{Week 1- Book Club} The Absorbent Mind
Great to have you all with us today for The Absorbent Mind Chapter One. If you missed the introduction post, please take a minute to review The Absorbent Mind: CMN Advanced Book Club.
Chapter One: The Child and World Reconstruction
This books is written by Maria Montessori in 1949 in a time after war and in uncertainty. The first chapter starts with the idea that the world is not ready to take on the peace that is sought after a war because men are not educated to control events. Dr. Montessori continues that the child has an unique ability to lead us toward a brighter future because education is more than knowledge; it is personality and the development of potential.
From that thought, Montessori discusses how children are not empty minds to be filled at formally assumed, but are unconsciously learning even in the early years of life. Montessori describes how children are capable of developing themselves through observation and practice.
There are so many wonderful quotes in this books. Here are a couple of my favorites:
“Within a child there is a very scrupulous teacher.”
“So we found that education is not what the teacher gives: education is a natural process spontaneously carried our by the human individual. It is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher then becomes not one of talking, but one of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity spread in a specially prepared environment.”
After reading this chapter, do you feel modern day Montessorians follow Maria Montessori’s ideas on teacher interaction? Have you observed your own infant child learning? What is your favorite quote from this chapter?
The Absorbent Mind is free on Amazon Kindle devices.
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