The Absorbent Mind of a Child: Unconscious to Conscious

So, what is the “absorbent mind?” Dr. Montessori described the absorbent mind as a mind able to absorb knowledge quickly and effortlessly. Our minds are absorbent, from Dr. Montessori’s view, from birth to age six. Let’s take a closer look -

The young child's unconscious absorbent mind is the very vehicle that allows them to absorb their mother tongue, movement (roll/crawl/cruise/walk), communicate through various cries, babbling, receptively understanding before they can express themselves with words, and more. This unconscious absorption period allows the child from birth to three years of age to begin to create themselves; self-construct.

Dr. Montessori knew the young child was going to develop through this period whether their environment was well-prepared for them or not. Young children self-construct worldwide from the most remote locations to those that are bustling with activity. The young child incarnates themselves by taking in all that surrounds them and makes it a part of their very being.  

Another aspect of this truly incredible time from birth to three years is the toddler's need for order. It is not the same order found in the Children's House or older Montessori classrooms. From birth to three, our students unconsciously absorb the order around them - the order of the universe, the world, how it works and comes together, and ultimately, how they work within that order. Absorbing and internalizing this order is paramount before a child can learn the decimal system's order or the brown stair or table scrubbing. 

The world of a toddler is small, tiny. Our work as Montessori educators begins by creating order in their world with a carefully prepared environment that is theirs exclusively. With great intention, the classroom environment is understated and centers around the whole first, then the parts, and then back to the whole, so the parts are understood in the child's unconscious absorbent mind. The focus for this unconscious absorbent mind (birth to age three) rests in language, movement, and order. 

How does this happen in real-time? Great question! Toddlers are social beings. Toddlers explore. Toddlers explore all the time! Toddlers are driven to learn. From the time their eyes open, they are absorbing the environment surrounding them. Again, toddlers explore all the time, and they do so because they are internally driven to do so. They do not possess the ability to turn that need off. Everything attracts them!

What is different in the conscious absorbent mind (ages three to six years old)? A few things -

• The conscious absorbent mind thinks; consciously thinks. 
• This period invites the child to choose among many choices.
• The conscious absorbent mind wants to explain things and, in turn, will listen to things being explained to them.

The transition from unconscious to conscious begins…

Initially, toddlers move their body as one unit and, over time, refine their movement. It is why items are dropped, falls happen, or spills occur. They have yet to develop the ability to isolate movement into separate bodily parts. Through repeated episodes, the toddler begins an internal awakening that the pattern repeats with something they're doing, and so they begin to self-correct. Eventually, the hands alone move when pouring instead of the entirety of the upper torso or their arms in conjunction with their hands. Movements become sequenced. A toddler's ability to begin isolating parts of their body during movement begins to reveal the straddle from the unconscious absorbent mind into the conscious absorbent mind. 

Dr. Montessori recognized an explosion into spoken words first during the unconscious absorbent mind and, in time, an explosion into sentences. Dr. Montessori called this "an explosion into thought." When the child can put their words together to form a thought is another transitional step as the child begins straddling from the unconscious to conscious absorbent mind. Adults need to remember that whatever the toddler does, moving to the next stage of life happens when it happens. We cannot will the toddler's development to meet an adult expectation or need. 

Where do cause and effect come into play as children move through either period of the absorbent mind? Often, adults perceive a toddler as understanding an event simply because they have experienced it once or twice. This is a myth even if the event resulted in unpleasant natural consequence (climbing and falling from a table). The toddler is in the process of developing an understanding of cause and effect. Understanding is a mental process and very different from the steps involved for a child walking. Suffice it to say, the unconscious absorbent mind processes information by action on an object. The conscious absorbent mind processes information by thinking about objects or thinking about their actions on objects. Your words are not what toddlers want. They want their actions. Remember, toddlers explore through movement all the time.

Relish this time with your infant and toddler as they self-construct with their unconscious absorbent mind. Enjoy the transition with them as they move from their unconscious to conscious absorbent mind. We have the pleasure of observing our infants and toddlers move through this period once in their lives, and the experience is glorious!