Characteristics of the Child from Six to Twelve Years of Age

The second plane of development is often referred to as the “Intellectual Period.” During this time the child has a tremendous intellectual curiosity and thirst for knowledge.  The goal of this period is for the child to develop his power of reason.  Dr. Montessori said, “All other factors…sink into insignificance beside the importance of feeding the hungry intelligence and opening vast fields of knowledge to eager exploration.” In fact, in Montessori Today:  A Comprehensive Approach to Education from Birth to Adulthood, Paula Polk Lillard accurately called the child in the second plane a “reasoning explorer.”  Gone are the days when he is satisfied with bits and pieces of information and seemingly unrelated facts.  He actively builds upon his knowledge base in search of the big picture and the interrelationship of the facts he absorbed during the first plane, tackling more and more abstract ideas in the process.  He eagerly accepts challenges and is capable of a great deal of   concentration and effort.  Additionally, he has a very high energy level and sense of adventure to serve him on his quest of knowledge

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 During this time, the child has a remarkable capacity for imagination.  The foundations of the imagination lie in the sensorial experiences in the first plane of development—in order to create new mental images from an old one, the child must already have sensorial experience with the initial image.

The child under six can certainly fantasize, but prior to this point the child does not have the power to determine whether or not what he believes to be true is in fact true.  As his power of reason becomes more refined, he is able to discern fact from fantasy and use his new capacity for imagination to his advantage in this “Intellectual Period.”

The child under six focuses on the self-formation, hence his behavior is necessarily egocentric.  Now, however, the child shifts his attention to social development.  In order to become a social being, he develops more of an extroverted personality.  For the first time, he begins separating himself from his family.  He is no longer content with his position as the child in the family; therefore, his  parents’ requests are often met with objection as the child seeks more independence.  Generally he cares little about his appearance, and the good manners he exhibited in the first plane appear to have been forgotten.  He eager to form new peer groups with a chosen leader and a specified purpose.  Within these organized groups, the children play social games and often develop new standards of conduct by which to judge each other.  Although these new standards seem strange to adults, they afford the child new and different experiences that help him on his path to becoming a social being.