Montessori glossary · The classroom
Three-year cycle
The three years a child spends in one mixed-age community, ending as the oldest in the room.
In plain English
What it actually means
Year one is largely absorption, year two consolidation, and year three is where the child leads, teaches and works most abstractly. Families who move on after year two often do not realize they are leaving before the payoff. The elementary years run as a second cycle on the same logic.
Why it matters to you
On a tour
Ask what happens in the third year at every school you tour.
More terms
Other words you will hear
Hear these words used properly
Tours run mid-morning, during the work cycle, year-round.