Fundamental Principles of
Montessori Educational
Practices
 Medical doctor, scientist & researcher:
Thorough understanding of physiological &
psychological aspects of the human being
 Child Psychiatrist:
Thorough understanding of brain functions,
psychic/mental & emotional development during
childhood. Established field of Child Neuro-psychiatry
 Anthropologist:
Thorough understanding the evolution of man as a
species
 Writer, pacifist & international lecturer:
Activist & advocate for the rights of women & children
“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 time when man’s
intelligence itself, his greatest
implement is being formed.
But not only his intelligence;
the full totality of his psychic
powers…
At no other age has the child
greater need of an intelligent
help, and any obstacle that
impedes his creative work will
lessen the chance he has of
achieving perfection.”
Montessori:
The Absorbent Mind
Yesterday: 20th Century
 Problems: Two world wars and the


-
-
-
release of an atomic bomb
Question: How to prevent the
destruction of the world by war
Montessori’s approach:
The child is the carrier of
knowledge & culture to future
generations
Understanding the formation of
the human personality is essential
for positive change
Providing an environment to assist
& enrich the developing human is
critical
Today: 21st Century
 Problem: Depletion of world
resources, devastation of the
environment, world political &
financial upheaval
 Question: How to prevent the
devastation of the world by our
lifestyle
 Montessori educational approach:
- Understanding & fostering the
development physical, mental,
emotional & social structures in
children
- Providing a suitable environment to
assist & support the developmental
needs of children
- Emphasis on independent
functioning understanding freedom
& responsibility, ability to
communicate ideas respectfully,
creativity and resourcefulness
 Developmental Education:
Understand human development & the developmental
needs of children
 Prepared Environment:
Design & prepare an environment especially suited to
each stage of development to support & enhance
development
 Biology & Environment:
Understand the interaction between the inner powers of
the biological structure and the environment and how
they affect each other
 Manipulation & Purposeful Activity:
Children use their senses and experiences within the
environment to achieve physical coordination & to
develop intelligence structures
 Education for Life
Education is not limited to academic learning but takes
the totality of human life into consideration
 Inner Discipline
Encourages understanding freedom of action and its
limits within the social group to gain internal control
and conscientious participation within a community
“Adaptation is the correlation between life &
the environment ”
M. Montessori
Adaptation:
 In human species means becoming a person of your place & time:
- Children are born with 100 billion neurons and incredible potential.
- The highest levels of adaptation occurs during period of childhood.
- Children brings the human model with enormous possibilities of adaptation .
- Humans have the capacity to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions.
For example: arctic, tropic & dessert conditions among others.
- Human genetic characteristics are in a constant process of development &
transformation through interaction with the environment.
 The child bring an internal life force from conception which evolves within
the context of a prepared environment:
- Internal powers of the child:
The Human Tendencies, the Absorbent Mind, the Sensitive Periods
- External stimulus for development:
The Environment/The Prepared Environment
The Human Tendencies:
 Natural tendencies in human species to facilitate adaptation
within the environment.
 They are described as “natural inclinations”, as an “impelling
force that will operate if not counteracted”.
 Human tendencies begin operating at the moment of birth
guiding the process of development:
- Within the stages of growth
- Throughout the evolutionary process of the human species
Human Tendencies:
- Exploration
- Orientation
- Adaptation
- Communication
- Work
- Social Behavior
- Mathematical Mind
- Spiritual Needs
Stages/Planes of Development:
 Montessori refers to them as Planes of Development.
 Remarkable process lasting around 24 years to maturity or
adulthood.
 Each phase or plane is marked by external and internal changes:
- Physical
- Mental - Emotional -Social
 Each plane has specific developmental needs to come to fruition.
 Each plane is constructed over the strengths or weaknesses of the
previous ones.
 The environment must provide the right enrichment and proper
conditions for optimum potential to develop.
Four Distinct Planes:
Infancy
Childhood
o t0 6
6 to 12
Adolescence 12 to 18
The Sensorial Explorer:
What?
