Understanding the progression of a Montessori education may require a paradigm shift for people accustomed to traditional, grade-oriented schools. At each level, the classroom environment protects and respects the child’s rhythm of life. It is a calm, ordered space constructed to match the children’s level of activity. Maria Montessori felt it was imperative for a child to have a place of his/her own to work—a place where a child may learn to function independently "in dignity and tranquility." The prepared environment, along with a trained guide (a Montessori teaching professional) and an innate sense of order, comprise the "laboratory" in which children experiment and grow.

Children learn logical order through the exploration of the Montessori materials. In the classroom, everything has a place and is returned to it after use. There is order in the sequence of the Montessori materials given to the child, and there is order and rhythm in the life of the group. The classroom is organized into five principal areas:

Practical Life:
The exercises of Practical Life are the most important of all because they are the foundation. It is through these exercises that children are given the opportunity to perfect themselves. They include everyday tasks used to care for our homes and gardens, ourselves, and our guests. The four divisions in this area are:

Care of the Environment

Care of the Person

Social Relations

Analysis and Control of Movement

Sensorial area (Education of the Senses):
Dr. Montessori referred to the sensorial materials as "materialized abstractions" because, through the experience with the materials, the child is able to arrive at clear abstractions. One aim of the sensorial materials is to help the child develop recall of the impressions—important aspects of the materials such as weight, color, texture, form, size and roughness. These materials are often said to contain the "keys to the world."

Math area:
Mathematics allows one to communicate in an exact way. Montessori said, "Mathematics is the basis of all practical things and of imagination." Preparation for mathematics also happens during exercises in the Practical Life and Sensorial areas. Some divisions within the mathematical area are: Introduction to numbers, the decimal system, counting, memorization, passage to abstractions, and fractions.

Language area:
Language is one of the means for raising and expanding the consciousness. These exercises include the four elements of language: sounds, words, sentences, and grammatical forms. The goal of the language exercises is helping the child reach "total reading:" comprehension, emotion and style.

Cultural area:
Geography is the science of the Earth and its life. A Montessori education offers the child the opportunity to come to a constructive and creative relationship with the whole universe or cosmos.