There is a term called the “Three Period Lesson” in Montessori practice, which is how you teach a child any new concept in three easy steps. You don’t have to be a teacher or a fan of Montessori to do this, in fact, you are probably already doing these three steps with your child without even realizing it.
Language and vocabulary are the easiest ways to use the three-period lesson, but you can honestly do it with anything.
Step 1: Introduction
You just simply TELL your child what something is. For example, if you have three animals in front of them you might say, “This is a cow, this is a pig, and this is a horse”, as you point to each one. You will do this over and over, and show them the animal or item.
I would not recommend using more than three e
xamples when doing a lesson, you do not want to overwhelm the child with too many items and things to focus on.
Step 2: Recognition
You will ask your child to show you WHERE the item is. For example, you might say, “Can you show me where the cow is?”, and your child should be able to point to the cow. You do this with each animal or item.
You will want to spend the most time in the second period before moving on to the third period. It is very important to wait for mastery of each period before moving on, otherwise, you risk the problem of having to constantly correct the child, and them becoming frustrated in their learning. Some suggest you do not correct the child at all, just simply put the task away for another day and maybe start with period one again at a different time.
Step 3: Recall
You will ask your child WHAT the item is. For example, you might say, “What is this animal?”, as you point to the cow. Your child should be able to verbally say, “That is a cow”, or “Cow”, and name the animal or item correctly.
You can do this over and over while at home or out with your baby/child and even make a game of it. You could go over foods, animals, body parts, colors, shapes, numbers, etc. This is an incredibly easy approach to teaching a child about the world around them and having them thrive in their development. I have been doing this without even realizing it since my first child was born. I would say to him, “This is your nose”, and touch mine and his. Then later I would say to him, “Where is your nose?”, and he would touch his finger to his nose immediately with a huge smile. With many subjects we are now entering into the third period and ……..
We are still in this second period currently but someday soon he will be able to verbalize and say the word, “nose”, and understand what and where it is.
Let me know in the comments how you have used the three-period lesson with your child!