| THE
Vol. 24, No. 2 Spring 1999
Montessori and the Spiritual
Development of the Child
The Spiritual Development or the Child… |
| WHATlsNAMTA?
The North American Montessori Teachers' Association
provides a medium of study, interpretation, and im-… |
| THENAMTA JOURNAL
V oL. 24, No. 2 • SPRING 1999
MONTESSORI AND THE SPIRITUAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD
8
In affiliation with… |
| MONTESSORI AND THE SPIRITUAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD
THE SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILO:
KEEPING THE BALANCE… |
| !)~------------
THE SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE
CHILD: KEEPING THE BALANCE
by David Kahn
Montessori learned from observed… |
| It is no doubt that Maria Montessori saw a divine presence in young
children which made them" all-powerful,"… |
| dimension: Will Montessori graduates be focused on making the world
a better place or on making money?
The differences… |
| center of our efforts to insure, in Gianna Gobbi's words, "healthy
psychic life and [to pave] the way for human… |
| The NAMTA Joumal
5 |
| Sofia Cavalletti
6
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 2 • Spring 1999 |
| DISCOVERING THE REAL SPIRITUAL CHILD
(PART 1)
by Sofia Cavalletti
Sofia Cavalletti cites Montessori's description of… |
| in an experience of religious education known as the Catechesis of the
Good Shepherd.
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd… |
| In these pages I would like to
make a short commentary about the
two elements Maria Montessori
mentioned-the
joy and the… |
| --------------------------------
--
---
Three-year-old Mark (USA), being told by his mother that the Good
Shepherd calls… |
| A little three-year-old Mexican girl said to her mother, who wanted
to make her pray, "I pray alone and in silence.… |
| At the beginning we reacted with some fatigue, because it was hard
to see that themes that had been studied with great care,… |
| But the point which always strikes
the child-no matter what the child's
environment or culture-is that the Good… |
| love." "With eternal love I love you" say the prophets of Israel (Isaiah
54:8,Jeremiah31:3). &… |
| To be faithful to my tradition-is it a limitation? In some sense it is,
but I have to remember here that there is another… |
| I wish you to enjoy the vision of the human being in the first season
of life, blossoming at the warmth of a Person, or of a… |
| Two TRIBUTES To SoFIA CAVALLETTI
The following tributes were presented to Sofia c.avalletti at the NAMT A conference
entitled… |
| ogy and Semitic culture and history. Over the years, I slowly became
aware that, in addition to Italian and Hebrew, Sofia… |
| II
Sofia dear: Thank you. Why? It is difficult to be essential when you
would like to thank a wonderful friend for so many… |
| Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro
20
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 2 • Spring 1999 |
| DISCOVERING THE REAL SPIRITUAL CHILD
(PART 2)
by Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro
Dr. Montanaro presents an intellectual view… |
| Human beings became really
human when reflexive thinking and
spirituality could develop from their
inner potential. We have… |
| ing for a relationship with the Creator and the creation, and we will not
be satisfied unless this fundamental discovery can… |
| order to make it possible for me to do my journey with the support of an
unconditional love."
Montessori wrote,… |
| (Genesis 1:26). Because of such a miracle, the parents (and all others
interested) must acknowledge this great gift and… |
| The current spiritual renaissance, even outside traditional reli-
gious institutions, shows the necessity and the desire of… |
| The NAMTA Joumal
27 |
| Tina Lillig
28
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 2 • Spring 1999 |
| THE HISTORY OF THE CATECHESIS
OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
by Tina Lillig
Ms. Lillig gives a concise histonJ of the Catechesis of… |
| If we delay catechesis until the
customary age of six, the child has
moved into a new ethical stage in life
when God is more… |
| child. One is her demonstration, through numerous examples, of the
catechetical potential of children as young as three.… |
| Cavalletti had taken Hebrew classes with Zolli and, after earning her
doctorate, became his colleague. He is well-known… |
| joy of the children at their" awkward efforts" was the impetus for the
pair to do something more organized… |
| --------------------------------
--
Many catechists have observed that
the atrium becomes even more
important to older… |
| atrium, children sometimes make a first discovery that they have an
inner life.
THE Gooo SHEPHERD
The Catechesis of the Good… |
| calling them out, the shepherd going ahead of them, the sheep follow-
ing. This opens the way for them to work with the… |
| AN INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT
Evidence of the suitability of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
for children of diverse cultures… |
| Maria Christlieb Robles on the road to Hueytlalpan, May 1998.
38
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 2 • Spring 1999 |
| THE TOTONACA PEOPLE AND THE
CATECHESIS OF THE GooD
SHEPHERD
by Maria Christlieb Robles
Illustrating the spread of the… |
| religious sense. They are a way to worship and to express adoration,
love, and a total gift of themselves, in a cosmic… |
| an oral language and therefore oral tradition is very important. Their
principal arts and crafts are embroidery and working… |
| In March of that same year, they came back and we looked at history
as a history of the gifts from God. I presented the… |
| • "We want to be Good Samaritans."
• "You have given us consciousness of a love that never ends, an… |
| moment of a real encounter with the incarnate God. They knew Jesus
walking from town to town as they do, hungry, thirsty,… |
| • "Catechist and children are very happy, particularly the little
ones (three to four years)."
