The Absorbent Mind

by Maria Montessori

Violent reactions or tantrums express a state of exasperation, when he cannot attain his expression.

A small child in our house wanted to copy his sister of three, who was learning her first steps in dancing. The teacher had wanted to know how to teach so young a child to dance ballet, etc. We said: “Never mind, you try it; what does it matter whether she learns or not; you will receive your salary.” Knowing that we were working to help the child, she agreed to try. Immediately the one and a half year old, said: “Me, too!” The teacher said: “Absolutely impossible,” and when we said: “Try it,” she said it was derogatory to her dignity as a teacher of ballet to teach a baby of one and a half years. We suggested she put her dignity in her pocket, so at last she came to the house, somewhat disgruntled, threw her hat on the sofa and began to play a march. The little one was immediately furious, and shrieked and would not move. The teacher said: “You see, you can’t teach one so small,” But the child was not distressed about the dancing; he was having a discussion with the hat, addressing it with fury. He did not use the name of the hat itself, nor that of the teacher; he just used two words which he repeated with concentrated fury: “Hat-rack! Hall!” meaning: “This hat must not be here on the sofa, but on the hat-rack in the hall!” He had forgotten the dance and the pleasures of life, he had his duty to perform of changing disorder into order before anything else. When the hat was on the hat-rack, his fury went and he was ready to dance. Till then the fundamental need for order ...

The task of the teacher of small children is very noble. It belongs to a science that will develop in the future, and will help mental development and the growth of character.

We must remember, if nothing else, that we must realize: 1 . That education in the first two years of life is important to the whole life. 2. That the child is endowed with great intelligence which we cannot see. 3. That he has an extreme sensitivity which may (under any violence) bring forth, not re-action only, but defects incorporated in his personality.

In education as a whole movement is sadly neglected and all importance is given to the brain.

There is nothing in this world which does not form part of a universal economy; and if we have spiritual richness, aesthetic greatness, it is not for ourselves, it is part of the spiritual, universal economy and must be used for the universe. The spiritual powers are wealth, but not personal wealth; they must be put into circulation for the rest to enjoy; they must be expressed, made use of, and in this way complete the cycle of relationship.

If one should believe in reincarnation and say: “I shall have a better life next time if I live well now,” this is selfish. We have reduced the spiritual to the vegetative level. We are always thinking of ourselves, of ourselves in eternity. We are egotists for eternity.

Let us make a comparison. If we have lungs, a stomach, a heart, it is necessary that these function in order to have health. Why not apply the same rule to the nervous system? If we have a brain, senses and organs of movement, they must function, and if we do not exercise every part we cannot even understand them with certainty.

In other words, we can obtain spiritual uplift through action.

People think that the muscles are merely there and have to be used in order to keep better bodily health. In order to keep fit or as recreation we play tennis. If we do that we can breathe more deeply. What an idea! Or we go for a walk to ensure better digestion and sleep, forsooth! This mistake is penetrating education.

The result is that, since the child must develop physically as well as mentally, we must include physical exercise, games, etc. What has mental life to do with physical pastimes? Nothing. Yet we cannot separate two things that nature has put together. If we consider physical life on one side and mental life on the other, we break the cycle of relation, and the actions of man remain separated from the brain.

whereas the real purpose is that movement be the servant of the whole life and of the spiritual, universal economy of the world.

Mind and activity are two parts of the same cycle and, moreover, movement is the expression of the superior part.

Otherwise we make man a mass of muscles, but without a brain.

But mental development must be connected with movement and is dependent on it. This is the new idea that must enter educational theory and practice.

Our new conception stresses the importance of movement as a help to the development of the brain, once it is placed in relation to the center. Mental development and even spiritual development can and must be helped by movement. Without movement there is no progress and no health (mentally speaking).

They are demonstrated whenever we observe nature, her facts, and the precision given to this observation conies from watching the development of the child.

one sees that he develops his mind by using his movements.

scientifically observed, shows that he develops his intelligence generally through movement.

Observations made all over the world have shown that the child demonstrates that movement helps psychic development, that development expresses itself in its turn by further movement and action.

psyche and movement belong to the...

