flynn088

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 New International Version (NIV) Love, Montessori says, is not something that is learned. It is part of our heritage as human beings. We watch animals nurture and care for their young until they are old enough to survive on their own. Then, that relationship is gone; parent and young are like strangers, competing for survival. Studying Montessori – The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 28: Love and Its Source – The Child Not so with humans. “Love does not disappear when the children are grown up, and not only that, but it extends beyond the confines of the family.” (p. 294). Love, Montessori says, is permanent. And at the center of this deep and abiding love, ...

 Permit me to repeat … some words which have helped us to keep in mind all the thing of which I have been speaking. It is not a prayer, but rather a reminder, and for our teachers, an invocation, a kind of syllabus, our only syllabus: Help us, O God, to enter into the secret of childhood, so that we may know, love, and serve the child in accordance with the laws of Thy justice and following Thy holy will. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 286. What is the role of the Montessori teacher? We use the term guide, but what does that really mean? To Maria Montessori, being a guide involved a spiritual quest, one on which the adult observes and prepares for the child who is not yet ready. We watch and wait for that one material that so captures the attention that the child’s entire focus and concentration is devoted only to it. The teacher must spend her time preparing for this moment. The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27: The Teacher's Preparation — Studying Montessori The Three Stages ...

Free choice is one of the highest of all mental processes. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 271. As a NAMC tutor, I regularly get emails from new Montessori teachers who are struggling, even though they entered the classroom with every good intention. They believe in allowing students free choice in their work, and they have worked diligently in preparing the environment to support student learning. They have modified their ‘inside’ voice, and they move slowly and purposefully in the classroom. They are full of wonder and a sense of frustration then, when despite all their efforts, their Montessori environment is not peaceful. The children, having no sense of purpose, wander aimlessly. In short, the ordered environment is full of disorder. Discipline and the Teacher — Studying the Works of Montessori: The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 26 This scenario is nothing new. In fact, Dr. Montessori herself encountered it with her teachers over 100 years ago. Like all good theory, what is lac...

Conscious will is a power which develops with use and activity. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 254. When my son was young, I always knew by his behavior when he was getting sick. Normally a sweet and gentle boy, he would turn into a mean-spirited, hard-to-please child that was unrecognizable. Bedtime was a welcome reprieve for all, only to be followed the next morning by a fever and malady of some sort. Extreme ‘naughty’ behavior soon came to be followed by the adults in his life giving each other a knowing look and saying, “He must be getting sick.” He was not acting out willfully; it occurred because of a disturbance of his physical person. Montessori says that “the will does not lead to disorder and violence. These are signs of emotional disturbance and suffering.” (p. 253) When the environment and conditions are right, the will leads the child to activities to help him develop. The Three Levels of Discipline — Studying the Works of Montessori: The Absorbent Mind, Chapter ...

The great task of education must be to secure and to preserve a normality which, of its own nature, gravitates toward the center of perfection. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 239. In Chapter 23, Dr. Montessori explains that the fundamental difference between her method and conventional methods is based on the social cohesion found within the environment. This cohesion, she tells us, springs spontaneously when we allow the child to develop based on their needs. These needs are inherent in all children and are set forth by nature. “It is the society of little children who are guided by the magical powers of nature. We must value it and treasure it, because neither the character nor the social sentiment can be given by teachers. They are the products of life.” (p. 234) The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 23: Cohesion in the Social Unit Montessori found that social cohesion is an unconscious power whereby children work together for the greater good. They work without needing rewards and ...

…no one acting on the child from the outside can cause him to concentrate. Only he can organize his psychic life. — Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 222. I have been involved with Montessori education for over 13 years. When I talk to prospective teachers or parents, I find that they always ask the same questions. They want to know about the materials, the idea of mixed age grouping, the ideal class size, the amount of adult involvement, and the concept of freedom. In chapter 22 of The Absorbent Mind , Dr. Montessori addresses all of these questions. The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 22: Social Development How were the Montessori materials chosen? Although the materials used in the environment were developed by Dr. Montessori, it was the children who chose which ones were important. “We started by equipping the child’s environment with a little of everything, and left the children to choose those things they preferred.” (p. 223) It seems that the children were partial to certain mater...

