There is never a time in a Montessori child's life when they are told to stop, slow down, quit learning and wait for the rest of the class to catch up. There is always the next stage, the next materials, the follow up lesson. It's really irrelevant where the rest of the class is at. 

I try to live this at home too. Always (trying!) being one step ahead of Otis. Thinking of extension activities, wondering where he will go next.

Today was his first time matching picture-to-picture! Oh you think six cards is easy Otis? Let's try nine. 

Still too easy Otis? Let's try twelve. 

Still too easy Otis?? Are you kidding me? Let's try matching similar (the images are similar but not exact to the model). 

Ah! Although he did this quickly his language was quite different. 

Although I don't always know (or follow) the right sequence for activities I try to think about things in a logical way. It's the engagement that's important. The lesson (activity) is right once the engagement is there. 

I'm going to try and capture Otis doing this activity on video. Sometimes you can see him stop, pause and think, scanning the cards with his eyes looking for the match. Sometimes he stands up in excitement when he finds the match. Today he didn't really do anything else. Sensitive period for matching??