Now muscles (flesh), the activity of which is directed by the brain, are called voluntary muscles; that means that they are moved by the will of the individual. The will is one of the greatest expressions of the psyche. Without that energy psychic life does not exist. Therefore, since the voluntary muscles are the muscles depending on the will, they are a psychic organ.

The number of muscles in man is so great that he can achieve any movement, so we do not speak of exercise of movement, but of co-ordination of movement. This co-ordination is not given, it has to be created and achieved by the psyche.

In other words the child creates his own movements and, having done so, perfects them. The child has a creative part in this work and then achieves a development of what he has created through a series of exercises.

So we might say that his characteristic is universal versatility, but there is one condition: he must construct them himself. He must work and create by will, and repeat the exercises for coordination sub-consciously as to their purpose, but voluntarily as to his initiative.

We see in movement as it is developed the work of the individual, and the work of the individual is expressing his psychic life; it is the psychic life itself. It has at its disposal a great treasure of movements, so movement is developed in service of the central part, i.e. of the psychic life.

If man does not develop all his muscles, even of those he does develop some are only for rough work. So man’s psychic life is limited in as much as his muscles only develop for rough action, not for refined action.

If the number of muscles in use is not sufficient, then there is a weakness of the whole life. That is why gymnastics, games, etc., were introduced in education; too many muscles were being left aside.

Some forms of ‘modern’ education develop movement just because there is a desire to serve a certain direct purpose in social life; e.g. one child must write well because he is going to be a teacher and another is going to be coal heaver so he must shovel well.

The principle and idea today are too much directed towards self-perfection, self-realization. If we understand

the real aim of movement this self-centralization cannot exist; it must expand into the immensity of space.

‘philosophy of mo...

Nature gives a useful purpose to each living being. Each individual has its own characteristic movements with its own fixed purpose. The creation of the world is a harmonious co-ordination of all these activities with a set purpose.

When we speak about ‘behavior,’ the behavior of men and animals, we refer to their purposeful movements. This behavior is the center of their practical life. It is not confined to the practical life in a house, cleaning the rooms, washing clothes, etc. This is important of course, but everyone in the world must move with a larger purpose, everyone must work not for himself alone, but also for others.

It is strange that man’s work must also be work in the service of others. If this were not so, his work would have no more meaning than gymnastic exercise.

but even dancing would be pointless without an audience, without a social or transcendental aim. The dancers who perfect their movements with so much trouble and fatigue, dance for others.

What about the psychological benefits of movement? Walking and dancing helps to increase metal health, to feel less anxious and stressed.

If we have a vision of the cosmic plan in which every form of life in the world is based on purposeful movements, having their purpose not in themselves alone, we shall be able to understand and to direct the children’s work better.

Intelligence And The Hand

The hand then depends on the psyche for development, and not only on the psyche of an individual ego, but also on the psychic life of different epochs.

We see that the development of the hand is connected with the development of the intelligence in man and if we look at history, it is connected with the development of civilization.

We might say that, when man thinks, he thinks and acts with his hands and almost as soon as man appeared on the earth, he lef...

The development of the hand therefore goes side by side with the development of the intelligence.

St. Francis of Assisi whose spirit was perhaps the simplest and purest once said: “You see these mountains; these are our temples and from these we must seek inspiration.” Yet when once asked to build a church he and his spiritual brethren being poor used the rough stones that were available.

Everywhere are the traces of the hand of man, and in these traces we can read the spirit of man and the thought of his time.

When we look into these prehistoric times, we see there the rougher sort of civilization based on strength: the statues and works of art are formed from huge masses of stones and we wonder how they got there.

Elsewhere we see finer works of art and we say: “Here was a more refined race.” How do we know? No man of them is left, but the works of man tell us.

se$m

The hands therefore are connected with psychic life.

When we studied language we saw that speech is connected especially with hearing, whereas in the development of movement we see this is connected with sight; first of all because we must have eyes to see where to put our feet, and when we work with our hands we must see what we do.

At ten months observation of the environment has awakened the interest of the child and he wants to catch hold of it;