Maria Montessori Quotes about Children - Page 4

A child is mysterious and powerful; And contains within himself the secret of human nature.

An interesting piece of work, freely chosen, which has the virtue of inducing concentration rather than fatigue, adds to the child's energies and mental capacities, and leads him to self-mastery.

Never help a child with a task that they feel they can complete themselves.

Sometimes very small children in a proper environment develop a skill and exactness in their work that can only surprise us.

We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are a part of the universe, and are connected with each other to form one whole unity. This idea helps the mind of the child to become fixed, to stop wandering in an aimless quest for knowledge. He is satisfied, having found the universal centre of himself with all things.

The child builds his inmost self out of the deeply held impressions he receives.

The child seeks for independence by means of work; an independence of body and mind.

Concentration is the key that opens up to the child the latent treasures within him.

The environment itself will teach the child, if every error he makes is manifest to him, without the intervention of a parent of teacher, who should remain a quiet observer of all that happens.

All our handling of the child will bear fruit, not only at the moment, but in the adult they are destined to become.

When the child goes out, it is the world itself that offers itself to him. Let us take the child out to show him real things instead of making objects which represent ideas and closing them up in cupboards.

If education recognizes the intrinsic value of the child's personality and provides an environment suited to spiritual growth, we have the revelation of an entirely new child whose astonishing characteristics can eventually contribute to the betterment of the world.

The child has other powers than ours, and the creation he achieves is no small one; it is everything.

It is not enough for the teacher to love the child. She must first love and understand the universe. She must prepare herself, and truly work at it.

We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child's spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself. That humanity which is revealed in all its intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration. It is like the sun which appears at dawn or a flower just beginning to bloom. Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.

I have studied the child. I have taken what the child has given me and expressed it and that is what is called the Montessori method.

A child's character develops in accordance with the obstacles he has encountered... or the freedom favoring his development that he has enjoyed.

When the children had completed an absorbing bit of work, they appeared rested and deeply pleased. It almost seemed as if a road had opened up within their souls that led to all their latent powers, revealing the better part of themselves. They exhibited a great affability to everyone, put themselves out to help others and seemed full of good will.

We must clearly understand that when we give the child freedom and independence, we are giving freedom to a worker already braced for action, who cannot live without working and being active.

The adult ought never to mold the child after himself, but should leave him alone and work always from the deepest comprehension of the child himself.

The child’s progress does not depend only on his age, but also on being free to look around him.

No social problem is as universal as the oppression of the child

The child is an enigma… He has the highest potentialities, but we do not know what he will be.

Let us treat them [children], therefore, with all the kindness which we would wish to help to develop in them.

There should be music in the child's environment, just as there does exist in the child's environment spoken speech. In the social environment the child should be considered and music should be provided.