18 Months~3 Years Old (Potty Training Not Required)
The Absorbent Mind
Montessori described the young child’s unconscious creative state as, “The Absorbent Mind.” She compared the mind to a sponge because the child literally absorbs information for his environment. This quality allows the child to see the world using his five senses as tools. In the same way a two-year-old child absorbs his native language and reproduces it perfectly without ever being taught, the child in a Montessori environment is given the opportunity to have “hands on” experience with his world. The toddler is not interested in academic pursuits; what he is interested in is his world. In a Montessori toddler environment he is given the keys to its exploration through the materials offered to him. It is the real world that we give to him, because it is in the real world he is going to live.