The Three Period Lesson is a way to present and introduce
concepts and "new terminology," or the names of things, to a
child: new sounds (letters), numbers (symbols), geometric
shapes, colors, and geography forms (like the land and water
forms or the continents). It is also a way to enrich the child's
vocabulary. The technique was originated by Edouard Sequin, a
French educator from the nineteenth century. There are three
stages to the Three Period Lesson: the first stage, also called
the first period, is the association or recognition of identity
stage. It is an introduction of names and or concepts to the
child. In the example lesson below, the names of three color
tablets are introduced to the child: blue, red, and yellow. The
names of the objects are introduced by the adult into the
consciousness of the child: "This is red. This is blue. And this
is yellow." In this first period, the child is making an
association with the object and the name of that object. In the
second stage or period, called the recog