Three-period lesson
The three-period lesson is how a Montessori adult teaches a name in three short steps: say the name, ask the child to pick out the thing named, then ask the child to say the name.
Montessori's own worked example uses the pink tower. In her 1914 handbook, once the child has built the tower many times, the adult takes the largest and the smallest cubes and runs the three periods with two words: large and small.
The three periods, word for word
| Period | What the adult says | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Naming | "This is large." "This is small." | The name goes with the thing |
| 2. Recognition | "Give me the large one." "Give me the small one." | The child knows which is which |
| 3. Recall | "What is this?" | The child can produce the word |
It came from Seguin, with one rule added
The 1912 book credits the three periods to Seguin and gives them with two coloured spools: "This is red," "Give me the red," "What is this?" Seguin advised two colours at a time, never one, because the contrast helps the memory. The pink tower version does the same with the two extreme cubes.
Montessori added a period in front for ordinary children: a fine sense of the difference itself, which only the child's own work with the material gives. So the naming comes after many days of building, never on the first day.
When the answer is wrong
If the child hands over the wrong spool, the 1912 teacher does not repeat the lesson and does not insist. She smiles and puts the material away. Try again on another day.
The same three steps run through other lessons here: the sandpaper letters use them for sounds, and the world puzzle map uses them for continent names.
Sources
Passage numbers point into the public-domain texts this site checks every citation against.
- The Montessori Method, Maria Montessori (1912), ch. VI and XII, passages 39863:173, 39863:258, 39863:259: The three periods of Seguin with red and blue spools; colours two at a time for contrast; a period of sensory discrimination before the three periods; after a wrong answer the teacher does not repeat or insist.
- Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook, Maria Montessori (1914), Language and Knowledge of the World, passage 29635:64: The three periods with the largest and smallest pink cubes, after the child has built the tower many times.
To see this at work across a whole area, the sensorial lessons list every lesson in order, with its age and materials.
Related terms: control of error, isolation of difficulty, sensitive periods. All eight are in the glossary.