Three Period Lessons: The Magic of True Learning

Last weekend, as the air warmed and the sun shone brightly, we went out for a family walk with the dog. G spotted some friends out playing in their yard and wanted to joining them. We left her there to play and continued on our walk. When we lapped the cul-de-sac, I overheard Georgia giving her friends, 5½ and 8 years old, a Three Period Lesson. She had lined up four balls in descending size, pointed to second smallest ball and told the girls “This one is big.” She pointed to the next ball and said, “This one is bigger.” Finally, she pointed to the largest ball and said, “This one is biggest,” quickly followed by the request to move the biggest one. We were just passing out of earshot, when I heard her ask, “Which one is the biggest?”

Of course, her technique was imperfect, but I was impressed by the scene. Taking what she had internalized from school to play, she demonstrated her mastery of the concept, not just of size and how that size changes in context, but how to impart that information to others in a way that allows them to have an “a-ha moment.”

The Three Period Lesson is one of the hallmarks of Montessori education. The Three Period Lesson supports the process of learning by allowing the child time to consolidate the information through review and repetition which ensures that the child integrates the information deeply and permanently.

Maria Montessori borrowed the technique of the Three Period Lesson from the French physician, Edouard Seguin and said that The Three Period Lesson made the most sense for true, deep learning.

The Three Period Lesson is very straight forward consisting of three stages and only the language specific to the information being conveyed is given. During the first period, a short stage in which the new language is introduced, the child is shown three objects and given the names of them. For instance, if the child is learning the names of the geometric shapes, only three shapes are learned at a time and each is named several times.

The second period is the longest, allowing for extensive practice and review, sometimes being repeated for several days. This stage is quick-paced and involves a lot movement by the child. The child is given the name of the object and asked to identified it among the the three related objects previously named in the first period. The most important aspect of this is that the child physically manipulates the object -- moving it around the mat, picking it up, putting it down, or carrying it somewhere.

The child’s success during the second period depends on the teacher not giving the child visual cues, not creating a pattern of requests, and keeping the objects moving around the mat so that the child does not memorize their position.

The third period is the shortest and occurs when the child demonstrates readiness to move to new language. In this period, the child’s understanding and comprehension of the concept is “tested.” The child’s retention of the information is gauged by asking the child to identify the objects or qualities of objects explored in the first and second periods. The child is asked to name the objects. Unlike the first two periods, in which the teacher names the objects, the child names the objects. When the child can correctly identify the objects, he has mastered the concept.

The Three Period Lesson is used extensively to help children learn not just the names of common, and not so common objects, but also mathematical concepts, physical qualities of objects, the names of all the continents, oceans, and countries, and well as the names and sounds of musical notes. The Three Period Lesson is the magic of true, deep learning.