How to Know if Your Child is Transitioning to the Second Plane (Elementary)
If Montessori is not brand new to you, you might be wondering: could my child be entering the second plane a little early and be ready for the elementary curriculum?
Let’s dive into some key characteristics of that second plane child. Once you know the signs, this transition is unmistakable!
Hi, I'm Aubrey Hargis, Montessorian and mom of two. I am a happy homeschooling parent. I've homeschooled my own two children since they were wee ones, and every year it's a completely new journey. Homeschooling isn't all roses, though. It can be a challenge, but I am brave, I am confident, and I am conquering all my fears. Because education is a journey we take with our children, and the opportunities for learning start over every day.
Hey, Sweet Friend (1:14)
If I were to pick one word to describe my life right now, with my homeschooled kids in this stage of life, it would be busy. This is funny to me because for years and years, I resisted busyness, and I thought of it as kind of a bad word. When you're busy, you're not actually living your life, you're not taking the time to slow down and smell the flowers. You're just rushing through!
The truth is, once your children reach the middle of the second plane, your life kind of shifts! Children kind of start speeding up, they start needing you less in order to accomplish a lot of their tasks... and so you end up with a little more time on your hands to do your own things and to get busy again, with a lot of your own hobbies. I would encourage those of you with littles right now to lean into the slower pace!
Every Parent is a Teacher (7:36)
Parents come to me often worried that they don’t know enough about a subject in order to teach their children, or to be capable of teaching their child. What I tell them is you don't have to be an expert in every single subject! All you have to do is be willing to learn about whatever subject your child is curious about...and to recognize and embrace that MOST people aren’t actually well-rounded. We evolved to be curious in MANY areas but to specialize in one or two.
Children are unique, wonderful little individuals, and I promise you, you can help your child navigate whatever they're curious about! You can help them find their resources, and to dig in to what interests them. That's what homeschooling is really all about.
Meet Marsha (9:28)
I know that so many of you come to this podcast to learn about Montessori, and are interested in figuring out your routine and your rhythm, and also wondering how to get started with it all. So, I asked the Constellation members if I could interview them, and I asked them to give some helpful tips about Montessori about what they've learned about their own journey.
Today, I am spotlighting Marsha!
the Second Plane of Development (14:35 )
Maria Montessori studied the development of children. For a long time, as a scientist and doctor, she studied how children grow and researched how other people studied human development. She observed that there are four planes of development that children go through.
We group these roughly into ages zero to six for the first plane, six to 12 for the second plane, 12 to 18 for the third plane, and ages 18 to 24 for the fourth plane (we know now that this plane could actually last until 30, depending on your development). So, our topic for today is that six to 12 year old elementary child.
We know from Dr. Montessori’s research that development is not linear. So while we can put estimated age ranges on when children MIGHT transition, each child transitions in and out of each plane differently from each other.
How do you know if your child is transitioning to the second plane?
They Become More Abstract Thinkers and Learners (16:20)
Any subject that you want to teach to your first plane child is accessible to them if there is a sensorial approach. They're learning through their senses, hands-on, and experiencing things concretely. The elementary age child they're able to kind of just jump ahead and utilize higher level abstract thinking--they don’t need to touch it first to understand it.
Their calculations become more abstract; they can hold numbers in their head with greater ease; they have greater clarity around what is fact and what is fiction.
They Wonder More About WHY than WHAT (21:36)
The first plane child is continually asking, What is this? The second plane child is really more concerned with Why is that happening? And how did it get there? And was it always that way? And what will it be in the future?
All right, so the child is diving deeper into understanding what they are curious about, and they're also starting to connect things around the world into categories that kind of go together.
This one can be harder to pinpoint; but you'll start to just notice, oh, my child is asking more of these deeper questions! They're really getting into it...they saw this thing over here, and now they're making this big connection over to this completely different subject area, and connecting the dots.
Intensely Concerned with Rules, Morality, and Justice (23:32)
If you do something that you have told them as a rule in your household, or if you've told them it's a rule in society, they will be seriously seriously concerned, and you will get in trouble for it. Your second plane child is going to be intensely disturbed, and conflicted, and they are going to feel like you've done something really wrong by breaking even the tiniest moral rule, like telling a white lie about whether or not you like a gift, or taking paint swatches from the paint store.They want to talk about these issues as they apply to our society, too.
