| especially in the beginning. Once the child has become acquainted
with the different names, it is no longer essential and the… |
| Still later in the reading stage,
booklets may be used which have
again the same illustrations, each of
them constituting a… |
| which the descriptive items belong. To give an example, after having
placed on the table the "leaf" and the… |
| same answer, the teacher asks the rest of the children, and, when they
all agree, places the strip under the appropriate name-… |
| As the child's knowledge grows, the world becomes different for
him. Sometimes he wants to make sure, as it happened in… |
| The NAMTA Journal
25 |
| Mario Montessori standing behind Maria
Montessori at the Theosophical Society, 1947.
Seated at right: Sir Archibald Nye,… |
| Kodaikanal, India
THE IMPACT OF INDIA
by Mario M. Montessori
Looking back on the checkered life of Dr. Montessori in this… |
| where we -
d with
t and
spi•
At the time, Dr. Montessori and I cer-
tainly felt the inner burden of the situation.
It was… |
| and our activity was developed in many places, from Kashmir to
Ceylon.
This in itself was a great advantage for conducting… |
| ment, the development of independence, the development of intelli-
gence ...
There also one could observe absorption at an… |
| direttamente da Dio. lo nascondo
il mio immenso potere e lo uso per
ridurre la mia divinita a umanita-
per diventare come te… |
| discoveries of Maria Montessori, which are set forth in this book,
special assistants were trained to guide the mothers in the… |
| The NA.MTA Journal
33 |
| Mario Montessori, 1970
34
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 23, No. 2 • Spring 1998 |
| Kodaikanal, India
THE KooAIKANAL EXPERIENCE:
KAHN-MONTESSORI
INTERVIEW
by David Kahn
David Kahn: You once alluded to… |
| of creation should
fashion that the
e it but absorb it
i
h~y will feel that
o
lace to live in, a
p ace w ere generosity… |
| Montessori: In particular, they observed and detected different
aspects of the plants.
Kahn: How did you work it? Would they… |
| Montessori: No. She was a great scientist; she actually took a
degree in biology after she finished her study of medicine. She… |
| that existed; nature's equilibrium would be maintained. The moun-
tains, the rain, why didn't it rain here, and why… |
| had its cosmic task. And some of these tasks were not pleasant for
human beings. The children might consider the task horrible… |
| contained by a cylinder, it pushes together. When you take the sides
of the cylinder off, it pushes together. Then you… |
| Montessori: Yes. In the olden times, Dr. Montessori had the
children up to six, and then from time to time would keep children… |
| The NAMTA Journal
43 |
| Maria Montessori, 1950
44
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 23, No. 2 • Spring 1998 |
| Kodaikanal, India
THE UNCONSCIOUS IN HISTORY
by Maria Montessori
In the book The Absorbent Mind, the influence of the &… |
| man start as but a species of the group of monkeys: He handles stones
in a manner analogous to chimpanzees, who, submitted to… |
| later. It is not surprising, therefore, that the scientific conception of
history has embarked today upon a similar path. Only… |
| The term unconscious concerns us, the humans. It is true that of all
living beings we alone are endowed with the gift of… |
| advantage of the evolution of the whole in which all take part than
with its own salvation.
Thus the purpose of life is shown… |
| atmosphere, they are the salvation of the earthly life of the whole
animal kingdom.
Let us consider aquatic life; the second… |
| Let us once again penetrate into the realm of fantasy and endow
the corals with consciousness. They would first of all realize… |
| Why, in all that time, did they not seek a more digestible food,
strong and large as they are and so powerfully armed? If the… |
| which not only man but the very earth owes it gratitude. Nor would
the cow, were it to become even as conscious as we are,… |
| when one picks them up? Their food is the humus-the earth itself,
that is to say-and their hunger is insatiable. Their… |
| Yes, there are innumerable agriculturists, gardeners, sweepers,
grave diggers that keep order upon the earth so that nature… |
| species. He must overcome dangers and seek security to ensure his
safety. Perhaps he resumes, within his personality, all the… |
| environment, Earth. Each, following its instincts, the dictates of the
unconscious, performs a task as if it were a cosmic… |
| nations, famous for the products of their intelligence, act as if they
had never even brushed the fringe of civilization.