• "… |
| will help us to go deeper into this aspect of our work and to remain
faithful to it."
A big hope is ahead of us:… |
| DOING WHAT THE HEART
ALREADY KNOWS
A PERSONAL STORY OF THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT
by Gertrud Mueller Nelson
A delightful memoir… |
| Our mother, 1 five years in America and fresh to the ways of Ameri-
can Catholicism, was not daunted by being a woman. A lay… |
| everyone! Oh. So that's why lcan'tquarrel with my sisters-because I'd
be fighting with Jesus in their hearts?… |
| chairs in a bare beige room, the sun beating hot and yellow through
drawn shades.
My fear of Father Moore was the same terror… |
| I passed.
On my first communion
day, my mother took out my bap-
tismal robe-a
broad, linen
cloth, which she had fringed… |
| up's book. But I could read it all by myself. I could understand it! I could
use it. And best of all, I never had to… |
| I think that the beginnings of the liturgical reform (and Romano
Guardini and his students were certainly at the forefront of… |
| With my own children now
grown, I am grateful for children
who bring me down to earth and
keep me grounded. Children-
if we… |
| And if we complain that the elements of our liturgy have lost their
savor because we are no longer an agrarian culture, then… |
| Guardini, Romano. Sacred Signs. Trans. Elinor C. Briefs.
Westminster, MO: Newman Press, 1955.
Jung, C. G. The Symbolic Life.… |
| The NAMTA Jo11mal 51 |
| Maria Montessori, California, 1915.
58
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 2 • Spring 1999 |
| SCIENCE AND FAITH: MARIA
MONTESSORI' S PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION
by Robert G. Buckenmeyer
Dr. Buckenmeyer' sarray of… |
| Psychologists, on the other hand, were traditionally foot-bound, over-
burdened with statistical evidence, viewing "… |
| the child from scholastic slavery nor, even more, from annoy-
ing results.
The same Froebe I, whose education of children was… |
| Doctors merely assist the natural
process called health to develop
within the patient. Teachers, like
doctors, merely assist… |
| phers from Socrates, in
the Apology, referring to
himself as a midwife;
through the early Medi-
eval period, beginning… |
| is why they start a search for know ledge of that Truth. Such is also the
case with Montessori's search into how children… |
| nation, she rejects Froebel's way of doing so on the basis of fantasy
because, as she says, it forces the child to &… |
| room, calmly smiling. She sat down at the edge of my bed and
asked me: "Mario, do you see the chandelier swinging… |
| made possession with which he can do as he wishes. Rather he
will be keenly aware that the child belongs to God much more… |
| At the same time, she identifies herself as a student of philosophy.
She even translated an 1866 English edition of a book by… |
| Kingdom of Heaven." Now let us picture among those to
whom these words were spoken, an ardent, worshipping soul,
who… |
| Likewise, in The Montessori Method, she emphasizes that the "sec-
ond form of preparation, that of the spirit&… |
| the teacher and the scientist an Apostolic spirit. This Apostolic
spirit sees not only the spirit of study about the child but… |
| life, the first flowers of affection, of gentleness, of spontaneous
love for righteousness which perfume the souls of such… |
| in the child an epiphany of human nature, a Jerusalem as a city of God,
as she states in the introduction to Education for a… |
| this Ezekielian, Christlike, and" Apostolic" spirit while teaching chil-
dren. 4 This, of course, means that… |
| not yet fully formed: he has not yet gathered about him the last
folds of his robe of flesh and of love which is made up of… |
| Montessori, Maria. Education for a New World. Thiruvanmiyur,
Madras, India: Kalakshetra, 1946.
Montessori, Maria. The… |
| THE RELATION BETWEEN THE CHILD'S
WORK AND COSMIC WORK
by Gianna Gobbi
Gianna Gobbi' s essay speaks to the &… |
| All living creatures carry out specific
tasks that are directed at their own
survival: They nourish themselves,
protect… |
| Theseplantsnourish us, heal us, and delight us. What's more, their
work of respiration, in which they absorb carbon… |
| spider web is the product of the adult. What interests us is the silk, the
work of the child; thus, we want to observe the… |
| nourishes himself, breathes, and lives in favorable climatic
conditions no longer grows (physiologically, that is). Puberty… |
| • Adjusting ourselves to the child's rhythm of work;
• Proposing appropriate and intelligent projects and activi-
ties… |
| • We will get to see how the human being is formed, the human
being who is made "in the image of God" and… |
| Gerard Leonard
84
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 2 • Spring 1999 |
| COSMOS, HISTORY,
AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT
by Gerard Leonard
A rare weave of classroom examples, literary allusions, and… |
| I long to be in the heart of an island,
on a rocky peak, to look out often upon
the smooth surface of the sea.
To see the… |
| must be aroused in the coming generations," she said (The Child, Society
and the World 113).
The Montessori approach… |
| The Story of our Universe is the
most awe-inspiring tale that ever
could be told. New dimensions are
added to it almost… |
| Montessori was deeply interested in serving the child's religious
needs and creating an environment that would foster the… |
| Here is a Universe Story written by eleven-year-old David:
It all started when I was naught but sixteen-googolplex years
old… |
| "Let us give the child a vi-
sion of the whole uni verse. The
universe is an imposing real-
ity, and an answer to… |