This is the age where things you may have taught them about earlier: Black Lives Matter, issues of social justice, exploring the way people are the same and different... and all of a sudden, they want to dig in DEEP. Those initial explanations you offered are no longer enough. They want to know the why of all of societies complexities and shortcomings. This child needs to know and understand where they stand in all of history’s rights and wrongs...all the good and the evil.
They Are Able to Sustain Concentration for Much Longer (29:07)
They may engage in long, seemingly never ending big projects. Big, big, big projects: think about posterboard and then triple your posterboard size. Those big projects that spread out all over the floor. They will resist when you encourage them to scale back, and they're not going to want to put their work away, favoring to keep it out so they can continue to make progress. Big timelines, large math checkerboards--they want to take up space, and their brain can manage the scale of the work. Their sensitive period for order is over, though...so you do have to lean a little more into mess.
They Are Able to Take On More Responsibility (30:38)
At the same time that they're engaging in a big mess, their responsibility increases, and you're able to lay down some boundaries that they can understand, because they are rule-seeking children. They are able to conceive of not just the personal responsibility, but the responsibility to the greater community. The younger child might see a plant and know that a plant needs water, and just enjoy nurturing that plant. The older elementary child has maybe lost that intense interest in the plants' need for water, but they have gained the sense of responsibility for the community. They more or less water the plant out of a sense of morality...the plant needs water to live and so I must check and see when it needs water. The elementary age child is able to have more of a routine and schedule with community chores, or jobs in your home that need to be done. They also understand with greater context the natural consequences of not doing those jobs. If they don’t water the plant, it dies--and they are conscious enough to connect that to the lack of watering. If they don’t do their laundry, they don’t have clean clothes.
They Are Experiencing the Physical Changes Related to Growing Up (33:04)
They are losing their teeth and growing stronger! This is the age when children start conquering things like monkey bars and doing more daring tricks like hanging upside down from them, too. You may find that they are too strong for you to handle when they have tantrums or big emotions, as well. You will learn new strategies for comforting, diffusing, and helping your child remove themselves from situations when their emotions get too big.
They Are Interested in Groups/Social Links (34:59)
They are very social and especially love a social life full of groupthink. We tend to think of that as a bad thing, like we want them to think for themselves, right? But the elementary child really, really seeks community consensus, and feels insecure when they can’t find it. This is why you might start to see the formation of clubs!
It can be hard to be left out of the club...I know from experience. But these clubs don't necessarily stay static, they form and disband and then form again, around different personalities and different issues. So, if this is happening to your child, and you are suddenly just realizing, oh, my child is being bullied, or my child is super sensitive, part of this part of childhood is for us to help them try and figure out how to find their way in society.
Help them to learn. Help them to learn that exclusion isn't fair, and that feelings are important. This kind of behavior can start happening around age 4 but becomes pronounced in elementary aged children.
This is also the age when you'll see kids building their own forts and experiencing what it’s like to be away from the family a little bit. They might go to the playground even and choose to play all by themselves.
You might wonder: why aren't they over with the crowd and playing with everyone else? They are just building themselves into their own little societies...whether with others or alone. And that's all just part of that need to be in one's own club or with a club with friends.
Do You See This Happening With Your Child?
I am curious about if you are noticing any of these signs! If you're noticing your child is doing some of the things I have mentioned and you are on Instagram, give me a shout out or just tag me in a post or in your stories, @childoftheredwoods. I would love to hear from you!
Gratitude (40:17)
Today, I am grateful (this is hard to say!) that as a second grade child, I felt excluded and bullied. I know that sounds silly to be grateful for something like that. It was such an awful part of my life. I remember the feeling of feeling so unincluded and unliked.
But you know what? Those were really hard lessons to learn about how important it is that we need to sometimes mold ourselves to our society, even though we might have that need and drive to be different for everyone else. There's something to be said for knowing how to be part of a club and how to not just get along with other people.
This is how as early humans, we protected ourselves from the dangers that existed in the world around us. Just think about how much safer we were when we were huddled together inside our cave or huddled around a fire together ready to defend each other. It's normal for us as humans to form these little cliques...which can be healthy, or unhealthy.
Those are all learning experiences that I had as a second plane child that led me to be the person that I am today. Someone that can both be a happy part of the Montessori club...and someone who also is able to see that there is validity in different ways of thinking and being in the world.