Love and Need for Order in the {Montessori} Child

In Montessori, the sensitive period for order is recognized from birth to around the age of five.

As with every sensitive period, this too, serves an important purpose.

What is Order?

Order means there is a place for everything and everything in its place. An environment that is orderly is systematically thought out, with the needs of all members of the environment carefully considered and prepared for.

While order refers to the physical environment, it also refers to the emotional environment as well as rhythms, which I will not be going into detail on today.

How Order Affects the Developing Child

Our understanding of order, based on what it means to us, is very different from that of a child. We get an external pleasure from order, it looks appealing to us, and gives us a feeling of being in control of our environment and possessions.

The child's understanding and need of order is an internal connection.

A child, as Maria Montessori studied, is formed by the environment, and thus orderliness is key. It is through his interactions with, and observations of, the environment that the child develops and refines his psyche and muscular systems.

The child is learning the relationship between himself and the environment, as well as the relationship between objects and each other.

In order to make these crucial connections, the child must have:

"precise and ordered guides, not simply some vague constructive formulae." Maria Montessori, The Secret of Chilhood

When a child is able to orient himself in this kind of secure, familiar environment, he is able to act meaningfully and purposefully according to his inner guide and the specific goals of his developmental phase.

A child in the prepared environment is able to take full advantage of his sensitive periods, which nature has provided children in order for them to develop to the fullness of their potential.

This All Sounds Great and All, But . . . 

Life is messy, and taking care of the house can be overwhelming.

Now that we have talked about how important order is, you may be wondering how to attain it. Afterall, a house of growing, and playing, kids can be anything but orderly.

To read some of my tips on how I keep our home orderly, join our email list by clicking the link below, and I will send you some exclusive content, right to your inbox.



Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you. I would also love to hear any suggestions for posts you would like me to write about. And if you are interested in following along in our daily adventures, follow us on Instagram where I post daily.

God bless,
Olivia Fischer