We know that the Absorbent Mind is the name given by Montessori to the way the mind of children under six basically functions.  Without effort, sometimes without awareness, the child takes in every aspect of the life around her.  They “absorb” the language of the family/culture, the preferred food of the culture, the dress, the types of homes, even movement patterns of the culture.  

Every aspect of life—both physical and psychological—is taken in as the normal way of things.  The absorbed information can be positive or negative—the child of this age is not capable of distinguishing the difference and cannot make a judgment about either positive or negative.  The development of the child is very individual, and we believe that this is when strong individuals develop.

Somewhere between 5.5 and 6ish, the way in which the mind functions begins to change.  It is a transition between an absorbent mind and a reasoning mind, a mind that compares and contrasts, a mind that wants to know the reason behind all things, why things function the way they function. 

The transitioning characteristics in some instances are noticeable immediately whereas other characteristics change more gradually.  The elementary child, the reasoning mind child is a very different child from the absorbent mind child.  As the child gradually exhibits the characteristics of the second plane child, they leave behind the characteristics of a first plane child.  This transition can take up to six months—it is a transitional period.