THREE-HOUR WORK CYCLE OF FREE CHOICE
Through her years of observation, Maria Montessori realised that when children are able to work freely, they have a certain work cycle that is so predictable that it can even be represented
graphically. This cycle is represented by ‘two peaks and a valley’. In this context, Maria Montessori speaks of the so-called ‘polarisation of attention’, i.e. the complete absorption of the
child in a self-chosen task, from which it draws energy and motivation instead of tiring. Children need a phase of about three hours of free choice of work to develop. For this reason, children
in Montessori centres have at least these three hours to decide on independent work and to ‘sink into’ it intensively (‘flow’), to repeat it to their own satisfaction or to increase their
performance through new and more difficult tasks.
