What is the importance of starting at 3 years old and experiencing the Early Years environment?

Maria Montessori said learning between three and six years old (the Absorbent Period) takes place spontaneously without effort, leading children to enter Junior Primary with a clear, concrete sense of many abstract concepts. Montessori helps children to become self-motivated, self-disciplined, and to retain the sense of curiosity that so many children lose along the way in traditional classrooms. They tend to act with care and respect toward their environment and each other. They are able to work at their own pace and ability. The three-year Montessori experience tends to nurture a joy of learning that prepares them for further challenges.