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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...

A few weeks ago, my friend Katherine Brekke invited me to attend an Usborne book fair she was hosting at a local Montessori school. Usborne is a children’s book publisher that is known worldwide, and it is the leading independent children’s book publisher in the UK. At the book fair, I saw several Montessori lower-elementary students with pencils and clipboards in hand as they busily made wish lists. In typical Montessori fashion, the students were very serious about the choices they were making, asking pertinent questions about content as well as asking Katherine for her recommendations. When their shopping time was over, the students politely thanked Katherine for her time and assured her that their parents would be back for parent night that evening. As I watched the students shop, I couldn’t help thumbing through the books myself. I have a young niece and nephew, and I enjoyed looking at the books with them in mind. As I browsed through the books, I couldn’t help but notice that se...

“…the child’s sensitiveness is greater than anything we can imagine.” – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 131 There is an old English nursery rhyme that says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” However, when I reflect back on times of pain or trauma in my life they were not due to physical distress, but to mental and emotional attacks. At times of emotional distress, I can remember such vivid details, including what I was wearing, doing, and thinking. And if I am not careful, I can get caught up in the negativity all over again. Dr. Montessori understood how the mind stores and remembers the impressions that emotions leave behind and the impact this has on very young children. “It is that both the impressions the child’s mind receives, and the emotional consequences they provoke, tend to remain permanently registered in it.” She likens the impact of emotions as leaving an imprint on the child like the “mark of on a photographic plate…which app...

“When the child is given freedom to move about in a world of objects, he is naturally inclined to perform the tasks necessary for his development entirely on his own.” — Maria Montessori, Education and Peace There has been some buzz lately about the term heuristic. When I went online to check current definitions, I read on Merriam-Webster.com that heuristic is “currently in the top 1% of lookups and is the 154th most popular word on Merriam-Webster.com.” In fact, the site goes on to note that there has been a significant increase in people looking up the word “heuristic” in the last seven days. (Merriam-Webster.com) So, what does “heuristic” mean and what does it have to do with Montessori? Montessori as A Heuristic Approach to Learning Heuristic: using experience to learn and improve: involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially trial-and-error methods: of or relating to exploratory problem solving techniques that utilize se...

“What is clear is that when the child is born, he has neither hearing nor speech. So what exists? Nothing, yet all is ready to appear.” — Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 117. Chapter 11 of The Absorbent Mind is a continuation of Montessori’s discussion on language development during the first plane of development. In this chapter, she continues her description of the natural progression of language, speculating that the sensory-motor centers for language comprehension and production are “specially designed for the capture of language, of words; so it may be that this powerful hearing mechanism only responds and acts in relation to sounds of a particular kind — those of speech. If there were no special isolation of the sensitivity which directs this — if the centers were free to welcome every kind of sound — the child would start making the most astonishing noises.” (Montessori, p. 119) Studying the Works of Montessori - The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 11: How Language Calls to t...

When I began my Montessori career, finding Montessori ideas and lessons on the Internet was challenging to say the least. My colleagues and I frequently bemoaned the lack of resources and photos. Today, there are blogs, such as NAMC’s Montessori blog, YouTube videos, and social media sites , like Pinterest , where Montessori educators and parents collectively post their ideas, lessons, and advice. This wealth of information can be helpful, but it is important to remember some basic Montessori principals as you search the Internet for Montessori work. Tips for Educators: Adjusting Activities Found on the Internet for Montessori 1. Is the work beautiful? I recently saw a cutlery sorting activity that used a plastic tray and plastic cutlery. While this is a wonderful practical life activity, I couldn't help thinking how much more appealing it would have been had it used a wooden tray and real cutlery. It may have cost a bit more, but using real materials inspires children not only to...

“All children pass through a period in which they can only pronounce syllables; then they pronounce whole words, and finally, they use to perfection all the rules of syntax and grammar.” — Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind , p. 111. Last summer, my teenage son and I were visiting my sister and her family. One morning, my son found himself tending my 5-month-old nephew while the adults were getting ready. The baby, not used to his cousin, began to cry. I hurried downstairs only to hear my son say in exasperation, “I don’t know what you want. If only you could use your words!” We have all been there. Trying to decipher baby and toddler speech can be frustrating. Mono-syllables are easily misunderstood and lost in translation, leaving both child and adult bewildered and confused. Language, says Montessori, “is an instrument of collective thought. ” (Montessori, p. 108) Simply thinking a thing is not enough; there must be communication and mutual comprehension. Studying the Works of Mon...