Maria Montessory divided the process of child development into tree stages.
1. First stage: Absorbent Mind (0-6 years)
This is the period of transformation and the characteristic of this period is known as the Absorbent Mind. The child absorbs environment into himself. The child creates the person she will become once given an appropriate and specially prepared environment to work. Montessori said that during the absorbent mind, the Sensitive Periods are at the strongest and facilitates the child's learning process. This period can be divided into two sub-phases.
Unconscious Absorbent Mind (0-3 years). The child cannot be dictated in this period nor can be directly influenced by the adults. The child learns unconsciously from his environment by using his senses of seeing and hearing. No formal schooling is suggested in this period however provision of a suitable environment greatly helps a child in making good early impressions of the world around him. Children under the age of three, do not need to have lessons in order to learn, they simply absorb everything in the environment by experiencing it, being part of it. It is therefore important that the environment set up is good, nice and positive since this is what the child will absorb whether he chooses to or not.
Conscious Absorbent Mind (3-6 years). Child becomes sensitive to adult influence. The period from 3 to 6 years of age is a period of conscious construction when the child takes consciously from the environment. This is the bless time to play. The child realizes the environment by the work of his hands. The child starts building personality basing on the impressions stored during first three years of his life. The sense of touch gets coordinated with the mind. Hands become a prime tool of learning. This is also a time of social development. The child wants to have company of other children and can be separated from mother for short periods