The child is the spiritual builder of mankind, and obstacles to his free development are the stones in the wall by which the soul of man has become imprisoned. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 221. When my son was a toddler, he was intrigued by the minutiae of his environment. Ants crawling along the pathway were fascinating to him. Their tiny parade seemed to race from one place to another. As his tiny foot lifted in an attempt to learn what would happen if they were crushed, I gently stopped him, saying, “Ants are living creatures. Let’s watch where they are going instead.” Following their linear progression, we quietly observed them carrying food back to their nest. The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 21: Children’s Possessiveness and Its Transformations This type of care and observation was repeated with all living things. Flowers were examined to count how many petals they had or observe the delicate shades of their color variations. Glistening spider webs were viewed as fragile g...

Children construct their own characters. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 208. The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 20: Character Building is the Child’s Own Achievement Montessori tells us that the child’s sensitive period for character building is between the ages of three and six. This is the result of “a long and slow sequence of activities carried out by the child himself between the ages of three and six.” (Montessori, p. 208) Surprisingly, Montessori says that character building does not happen from our teachings. “At this time, no one can ‘teach’ the qualities of which character is composed.” The reason behind this is due to the fact that one’s conscience begins to function between ages 6 and 12. Up until then, children cannot understand or “visualize the problems of good and evil.” (Montessori, p. 208) Adults often use the phrase “use your words” with young children when assisting them to solve conflicts, but this is rarely helpful to the children. The idea that children know w...

The transition from one state to the other always follows a piece of work done by the hands with real things, work accompanied by mental concentration. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 204. The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 19: The Child’s Contribution to Society — Normalization In chapter 18, Montessori discussed two categories of character traits; those observed in children with strong wills and those observed in children with weak wills. In chapter 19, Montessori goes on to say that society groups children into three categories: those whose character or behavior needs to be corrected; those who are models of good, albeit passive, behavior; and those who are thought to be superior to others – these are often noisy, “exuberant” children whose parents think they are brilliant, even though others may not find them agreeable to be around. Montessori says that all of these characteristics/behaviors, good or bad, disappear “as soon as the children become absorbed in a piece of work that ...

It follows that the child’s character develops in accordance with the obstacles he has encountered or the freedom favoring his development that he has enjoyed. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 195. The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 18: Character and Its Defects in Childhood In today’s era of political correctness, to use the term ‘defect’ with children seems harsh and out of place. We think of things being defective, not people. Etymologically speaking, the term defect means a failure or falling away (desertion) rather than in reference to something being broken. When looked at in that respect, we can read Chapter 18 less defensively. In this case, the defects in character do not stem not from the child but from the behavior of the adults in the child’s life. Montessori grouped character defects in children into two categories: characteristics shown by children with strong wills “who resist and overcome the obstacles they meet,” (Montessori, p. 197) and characteristics shown by child...

The results we obtain with our little ones contrast oddly with the fact that mathematics is so often held to be a scourge rather than pleasure in school programs. Most people have developed ‘mental barriers’ against it. Yet all is easy if only its roots can be implanted in the absorbent mind. — Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 186. Dr. Montessori tells us that it is human nature to distinguish between and order our world based on similarities and differences of perceived qualities. The world around us is made of precise rules that follow an exact, measured order. “In our work, therefore, we have given a name to this part of the mind which is built up with exactitude, and we all it ‘the mathematical mind.’” (Montessori, p. 185) The Absorbent Mind Chapter 17: Further Elaboration, Part 3 - The Mathematical Mind Montessori created the Sensorial materials to provide a “system of materialized abstractions, or of mathematics.” (Montessori, p. 186) Each material clearly and concretely d...