In… |
| And if
we look at
the great de-
posits of coal
which plants
took millions
of years in
burying, and
,
The •unconscious… |
| splitting of the atom, this is shorter than a flash, as short as that fiat
we attribute to the character of Divine Creation.… |
| Struggling with the elements, primitive man lived and worked in
direct contact with nature. Only gradually did he build a form… |
| In his gradual advance through successive civilizations man has
become more and more linked with the rest of humanity, not… |
| The conception of "supra-nature" differs greatly from that of the
"supernatural." The… |
| Life, to compose its substances, uses the same atoms as does
inorganic nature, but it gives them a new organization,… |
| London, England
MONTESSORI AND THE DEEPER FREEDOM
by Mario M. Montessori and Claude A. Claremont
I am inclined to think that… |
| child-being, as she used to say, an extra-social entity-did not seem
to have any environment other than the one made by adults… |
| f
h
n
r
h
olutlon
ems. It
oun
idence j
e
plasticine, bits of wood and
nails, unlimited water in a
waist-high tank,… |
| than the game, deeper than the implements of the game, which the
game and its implements combine to satisfy? This it is that… |
| its shape can be distinguished by the hand which grasps it as well as
by the eye. With this the child can "spell by… |
| These sudden outbursts, which Dr. Montessori aptly terms "explo-
sions," are prepared not just by growing,… |
| from forms and gives names to each; it abstracts the idea of length
from the many things that are long and when it uses the… |
| THE NEED FOR EXPERIMENTATION
But the process of perfecting all these expedients and devices,
from the point of view of making… |
| But this does not mean that other devices of equal value may not
still be "hidden within the womb of time,"… |
| hatching, but later show a reversal of this tropism and seek those at
lower levels. Dr. Montessori saw the analogy between… |
| perforce-like the earlier part of her work-in collaboration with the
child). Needing, as it would, government support, no… |
| THE TEACHER'S STATUS
Turning back from vision to achievement, certain practical con-
sequences demand a reference,… |
| development from birth until the age of three. But the child of any
age, when observed under ideal conditions, shows forth man… |
| More than 30 years had to
pass before Dr. Montessori and
her followers-collaborators, she
often called them-working
by… |
| learn-which
is the true mental attitude for every experimental
scientist. It is difficult, in these few words, to do justice… |
| her death, any more than chemistry ended with Lavoisier. Her name
is not just a landmark in a series of other names, nor is… |
| The NAMTA Journal
81 |
| Advanced Course, London, 1957-58.
Mario Montessori is seated in canter of front row. Muriel Dwyer: far left, front row.… |
| London, England
THE CHILD BEFORE SEVEN YEARS OF AGE
THE CHILD AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF AGE
and
WHAT CHILDREN TAUGHT
DR.… |
| human accomplishments are concerned, he started at zero. He had no
conscious intelligence and no logical way of reasoning; now… |
| Coupled with this profound admiration for his family is the
desire to be always with them.
All small children are introverts… |
| animals. In some primitive tribes the child would begin to go hunting
or fishing with his father.
An inner wisdom has been… |
| He has become adapted to his group as it is at the particular time
when he is growing up and to his environment and whatever… |
| and wherefores, so that it is quite clear in his mind how things
function and what causes them to do so. If he is interested… |
| he will become a social being. This is how na hue, the Mind behind the
Universe, prepares him for his task as an adult… |
| with great thoroughness and perspicacity. And, as formerly stated,
he must have followed some inner directive that caused him… |
| visitor who happened to come on the day the disaster occurred. But
the older children were distressed and anxious to find out… |
| This craving for visualizing the causes and the instrumental inter-
play of different objects that produce a certain effect is… |
| the adventurous spirit, the need to understand precisely how things
function-without
these there could be no scientific… |
| speed, on answering questions inside a time limit, and on quick-fire
mental arithmetic.
Such automatism has little to do with… |
| to build a fire, you are expected to admire his fire even if it is a poor
one. Once he has mastered the technique, however,… |
| Loyalty of the child to his group has already been mentioned.
Since the group is generally in opposition to the adult, it may… |
| What kind of education will help his development, help the child
to realize his tendencies? We have seen that at this age he… |
| There is also the scientific preparation for going out, which he
receives through the study of geography, biology, botany.… |
| ......
Above all, we must remember his spiritual needs, his idealism,
his longing to serve a cause, to attach himself to the… |
| Mario Montessori, 1970
100 The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 23, No. 2 • Spring 1998 |
| SPIRITUAL OUTLOOK AND THE CHILD
by Mario M. Montessori
edited by Renilde Montessori
Last month, in Edinburgh, Professor A.J… |
| The cure appears, however, to have proved worse than the
disease, so much so that today the trend to return "to the… |
| The change of behavior surprised not only Dr. Montessori but the
visitors who flocked from all parts of the world to witness… |
| not that also show that if some passing event in the child's life can
leave its mark in the adult being, the continued… |
| To provide for the education of young children is a luxury,
however. Almost every government, while sympathizing with the… |
| A LETTER FROM
MR. MARIO M. MONTESSORI
December 1973
Unavoidable circumstances have made it impossible to have the
last… |
| Now the signs are all there. Selfishness and greed for better
conditions prevail to such an extent that pollution is growing… |
| work. This might be so when applied to adults, for their work
concerns the fatiguing exploitation of the natural environment,… |
| to do the task well had
required from him a vol-
untary control of his move-
ments.
Dr.
Montessori
stresses that it is… |
| the complex multiplicity of life and on humanity, of both of which
they have followed the evolution. They have admiration for… |
| MONTESSORI MATERIALS
In Montessori schools the environmem is the principal teacher, every piece of
material carefully chosen… |
| --
en
Nienhuis Montessori ...
on the cutting edge of Educational Reform.
Educational
reform? No easy task! Innovative… |