When reading or listening to stories about experts’ performance in any field you will always notice references made to hours of practice. Tiger Woods stands in the sand traps and repeatedly hits the golf ball toward the hole. Using flawed stone that he could barely afford, Michelangelo repeatedly carved and smoothed marble until he achieved the skill to carve his masterpiece, David. Learning the intricacies of the Cello required endless practice hours for Yo Yo Ma and as a master musician he continues the habit of practice before performances and recordings. Scientists constantly replicate experiments until they discover the newest medicines. Any great achievement, any new creation becomes a reality through concentration and repetition. It is within our essential human nature to find a better way, to improve ourselves, to create something new. Dr. Montessori defined this trait as the universal tendency for self-perfection, which drives even the youngest child to master the most basic self care functions. As adults we may not remember the amount of effort spent in learning to walk, to feed and to clothe ourselves. This drive for independence powers the work necessary to continue learning from experiences.

Self-perfection requires work, movement and experience. The repetition of precise and concentrated movements leads to higher degrees of success and personal satisfaction. The particular degree of perfection will vary for individuals but the same process is used by each. For young children, motivation is internal and external rewards are unnecessary as the purpose of the work is the activity itself rather than the end result. The young child works unconsciously to gain motor control and coordination to stand and walk; no matter how many times the child falls.

Achievement satisfies the spirit and one is refreshed rather than tired from purposeful activity that fulfills these natural tendencies for work, independence, and self-perfection. Throughout human history, people have worked, first for basic survival and then to improve one’s living conditions. It is human nature to not only work with the hands, but to work with the intellect. Work is the means by which people perfect themselves physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually and intellectually. Nothing is created without action.
Work for the young child is any activity which involves the creation of the self and the achievement of one’s unique potential. Precise, exact movement leads first to physical and then to mental self control. Coordinated work using the whole body will lead to concentration and inner satisfaction. It is repetition or practice that leads to self-perfection. Striving for self-perfection is the motivator and the source of spiritual renewal.

Repetition is important for the creation of memory. Memory is creating pathways between your brain cells. It is like clearing a path through a dense forest. The first time that you do it, you have to fight your way through the undergrowth. If you don't travel that path again, very quickly it will become overgrown and you may not even realize that you have been down that path. If however, you travel along that path before it begins to grow over, you will find it easier than your first journey along that way.

Successive journeys down that path mean that eventually your track will turn into a footpath, which will turn into a lane, which will turn into a road and into a motorway and so on. It is the same with your memory: the more times that you repeat patterns of thought, for example when learning new information, the more likely you will be able to recall that information. So repetition is a key part of learning. (From a web article by Michael Tipper on the educational applications of accelerated learning principles and techniques, mind mapping and memory improvement. United Kingdom Index of Educational Resources for schools and parents)

The sensitive periods serve to focus the child’s attention on the purposeful work and experiences necessary to fulfill the potential of the universal tendencies. The sensitive periods for attention to details and refinement of the senses are directly linked to the tendency for perfection. They are the inner force that motivates the child to practice the activities necessary to gain the skill, trait or knowledge. From birth the child is absorbing impressions through the senses and gradually the child refines these sense experiences and impressions. Starting with broad categories to understand the immediate surroundings, the child gradually begins to perceive finer nuances and develop intellectual clarity. The more accurate the impressions, the greater the child’s understanding. The child moves from a vague idea of the world to a much clearer perception of the world. The senses furnish the raw material for the intellect which are then refined through concrete experiences. When united with language, these concrete experiences are the foundation for abstract thinking.

Rote drills are unnecessary because the tendency for perfection and the natural inclination for repetition work together to motivate the child to practice. Concepts, skills and traits are presented through variations and extensions with the materials so that the child internalizes the learning processes and content. Much of the work involves movement and guided explorations. This leads to a high degree of self satisfaction when the child discovers and expresses with great joy … “I know that … I can do that”.

Mary MacIntosh