No social problem is as universal as the oppression of the
child. Historically, the oppressed - slaves, the servant class and
finally the workers - were minority groups who sought their
redemption through social change, often in open battle between
the oppressed and their oppressors…
But the social problem of the child is not one of class, race ...
Read more
Time enough for childhood
Little children perform slowly and deliberately many complicated actions which they love—dressing and undressing themselves, setting the table, eating, etc. In doing all these things they show extreme patience, and they carry on to a conclusion their laborious tasks, overcoming every difficulty which arises from an organism being still in the ...
Read more
Freedom, Discipline and Responsibility
“ When the teachers were weary of my observations, they began to allow the children to do whatever they pleased. I saw children with their feet on the tables, or with their fingers in their noses, and no intervention was made to correct them. I saw others push their companions, and I saw dawn in the faces of these an expression of violence; ...
Read more
Some Montessori Myths
There are people who think that the Montessori schools will not teach enough, and there are also people who fear that they will teach too much. “These delicate brains that you are training,” said a French gentleman to Dr. Montessori, “these fine ears, attuned to every faintest sound: how will they ever learn to support the uproar of our Paris ...
Read more
Mistakes and Freedom
“It is a commonplace that the child must be free. But what kind
of freedom has he been given? The only true freedom for an
individual is to have the opportunity to act independently. That
is the condition sine qua non of individuality. There is no such
thing as an individual until a person can act by himself. The
instinct guiding the child to seek ...
Read more