Maria Montessori Quotes

The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn.

Do not tell them how to do it. Show them how to do it and do not say a word. If you tell them, they will watch your lips move. If you show them, they will want to do it themselves.

The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school, but for life.

Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and when the grass of the meadows is wet with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning.

There is a great sense of community within the Montessori classroom, where children of differing ages work together in an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competitiveness. There is respect for the environment and for the individuals within it, which comes through experience of freedom within the community.

To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.

The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six.

The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope that humanity can develop in a new direction.

What the hand does the mind remembers.

We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.

Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world.

The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one’s self. Adults work to finish a task, but the child works in order to grow, and is working to create the adult, the person that is to be. Such experience is not just play... it is work he must do in order to grow up.

Our aim is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his innermost core.

The greatest sign of success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."

Peace is what every human being is craving for, and it can be brought about by humanity through the child.

This is the treasure we need today - helping the child become independent of us and make his way by himself, receiving in return his gifts of hope and light.

Joy is the evidence of inner growth.

One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.

Joy, feeling one’s own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul.

The child has a mind able to absorb knowledge. He has the power to teach himself.

The first aim of the prepared environment is, as far as it is possible, to render the growing child independent of the adult.

Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.

We are the sowers - our children are those who reap. We labor so that future generations will be better and nobler than we are.

Play is the work of the child.

When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their strength.