The Secret of Childhood

The Secret of Childhood

“An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.”
Maria Montessori, Education and Peace

The child is the father of the MAN. No Child, no Man! Nobody has ever become one without having been a child. Childhood has a secret but because we either do not know or know but refuse to accept or pay attention to it, we have children grow into warped adults.

Childhood has a secret. Montessori discovered it. She discovered the child and she also discovered the secret. What is it?

*Every child passes through periods of growth/stages of development, each period with its unique features/characteristics, which must be jealously guarded.

*The Child has an absorbent mind.

*The Child between birth and three years is a spiritual embryo who needs a specially prepared environment to form or construct his personality.

*The Child is a spontaneous learner and can learn anything to which he is exposed (Montessori’s reason for auto-didactic materials)

*The Child passes through sensitive periods.

*The Child has a natural path of development, which must not be disrupted; rather, we must FOLLOW him on his developmental journey.

*The Child has hidden potential and requires an environment suited to his needs to reveal and support him in realizing these potentialities.

We all know that “Life begins at the moment of conception.”

Montessori also wants us to know, respect and embrace the truth that
“Special care should be shown for the psychic life of the child. If it already has such a life at birth, how much greater will this be as it grows older? If we understand by ‘education’ a child’s psychic rather than his intellectual development, we may truly say, as it is said today, that a child’s education should begin at birth.”
Maria Montessori

The implication of all these is that a prepared environment and spiritually prepared enlightened adults (who have been trained for this purpose) are needed to nurture what nature has bestowed on the CHILD.

We cannot deny that
“There is an interchange between the individual, the spiritual embryo, and its environment. It is through the environment that the individual is molded and brought to perfection. A child is forced to come to terms with his surroundings and the efforts entailed lead to an integration of his personality.”
Maria Montessori

Can you now see why you cannot afford to joke with the type of environment in which your child is nurtured and raised?

Begin to imagine the things that happen in your home environment and its surroundings and judge whether they are positive or negative; whether they nurture or rupture the SPIRITUAL EMBRYO as well as what values they add to your child’s development.

There is no doubt that Montessori education develops your child holistically.

Cornerstone Montessori Schools is an authentic Montessori environment.

Your children are in the safekeeping of trained and caring adults who follow your child to truly navigate the natural path to construct his intelligence and personality.

Montessori’s maxim of ‘follow the child’ and freedom within limits produces children who are confident, happy, peaceful, creative, lovers of learning, considerate, unusually kind and show concern for others (empathetic).