0-3 is such an important time of development for numerous reasons. The child moves from completely helpless and passive to independent and active. Montessori discovered many sensitive periods during this time and based a great deal of her early years philosophy on these periods of intense concentration and development.

Simply put – they are periods of a childs’ development when they are drawn to or experience a need to repeatedly engage in an activity. His actions fulfill inner developmental goals, we as adults can often find hard to appreciate. The danger with these sensitive periods is that they have a timeframe and if not met fully by their actions and experience, the child moves on regardless of how refined the particular skill or need has been developed. Thus the opportunity for unbelievably fast and confident development has been lost.