The Magic of Threes

As we host observations for our current and prospective parents in the casa, we are often asked about the three year cycle. In order for your child to realize the full benefit of the educational gift you have bestowed upon them, they must complete the three year cycle. The third year is a culmination of the work they have prepared for in the first two and represents the point of arrival. You can quite honestly walk through the casa and watch lights going on throughout the room among the third year children. As the developmental phase of consciousness dawns in their sixth year, they begin to operationalize all those concepts they have passively absorbed throughout the previous three years.

The other essential part of the three year education is peer mentorship. This term is overused in educational circles today but nowhere is it more at play than in a Montessori setting. The notion is very simple: children understand differently and more deeply from their peers. A young child taken under the wing of a slightly older peer gains confidence in their independence more quickly and internalizes the code of behaviour more readily than in a setting where information is downloaded to them from an adult. For this reason, children in the casa are first steered back to their peers for guidance when they find they cannot do for themselves. The elder children also reap huge rewards from their senior roles, both through the project work that steers the themes we study to their apprenticeship as mentors to their younger friends. This also highlights the importance of a spiral education in which they revisit work they have done previously and come to know it on a different level when they “teach” it to another child. For these reasons, as well of those pertaining to a child’s growing sense of responsibility and self esteem, stewardship is a fundamental aspect of an education for peace.

The “magic threes” is a concept that runs throughout Montessori and is based on the notion that human endeavour is balanced by a beginning, a middle and an end. In order to come to a point of arrival, you must first have walked the path as an observer then let it pass through your hands many times before you can connect it into your larger system of knowledge. The prepared environment is purposely laid out to enable a child to walk through, handle and eventually construct at first concrete then increasingly abstract, symbolic forms of information and systems of communication. The three year cycle is the time continuum in which the child moves through these phases of work that corresponds with their planes of development.

Despite this, there are other factors at play for families considering a Montessori path for their child. Many parents want to enrol their children in the French immersion stream, sign on for alternative schools or optional attendance at schools outside their catchment area. These deadlines intersect with the Montessori timeline and for parents not sending their children on in Montessori at the elementary level, this may present a conundrum. Many parents also require full year, full working day coverage for their children due to the demands of their working schedule. For these, as well as other less tangible reasons, Montessori may not be the ideal choice for your family. Daycares or other school options may provide a better, one-stop “fit”.

Our reasons behind the three year commitment are admittedly pedagogical rather than logistical but we do believe they are nonetheless integral. Using a constructivist metaphor, to lay those foundations for a year or two only to leave unrealized the raising of that building would be to diminish the parts of the whole and not best serve the child. For this reason, we ask families coming into the school to uphold the three year commitment and therefore secure an unmatchable foundation in learning that will carry their child forward, whatever their future path may be. We invite you to come into the school for an observation and interview to discuss the Montessori option and most importantly, to see how it is carried in the hands of the children at The Orchard.