Maria Montessori Quotes

[Masato]

Hey all

I think the structure/underlying philosophies behind our current western education system is a BIG part of why our world is the way it is (I am mostly referring to the parts I would consider to be negative)

I did a few grades in a Montessori environment when I was a kid, but didn't really realize it at the time. Now as a parent I think about school and education a lot more...

My wife and I put our kids through a Montessori kindergarten, and because of their age difference we could do one at a time. Now that they are both in gradeschool, we can't afford private schools for both so they are in the public school and it SUCKS ASS, lol. Seriously, so disappointed with it.

My wife teaches homeschool kids sometimes, and I am very curious about this idea, but this thread is a about MARIA MONTESSORI. In my mind, she is one of the most brilliant people ever to professionally explore the CONCEPT of education. HOW should we teach our children? WHAT should be the most important things to develop? WHY do we feel its important to teach these things to our children?

It is such a crucially important topic, that baffingly is not really addressed or taken seriously in western culture.

Montessori's ideas always seem to resonate deeply in me, I just think she was an amazing mind/soul.

Basically, the idea is to create an environment (classroom) FULL of hands-on, do-it-yourself learning activities. Everything is designed to be tactile, and so that the chid can access it INDEPENDENTLY, figure out how to do it, and CHOOSE which of the activities he/she is interested in. Differences in children were accepted and encouraged, the unique-ness of every child always respected. Age groups co-exist together, classrooms are usually set up with Grades 1-3 together, 4-6 together, and I'm not sure if it exists higher than that (?) - SELF-LEARNING, CURIOSITY, and EXPLORATION was the key, to make the child enjoy learning for its own sake.

Enjoy:

[Masato]

"We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it should be a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being."


"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'"


"One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child."


"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed."


"The teacher must derive not only the capacity, but the desire, to observe natural phenomena. The teacher must understand and feel her position of observer: the activity must lie in the phenomenon."


“The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.”


“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.”

[Masato]

“It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.”


“The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy.”


“Respect all the reasonable forms of activity in which the child engages and try to understand them.”


“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.”


“The child, in fact, once he feels sure of himself, will no longer seek the approval of authority after every step.”


“The environment itself will teach the child, if every error he makes is manifest to him, without the intervention of a parent of teacher, who should remain a quiet observer of all that happens.”


“Of all things love is the most potent.”


“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.”


“The human hand allows the minds to reveal itself.”


“To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.”


“The child’s progress does not depend only on his age, but also on being free to look around him.”

[Masato]

“Only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur.”


“The child builds his inmost self out of the deeply held impressions he receives.”


“Growth is not merely a harmonious increase in size, but a transformation.”


“The prize and punishments are incentives toward unnatural or forced effort, and, therefore we certainly cannot speak of the natural development of the child in connection with them.”


“Character formation cannot be taught. It comes from experience and not from explanation.”


“Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding.”


“The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.”


“The child is an enigma… He has the highest potentialities, but we do not know what he will be.”


“The activity of the child has always been looked upon as an expression of his vitality.”


“The study of love and its utilization will lead us to the source from which it springs, The Child.”


“Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements.”


“The child should live in an environment of beauty.”


“We must therefore turn to the child as to the key to the fate of our future life.”


“The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.”

[Masato]

[Masato]

Montessori classrooms:

These are not toys, folks... everything on these shelves is designed as a learning activity... they are labelled according to level, as the student progresses he/she seeks out the new activities they are allowed to access.

Younger students watch the older students doing them first, and older students are encouraged to help the younger ones figure them out:

[Masato]

Also it is very important to note that not all schools claiming to be Montessori are actually Montessori...

The name has been used and bastardized a lot to sell daycare and shit. If you are curious about this as a possibility for your kids please make sure they are a REAL Montessori school, and not some fake. There are lots.

Very few in my experience actually understand and embrace her philosophies into actual practise. When you find one it is golden