The premises of a Montessori to learning include the following:
A view of children as competent beings capable of self-directed learning.
That children learn in a distinctly different way from adults.
The ultimate importance of observation of the child interacting with his environment as the basis for ongoing curriculum development. The presentation of subsequent exercises for skill development and information a-e based on the teacher's observation that the child has mastered the current exercise(s).
Delineation of sensitive periods of development, during which a child's mind is particularly open to learning specific skills or knowledge, including development, sensorial Experimentation and refinement, and various levels of social interaction.
A belief in the "absorbent mind", that children from birth to around 6 possess limitless motivation to competence within their and to perfect skills understandings. This phenomenon is characterized by the young child's capacity for repetition of activities within sensitive period categories, such as exhaustive babbling as language practice leading to competence.
That children, masters of their environment, which has been specifically prepared for them to be comfortable, allow a maximum amount of independence.
That children learn through discovery, so didactic methods that self-correcting are used as much as possible.