The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori

In her opinion, it is a gross educational misdemeanour to prevent them from this experimental behaviour. She observes that there are moments where children are passionately occupied with certain activities as part of their development of self. Montessori describes them as “work projects” or “the working human’s first experiments”. In the book she characterises the behaviour of the little boy as the beginnings of performative actions which has no purpose as such, but which children go about – if they are allowed.

The episode is described in the book “The Secret of Childhood” by the Italian reformer of pedagogy, Maria Montessory. The pile is not as neat as the original one, but it by no means a disaster. Then he reverses the process, until all of the napkins are back on the table again. ”One”, he says, again.Īnd he proceeds to move napkins, one by one, until all of them are piled up on the floor. Then, he returns to the stack of napkins, takes the next one, just as carefully, and places it on top of the first one. Carefully he takes the top napkin, cradling it with his hands so as not to disturb the folds and carries it across the room, and places it on the floor. It also learns that the primary goal of education is to develop these different personalities whil.There are moments where children are passionately occupied with certain activities as part of their development of self, observed Maria Montessori.Ī little boy of 18 months has found a stack of newly ironed napkins in the living room. The world is discovering that children have a personality of their own. It advised organizing the school according to the students and not forcing them to adapt to the rules established by the adults. That the educators must put themselves at the level of the students and not the other way around.Īt the beginning of the twentieth century, Montessori pedagogy was a revolution. That the preparation of educational material is essential

That each child has a different rhythm and that this teaching allows him to evolve at his own pace That this pedagogy was developed through the observation of children That the the theories of Maria Montessori and her educators are based on the freedom of the child It allows you to have the essential ideas of a big book in less than 30 minutes.īy reading this summary, you will discover how Montessori pedagogy offers children a harmonious and natural intellectual development. * Our summary is short, simple and pragmatic.

The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori