Infancy: Infancy occurs from age 0-6. From birth to 3 “the child has a type of mind that an adult cannot approach” (Montessori, 1995, p. 30). It is not our responsibility, nor is it within our capability, to change the child at this age. However, by age 6 the child begins becoming susceptible to adult influence, and is “sufficiently intelligent to go to school” (Montessori, 1995, p. 30). In this stage, the unconscious mind is formed by the environment and impressions shape the newborn brain, “impressions do not merely enter his mind, they form it” (Montessori, 1995, p. 36). Where in ages 0-3 “the child absorbed his world through his unconscious intelligence, merely by being moved around in it, now” in ages 3-6, “he takes in consciously, using his hands (Standing, 1998, p. 112). The absorption of language and other knowledge occurs primarily through the senses as a means of interacting with the environment. Infants hold within them an instinctual creativity which makes them adept at “building up a psychic world at the expense of his environment” (Montessori, 1836, p. 37). We had knowledge of the physical development of the child, “but until Montessori spoke … the psychic development of the child was not available to us” (McDermott, 2011). This process of growth is one which “goes on independently of us (the adult), & we can only help by providing the best conditions” (Standing, 1998, p. 110). Furthermore, the mother does not teach her child to talk, walk, or speak, “it is not the mother, but the child himself who spontaneously does these things” (Montessori, 1946, p. 3). The child maintains their absorbent mind in this period, and can work tirelessly, and without fatigue. Sensitive periods begin this motivation for tireless work to create themselves, but “it is useless to try to catch the sensitive period after it has passed” (Standing, 1998, p. 136). Sensitive periods of order, refinement of movement, language, refinement of the sense, sensitivity to small objects, grace/courtesy, aesthetics, independence, and concentration occur in this time period. Childhood: Childhood occurs from age 6-12. By ages 6-12, the child is mentally “in a state of health, strength, and assured stability” (Montessori, 1995, p. 30). In this stage, direct help impedes growth. Although the child is ready for instruction and impressionable by adult interaction, it is most advantageous to step back and allow the child to interact with the prepared environment. Where the stage of infancy contained growth with transformation, ages 6-12 exhibit growth without much transformation. The new growth of the child nods a directress towards informing her instruction by her students’ developmental stages. “Successive levels of education must correspond to the successive personalities of the child” (Montessori, 1973, p. 1). This second level of education which occurs from 7-12 includes a “veritable metamorphosis” (Montessori, 1973, p. 2). Sensitive periods of cosmic order, moral order, analytical thinking, peer or herding association (social) occur in this time period. Adolescence: Adolescence occurs from age 12-18. Dr. Montessori describes this stage as “a period of so much change as to remind me of the first” (Montessori, 1995, p. 30). This stage includes “the creation of a socially conscious individual” (Standing, 1998, p. 116). This third level of education, the period of adolescence, includes “all these traits – physical as much as psychic – constitute the links of the chain which is the metamorphosis of the child” (Montessori, 1973, p. 2). Sensitive periods for service and justice occur in this time period. Maturity: Maturity occurs from age 18-death. After 18, a human is “fully developed, and no further marked changes occur in him. He grows only in age” (Montessori, 1995, p. 30). Where the child was constantly changing, the adult has “reached the norm of the species” (Montessori, qtd. in Standing, 1998, p. 106). While the child’s mind may be unconscious, whereas the adult’s mind conscious, it is not to imply that an unconscious mind is an inferior mind. There is no more transformation in this period, only aging. Adults may find that if a sensitive period was missed in their child that they are missing certain essential developments and understandings. “Man is the ultimate synthesis containing within himself all the natural phenomena of lesser beings” (Montessori, 1936, p. 204). Adulthood or maturity is the culmination of the stages in which we can examine the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of younger instruction. Maximizing the growth which occurs in the sensitive periods of earlier stages, as is suggested by Joosten, ensures a well-rounded adult. This time period is characterized by a sense of calm and spiritual and moral independence. References Joosten, A.M. (2016). Observation. The NAMTA Journal. Vol. 41 (No. 3), pp. 199-213. McDermott, M. (2011). Four Planes of Development. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/19437369 Montessori, M., & Carter, B. B. (1936). The Secret of Childhood. London: Longmans, Green and Co. Montessori, M. (1946). Education For A New World. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. Montessori, M. (1973). From Childhood to Adolescence. New York: Schocken Books. Montessori, M. (1995). The Absorbent Mind. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Standing, E. M. (1998). Maria Montessori, her life and work. New York: Plume.
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AuthorHi! My name is Brittany Wells, and I am a Montessori 6-9 major. I was born and raised in Cincinnati and attended Xavier University Montessori Lab School, Mercy Montessori, McAuley High School, and now Xavier University! Archives
May 2020
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