The first idea the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil.
MARIA MONTESSORIThe first idea the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil.
MARIA MONTESSORIWe await the successsive births in the soul of the child. We give all possible material, that nothing may lack to the groping soul, and then we watch for the perfect faculty to come, safeguarding the child from interruption so that it may carry its efforts through.
MARIA MONTESSORINo, the child is the builder of man. There is no man existing who has not been formed by the child he once was.
MARIA MONTESSORIThe study of expression ought to form a part of the study of psychology, but it also comes within the province of anthropology because the habitual, life-long expressions of the face determine the wrinkles of old age, which are distinctly an anthropological characteristic.
MARIA MONTESSORIOnce we have lived, the inner spark of vision does the rest.
MARIA MONTESSORIIt is not true that I invented what is called the Montessori Method… I have studied the child; I have taken what the child has given me and expressed it, and that is what is called the Montessori Method.
MARIA MONTESSORIThe chief symptom of adolescence is a state of expectation, a tendency towards creative work, and a need for the strengthening of self-confidence.
MARIA MONTESSORIEarly childhood education is the key to the betterment of society.
MARIA MONTESSORIIf intelligence is the triumph of life, the spoken word is the marvellous means by which this intelligence is manifested.
MARIA MONTESSORIBooks are mute as far as sound is concerned. It follows that reading aloud is a combination of two distinct operations, of two ‘languages.’ It is something far more complex than speaking and reading taken separately by themselves.
MARIA MONTESSORIThe child’s mind is not the type of mind we adults possess. If we call our type of mind the conscious type, that of the child is an unconscious mind. Now an unconscious mind does not mean an inferior mind.
MARIA MONTESSORIWhen you have solved the problem of controlling the attention of the child, you have solved the entire problem of its education.
MARIA MONTESSORIWoman was always the custodian of human sentiment, morality and honour, and in these respects, man always has yielded woman the palm.
MARIA MONTESSORIThe ancient superficial idea of the uniform and progressive growth of the human personality has remained unaltered, and the erroneous belief has persisted that it is the duty of the adult to fashion the child according to the pattern required by society.
MARIA MONTESSORIThe teacher, in short, can use reading to introduce her pupils to the most varied subjects; and the moment they have been thus started, they can go on to any limit guided by the single passion for reading.
MARIA MONTESSORIThe greatest development is achieved during the first years of life, and therefore it is then that the greatest care should be taken. If this is done, then the child does not become a burden; he will reveal himself as the greatest marvel of nature.
MARIA MONTESSORI