The need for order

Maria Montessori, in the list of human tendencies she compiled to assist adults provide children with a supportive environment, talked about "order". The need for order in children becomes noticeable during their first year of life. And it is different from the need for order an adult might display. In a child, this need is vital: it allows her to categorize her perceptions and construct an inner conceptual framework necessary to understand and interact with the world. The sensitivity to order lasts till about the age of 5. During this period the child not only benefits from finding things in their accustomed place and following a systematic routine, which allow her to orient herself and to develop a sense of security in the environment's predictability. Order allows the child to clearly identify the relationship between objects, necessary for her to act upon the environment with purpose.