What are Phases of Growth?
Dr. Montessori discovered, and recent educational research has verified successive phases of growth with characteristic sensitivities which guide physical and mental development. These phases of growth, she called “sensitive periods”. They are outwardly recognizable by an intense interest which the child shows for certain sensorial and abstract experiences. Dr. Montessori discovered that the guiding sensitivities constitute needs in the child which demand fulfillment and are universal to all children. Thus, the validity of Dr. Montessori’s observations have remained constant since she began her task of the “Discovery of the Child”.
