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First plane of Development bermula dari lahir hingga lebih kurang umur 6 tahun. Di peringkat ni kanak-kanak adalah sensory explorers, explore dunia mereka dengan penglihatan, bunyi, bau, rasa dan sentuhan. Mereka belajar untuk berdikari di persekitaran mereka dan komuniti. Mereka juga membina intellect mereka sendiri dengan menyerap (absorb) semua aspek persekitaran, bahasa dan budaya di sekeliling mereka.

Pada setiap plane of development, ada satu-satu masa di mana kanak-kanak menunjukkan minat yang mendalam pada sesuatu aktiviti atau aspek dalam persekitaran. Masa ni Montessori namakan sensitive periods for learning. Contoh, sensitive period untuk bahasa aktif semasa first plane of development iaitu dari lahir hingga 6 tahun. Sensitive period ni membolehkan kanak-kanak belajar bahasa dengan mudah dan seronok. Jika, atas apapun sebab, kanak-kanak tidak belajar bercakap masa ni, sensitive period ni hilang dan pembelajaran bahasa kemudian akan memerlukan usaha yang lebih. Montessori acknowledge ini dan sediakan persekitaran, bahan-bahan dan aktiviti-aktiviti yang membantu kanak-kanak di sensitive period.

Ciri-ciri kanak-kanak di First Plane of Development (read more)

• They become functionally independent; they learn to control their movement, to communicate and to work with their hands.
• Development is shaped by the special capacity children of this age have for learning and absorbing vast amounts of information, called absorbent mind.
• Without being conscious they are learning, children ‘absorb’ impressions from the environment, impressions that construct their mind and intellect and enable them to adapt to their time and place in history.
• They experience periods during which they display heightened sensitivity to, or interest in, particular aspects of the environment, sensitive periods (windows of opportunity during which children’s intense interest, and the spontaneous activity this interest generates, enable children to learn the corresponding knowledge and skill with ease and enjoyment)
• Montessori educators observe children closely for signs of sensitive periods. They use these observations as a guide to help them choose the optimum time for offering children lessons and activities in, for example, social skills, the refinement of movement and sensory perception, language and mathematics.
• Time for enormous physical development (By the age of six, they can talk and communicate their needs; they can walk, climb, run and jump by themselves, feed and dress themselves and manage their own toileting.)
• Social and emotional development
• Mental development
• Babies are born with a strong urge to communicate and to express themselves. By age six children have
  acquired language, not only spoken language, but also the fundamental skills of writing and reading.
• At the same time children are using a mathematical mind as evidenced by their need for order and sequence and the drive for precision and accuracy. During the first six years of life children construct a foundation for later studies in arithmetic and geometry.

Senarai di bawah ambil dari sini:

Social Development 

0-3

• Individuation, the “birth” of the ego or self
• Trust in people and the environment
• Independence, achieved by being able to walk, talk, eat table food, use the toilet, etc.
• Social adaptation

Acquisition of spoken language, including dialect and gesture, ethnic idiosyncrasies, cultural values, social
attitudes and behaviors, etc. are all absorbed by the infant effortlessly from experiences within society ’s first
representative, the family. Montessori called this incarnation (Absorbent Mind 25) and suggested that it serves an adaptive purpose.

3-6

• Self-discipline
• Increased independence derived from new skills and competencies
• Knowledge of appropriate and specific social behaviors
• Patience and the ability to share
• Respect for others
• A willingness to abide by rules to create social order

Moral Development
0-3

• Nourishment of the human spirit by a warm and protective family atmosphere
• Internalization of ethical behavior patterns, empathic attitudes, religious and positive cultural values, etc.
• Perseverance, good work habits
• Ability to choose
• Self-discipline
• Independence
• Mental balance
• Sublimation of the possessive instinct
• Care and respect for the environment and for others
• Willingness to abide by rules to create social order

At the end of the period, we find the awakening of conscience, the inner voice combined with a kind of moral
intelligence that has been internalized from the order of the external environment. Somewhere between six and
seven, children become conscious of this inner voice. Meanwhile, they have acquired the ability to obey and, by
the time they are six, their obedience usually can be depended on. They begin to be responsible and feel a sense of duty. They can now listen and pay attention (Mario M. Montessori, The Child Before 7). In most countries, formal education begins at this age.
Yet, says Mario M. Montessori, “Whether we realize it or not, the subconscious of the child is a much more
powerful agent for good, beauty, and religion than any conscious teaching later on. You cannot impart spirituality to seven-year-olds by teaching moral precepts” (“Dr. Maria Montessori” 58)

Cognitive Development

0-3

• The creation of mind
• The acquisition of spoken language
• Development of memory, the power to understand, the ability to think and move intentionally.
• Formation of consciousness, self-awareness, ego

The unconscious absorbent mind, paired with the sensitive periods, creates the very mind of the human being in the first phase. The potentialities created — intellect, memory, reason, will, etc. — are expanded and refined in the second period.

3-6

• The clarification and classification of impressions absorbed in the first period (“bringing order into the chaos”)
• Increase in knowledge/vocabulary
• Refinement of sense perception/discrimination
• Logical/linear thinking
• New skills and competencies
• Sustained interest
• Augmentation of intellect

Emotional Development

0-3

• The establishment of close emotional ties with the adult caregiver
• A sense of security and safety within the family
• The first level of personality integration
• Feelings of gratitude, trust, and respect for significant adults
• Feelings of adequacy, autonomy, independence, and confidence

When the right conditions meet the child ’s need for love and security, then with the second phase (3-6),
manifestations are further articulated and advanced as the child enters a Montessori Casa dei Bambini. In this
environment, children can concentrate their energies on constructive activities. When children work in this way,
they demonstrate:

• pleasure in purposeful activity
• serenity, calmness, satisfaction, emotional equilibrium
• happiness, joy
• an anxious concern for life
• love for people and things
• emotional wellness
• warm, expressive, outgoing, and optimistic personalities

Such children have already begun to make a positive adaptation to their world and have discovered how to find
happiness, spiritually and physically, in the conditions of that world. A kind of emotional intelligence has been
created, which will hopefully serve t hem throughout the coming stages of life.