This article was developed having as source the Mastercourse studies at Universidade Federal do Paraná, based on Curriculum research, Knowledge and Acquaintance on School Practices, tracing Formation by Cycles. It analyses the diversity of terms used as complement to the term "cycles" at elementary school. (Learning cycles, School by means of cycles, Teaching by means of cycles, Development cycles, Formation cycles; Cycles of Studies) and explains the inadequacy of its use indistinctly. Considering the epistemological basis and supporting axes of School Curriculum, it ponders the automatic promotion and continued progression and its links with Teaching by means of cycles.
Cycle; continued progression; automatic promotion; supporting axes