The Three-Year Cycle

The progression of the Three-Year Cycle was laid out by Maria Montessori to follow the natural acquisition of skills and knowledge from year to year throughout each developmental period of a child’s life. Each step of a child’s development and learning from the time s/he enters the Montessori classroom serves as a solid foundation for the next. Each year of the Montessori program builds on the skills and knowledge acquired in earlier years. At the end of each three-year period, key skills are solidified, and the academic and personal growth that the child has been building towards in their previous two years.

To receive the full benefits of a Montessori education, a child who enrolls remains in the program for three years. The best analogy would be to say, “having poured the concrete it also needs an opportunity to cure” for the foundation to be sound. A true Montessori program works in the same way. Therefore, the importance of the three-year cycle is so crucial.

We cannot stress enough the importance of full completion of the Three-Year Cycle at Montessori School of Regina, Inc. The progression of the Three-Year Cycle was laid out by Maria Montessori to follow the natural acquisition of skills and knowledge from year to year throughout the early developmental period of a child’s life. At MSR, every single activity that the children work with are building blocks for the next skill. Nothing is arbitrary or isolated. For later knowledge building, the steps before need to be followed and to ensure acquisition of the full skill set, the final steps must also be taken. That is why we stress the completion of all three years of our program.