Montessori chapter 10

Maria Montessori Her Life and Work by E. Mortimer Standing
Chapter 10 - Deviations and Normality or Growth and Inner Directives

The miracle of growth is a mystery, but we can observe a few principles about it:
--Every organism grows according to its kind.
--Organisms selectively use matter taken from the environment to grow.
--They use a process called digestion to assimilate that matter into themselves.

The mind is the same way and uses the same principles. It takes in impressions and digests them for mental growth. [CM said that the mind took in and digested intangible ideas, not sensory impressions of the environment, to grow and broaden.] Montessori said that the child's body voluntarily moved and experienced tactile sensations while the mind used a spiritual force. Mind and body somehow worked in unison for the child's growth and development. Mental imbalance manifested as bad habits and naughty behavior will result if mind and body are prevented from acting together. How does this happen? If the child is prevented from physical movement when he wants to move, or when the adult's will takes precedence over the child's [coersion?] And sometimes the child needs more guidance to figure out how to get mind/body working together. If left without help, children sometimes don't know what to do and will be bored and get into mischief. Engaging the mind and body with learning/work (in a Montessori environment) will restore balance.

A Montessori teacher who has a disobedient child added to her class needs to be firm and respectful with him, continue offering learning activities without pressuring him to do them, and let him be free to choose to participate or not as long as he isn't disruptive. One day he'll suddenly and spontaneously take to it with his whole being and his entire concentration. Then he'll begin returning to 'normality.'

What do normal (or normalized) children look like in the classroom? They like order. They love their work. They have amazing ability to concentrate. They like silence and working alone. They prefer the real world and real things to pretend and make believe. They lose their possessiveness and are content to use and share the learning materials without desiring to own them. They are docile and willing to obey. They cooperate and help each other instead of being competitive. They are self-disciplined and happy.

Children coming from public school to homeschool sometimes need time to 'deschool;' in the same way, Montessori newbies need a period of adjustment to normalize.

Montessori's discoveries about what children are capable of must not be confused with the method--the method doesn't produce a normalized child, it's the observations of normal children that led to the method [not sure I understand the distinction.] Montessori said she didn't create a novel new miracle; it's the luminous, beautiful children themselves who should be credited. Humans apparently are better than people thought. This should inspire us with hope for the human race. With prepared environments, even troubled teens can be normalized.

Does this Utopian vision mean that Montessori believed in the goodness of mankind and not original sin? No, but like stars that are neither good nor bad but follow the laws of the universe in harmony with God's design, human nature is a beautiful thing when it follows the right plan. The internal drive in children was put there by God and will respond to order. Older people might choose evil, but childhood naughtiness is often simply internal disorder that needs to be set on the right path.

Read the next part of this series, or start at the beginning.
CM's Letter to the Editor regarding Montessori
About the Pictures in the Book