The Absorbent Mind
“The Absorbent Mind” by Maria Montessori gives a comprehensive education about the various stages of child development. The book has 22 chapters that cover different ideas in six major categories. The first category focuses on the formative education of the child when they are most malleable. Here, under the subcategory of world reconstruction, the author notes that the first two years of development provide the foundation of psychic construction. Under the education for life subcategory, Montessori stresses the need to instill a love for learning in children that can follow them for the rest of their life.
Next, in the second category, the author focuses on the period of growth. The book details how the various stages of psychic individuality develop and transition into the next stage. In another subcategory, the author discusses a new orientation in children where they begin to take an interest in various tasks. It can be observed that children find satisfaction in fulfilling various tasks.
Subsequently, the third category focuses on the spiritual aspects of a child’s development. In the first subcategory, the author notes that the existence of human life is a miracle of creation that has confounded thinkers of every age. In the next subcategory, the author discusses man’s universality and observes that were it not for man’s ability to adapt to his conditions and circumstances, he would long be extinct. In the third subcategory, the author discusses the concept of ‘the psycho-embryonic life’ which denotes the concept of spiritual embryo. The idea is that life begins at conception and the cell receives psychochemical impressions.
In...…second subcategory explores how character defects such as drug addictions on the part of parents can affect their young ones. The third subcategory explores how the environment the child grows in influences their need for positive contribution in society. An interesting concept is discussed in the fourth subcategory where the author notes that character development in children is an act of offense and not a defensive act. This is to say that normalization will result in uniformity of character in children and that the children who develop a different character do so by conquering their environment. Lastly, the author discusses why adults should give children limited instruction on what to do or what not to do because adults take action from a point of mental reflection while children take action based on the laws of…
Dr. Maria Montessori "We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child's spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself. That humanity which is revealed in its entire intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration. It is like the Sun which appears at dawn one flower just beginning to bloom. Education cannot
The child is uniquely retentive in his or her capacity. It is the duty of the educator to create such favorable conditions for learning, and expanding the child's capacity for abstract thinking, while still respecting the child's self-directed role in the process. The child must be treated like an integrated being, and attention must be paid to the child's developing body and sensory perceptions, as well as to the
Maria Montessori and the Process of Maturation Maria Montessori has had a dramatic effect on the methods of education. She was an insightful teacher who was had the courage to challenge traditionally held views of education at the beginning of the modern era. Maria Montessori brought vitality and insight into the classroom where children were routinely thought of empty vessels to be filled with information given to them by adults. She
Montessori School Advantages Why would a parent send a child to a Montessori classroom? The answer to that question will be provided in this paper, because Montessori schools provide educational opportunities for children that are rarely if ever successfully offered elsewhere. The strategies employed by Montessori teachers are far more holistic than in traditional public school environments, and hence, Montessori has earned a sterling reputation therein. This paper provides the background
Montessori -- Cosmic Educational Strategies The success that the Montessori system of learning has achieved is in part due to the theory of cosmic education and its affect on children. Maria Montessori wrote that the universe is "…an imposing reality, and an answer to all questions… All things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity…" (To Educate the Human Potential). Moreover, this
That is why the child's psychic manifestations are at once impulses of enthusiasm and efforts of meticulous, constant patience" (1963, p. 223). Empirical observations suggest that children want and need guidelines and rules to help them understand what is expected of them in terms of behavior, but they desperately want to be able to learn on their own and achieve a sense of accomplishment through their own endeavors - this
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