Is the child’s mental horizon limited to what he sees? No. He has a type of mind that goes beyond the concrete. He has the great power of imagination. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 175-76. One of the great arguments against Montessori is the idea that Montessori education is “anti-imagination.” I assure you, nothing can be further from the truth! Montessori believed that “picturing, or conjuring up, of things not physically present depends on a special mental ability of higher order.” (Montessori, p. 176) If our knowledge was based only on what can be gained through our senses, we would have a very shallow grasp of the world around us. When do children develop their imagination? During the first plane of development, children are very concrete thinkers. They must experience the world through their senses in order to process information about it. Montessori found that children who were 3–6 year olds could make abstract connections. For instance, children working with the San...

“If we leave children free in this new kind of environment we have provided, they give us quite an unexpected impression of their nature and abilities. They seem to be happier, and they have such deep interests that they can work for long periods of time without fatigue. As a result, their minds seem to open out and they become eager for knowledge.” — Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 171. The Absorbent Mind Chapter 17: Further Elaboration: Part 1: Acquisition of Culture In Chapter 16 of The Absorbent Mind , Montessori tells us how the child moves from being an unconscious worker to becoming a conscious worker. Chapter 17 further expands these ideas, discussing the sensitive period for cultural language acquisition, the child’s use of imagination, the importance of repetition and precision, and the importance of practical life, sensorial, and mathematical education. So important are each of these ideas, that we will be spending some time addressing them in subsequent blogs. Mon...

“Hence there are two tendencies: one is the extension of consciousness by activities performed on the environment, the other is for perfecting and enrichment of those powers already formed. These show us that the period from three to six is one of ‘constructive perfectionment’ by means of activity.” – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 167 Studying the Works of Montessori - The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 16: From Unconscious to Conscious Worker Up until now, we have looked at the child as a keen but passive observer of her environment. Absorbing all that she can through her senses, the infant obtains knowledge of her environment through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. While toddlers gain mobility, they are still largely dependent on adults to satisfy their needs. It is also a time of unconscious growth. The child learns to walk and talk without thought. He doesn't wake one day and say, “I think I’ll try to roll over today.” It is something that just happens, often to the...

“The child has his own laws of development, and if we want to help him grow, it is a question of following these, and not of imposing ourselves upon him.” – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 162 Around the age of two, the child begins to make great effort physically, mentally, and spiritually. He is doing more than imitating adults. By his actions, he is building the person he is to become. When we intervene, or disrupt, his actions, we are directly interfering with his development. Montessori says that “if his cycle of activity be interrupted, the results are a deviation of personality, aimlessness, and loss of interest.” (Montessori, p. 160) Studying the Works of Montessori - The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 15: Development and Imitation For example, children, says Montessori, need to walk. Walking develops their leg muscles and coordination. It is instinctual to walk and explore both new and familiar places. Unlike adults, children don’t take walks to get places; they walk for th...

Therefore, it is clear that we must not carry the child about, but let him walk, and if his hand wishes to work, we must provide him with things on which he can exercise an intelligent activity. —Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind, p. 155 The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 14: Intelligence and the Hand Newborns are weighed, measured, and compared against developmental milestones. While not all children develop at exactly the same rate, there are general guidelines and norms for development. Growth and mobility, such as when a child rolls over, sits, crawls, stands, and walks, are all duly recorded and noted for discrepancies in development. These are the exciting milestones of mobility. Montessori tells us that while these are important, it is the work of the hand that is “in direct connection with man’s soul.” (Montessori, 1964) Mobility requires balance. Controlling one’s balance is a difficult skill that takes months of practice and years of refinement, with the main purpose being to tran...

“To have a vision of the cosmic plan, in which every form of life depends on directed movements which have effects beyond their conscious aim, is to understand the child’s work and be able to guide it better.” – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 147. “It is high time that movement came to be regarded from a new point of view in educational theory.” (Montessori, p. 136) Those words are as true today as they were when Maria Montessori first said them. What parent doesn’t dread the parent conference where they know that will hear “Johnny cannot sit in his seat”? What new teacher, who after dreaming of neat rows of desks filled with silent, attentive students, doesn’t find himself at a loss when he learns that the children know multiple ways of sitting in chairs and that the simple act of opening a textbook can cause a whole class to start talking? In her article “What schools can do to help boys succeed,” Christina Hoff Sommers states that many people feel children need to sit sti...