parents!).
We make sure that we incorporate all necessary information in our presentations. We include these public school curriculum standards in our planning and in our record keeping. We do not teach to the public school curriculum but we make sure that we cover everything that is required. Our own plan, our lessons of Cosmic Education, usually encompasses the requirements and a great deal more, but children are not required to follow up on our presentations relating to Cosmic Education. Once the requirements of the public school standards have been met the children are free to make their own choices and follow their own interests.
Realize we are not serving the children if we allow them to focus exclusively on following obscure and fascinating information about the solar system, for example. We allow them to go as deeply as they want to go, but not at the expense of the expectations of society. Math, reading, and other subjects are necessary to the child’s development but we want him to be free as far as possible. If a teacher gives a presentation on the Chinese culture and no one follows up on it, not to worry if it is not a requirement. But if a teacher presents multiplication of fractions, then the children do need to follow up so they can assimilate that concept, understand it, and use it.
We must learn how to help the children choose when and how they’re going to work on the material they must know. We help them recognize there are some things they cannot say ‘no’ to. They will still have the choice as to when, how, and with whom. We help them build their responsibility to their own education in this way. The freedom that we grant the children must be balanced by responsibility. Freedom and responsibility are tied into the work that the children undertake. Dr. Montessori said that, “We sow the seeds of culture.” When asked how many seeds we should sow, she replied, “As many as possible!” Ms. Stephenson said that Dr. Montessori did not follow up this directive by saying that every now and then we should stop and dig up those seeds with a sharp stick to see if anything is sprouting. We must give the children time for their personal assimilation. The child’s true curriculum is universal. The child decides what to explore and to what depth to explore, as long as the public school requirements will be met at the end of each 3-year cycle.
Know that Cosmic Education is the curriculum we must embrace and share. Cosmic Education determines our Prepared Environment, our work as teachers, and the work of the children in our classroom. It makes possible the construction of the child as an individual within a true social life. It allows the individual to continue that important self-construction that was begun in the first plane and to come to know himself as a unique person who has something to offer. It is this aspect of giving back that we want to begin to nurture at this age, while children are still sensitive to these ideas. We must present our stories about the Universe, life, human beings, and human gifts in such a way that the children feel inspired to find out more.
Cosmic Education Curriculum
Our work as teachers is like opening the door just a crack. We allow the child to peek through that crack and then to open the door as widely as he wants to and step into the adventures that wait beyond. We actually want to build up a certain unrest of the mind so the children will feel impatient to find out more. This is a different way of looking at teaching than that of the traditionalist who gives the child everything he needs to know. That does not spark an embarkation of intellectual adventures. Our goal is children who are enthusiastic, who love learning, and who own their own process of exploration. When children are given all the information up front then what there is to learn is limited. We want the children to understand that there are no limits to what can be learned.
The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s intellect as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination. Our aim, therefore, is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core. - Dr. Montessori
If a teacher encounters a child who seems polite and interested but who does not really pursue any investigations, she should ask herself whether she is giving the child too much. It can be difficult to hold back, especially if we are presenting something that we love and that we really know well. But, we must hold back. We need to develop the skill to give just enough, give a hint that there is more to find out, and let the children know how they can go about discovering more independently. The seeds we sow are all the presentations in our albums. We have stories, concepts, demonstrations, and much more. These seeds need to be sown in the 6-9 class first. Do not neglect any of the seeds. Sow as many as possible.
The training course comprises all of the presentations for 6-9 year olds. These give the children a foundational knowledge of the Universe, the Earth, and its inhabitants. We will give children general pictures at this 6-9 level and will not present every detail to them but we give them the broad picture so their interests can begin to germinate. Our basic curriculum is no different for the 9-12 class. We will revisit many of the very same presentations but it is at this age that we go into more detail. We are still offering Cosmic Education, still dealing with the same essential keys and concepts, but in greater depth. We can think of it as weaving a basic tapestry at the 6-9 level and using the embroidery thread for embellishment at the 9-12 level.
In the 9-12 class, children have developed necessary abilities and skills. These have enabled them to deepen their understanding and undertake more in-depth research. An example is our Second Timeline of Human Beings. With the 6-9 year olds, we point out the names of certain ancient cultures that are printed on the timeline. 9-12 year olds though, will make specific investigations into these cultures such as the Solutrean and the others that are on the timeline, and then perhaps find there are even others that are not on the timeline and investigate those. They may want to go deeper into a study of archaeology based on this research. They may want to do a comparison of early stone sculptures on different continents. The possibilities are limitless.
Consolidation and Crystallization of the Universe
There is a parallel here with the first plane of development. During the first sub-plane, from birth to 3 years, the child meets the world. He is exposed to everything that makes up the environment; supported and enabled by his family, he explores everything he can. In the second sub-plane, the child enters the Casa dei Bambini, which is an expanded environment. There is more to explore and the child begins to classify earlier impressions. It is a period of consolidation and crystallization.
In the second plane there is a similar pattern. The child meets the many aspects of the Universe in the 6-9 classroom. He begins to work on answering questions about how and why. In the second sub-plane, the child undertakes a deeper study of these same ideas. The earlier information consolidates and deepens. Experiences are synthesized in the second sub-plane.
It is our responsibility to know as much as we can about the second plane, to respond to the Human Tendencies as they are expressed via second-plane characteristics. It is our responsibility to honor and nurture the great reasoning and imaginative abilities of children at this plane of development. It is our responsibility to enthuse the children to their inmost cores.