The Cultural Explorer:
Why? How? When?
The Humanistic & Social
Explorer:
Who am I?
Maturity
18 to 24
The Specialist Explorer:
How can I change the world?
The Absorbent Mind
The Sensitive Periods
Period of Infancy:
 Humanization: Establishes the foundation of all the
human characteristics
 Child needs to achieve a complete adaptation to become a
person of its place and time, a member of his social group
 The child achieves his development by the use of his
senses by being active and manipulating its environment
 Subdivided in two distinct sub-phases:
- 0 to 3 Unconscious Mind: The Psychic Embryo
- 3 to 6 Conscious/Reasoning Mind
 From birth to 3: The Psychic Embryo
The child construct its psyche/mind, the amazing
development of the brain’s basic program to:
- Develops voluntary movement
- Develops language and communication skills
- Develops his/her emotional responses
- Develops social behavior
- Develops basic independent functioning
 From 3 to 6: Development of the Reasoning Mind
The child refines, organizes and classifies all the previous
sensorial experiences under the influence of a reasoning
mind.
The Absorbent Mind:
 The Absorbent Mind is a special kind of mind, present
only during infancy, disappearing around the 6th year of
age.
 The child has the capacity to “absorb” without
discrimination ALL information & experiences present in
the environment.
 Unconscious Creator: From 0 to 3 child works
unconsciously and “incarnates” all information as part of
the basic structure of the brain
 Conscious Worker: From 3 to 6 child works with
conscious awareness of his surroundings, allowing him to
refine and correct the characteristics incarnated earlier
The Sensitive Periods:
 Special universal windows of opportunity during infancy for
the acquisition of particular traits or skills.
 Transitory in
waning.
nature, slowly beginning, intensifying and
 Possibilities MUST be present in the environment for the child
to complete the acquisition these skills.
 Internally they manifest in the child as an IMPULSE.
 Externally it manifests as a preference to perform specific work
with increased repetition and enthusiasm.
 Examples: Movement, order, assimilation of images, language
and social behavior (these are not the only ones)
 If not taken advantage of will disappear, leaving the child with
a critical characteristic absent and in many cases difficult to
obtain at a later moment
 Environments are carefully prepared according to the
developmental needs of the specific stages of development.
 Activities are designed for the use and active participation of
the child through manipulation, repetition & creative use.
 Presentation of materials & modeling enhances the
possibility of the child’s interaction with the environment
through activities in critical areas for development.
 Environment includes developmentally appropriate
activities & materials for each distinct stage/phase with:
- Purpose, beauty, cleanliness & organization
- Well thought out processes to facilitate learning
 Environment dynamics are implemented as a miniature
social community with clear and consistent rules and
regulations appropriate for each level of development.
 Development of inner discipline is fostered by offering
choices, respecting the material, the environment, and
others participants of the community.
 The teacher is a guide which carefully prepares the
environment with knowledge of the specific stages,
observation of children and providing a link to the
activities or work through individual or group
presentations.
Areas in the Prepared Environment:
 Practical Life
 Care of the Person
 Care of the Environment
 Grace & Courtesy
 Language
 Spoken language
 Writing
 Reading
 Function of words
 Reading analysis
 Cultural Subjects
 Geography
 Science
 Art Appreciation
 Music
 Sensorial
 Visual discrimination
 Discrimination of form
 Tactile sense
 Auditory sense
 Sense of smell
 Sense of taste
 Mathematics
 Numbers to 10
 Decimal system
 Teens & tens/Linear counting
 Memory work
 Passage to abstraction
 Fractions
Montessori:
“The child,
making use of
all that he finds
around him
shapes himself
for the future”
Photo:
http://mariamontessori.com/mm/wpcontent/uploads/2010/10/DSC_0023.jpg
 Studying & understanding the natural development of the human
being.
 Recognition of the powers of the child for “auto-education”.
 Understanding the special mind of infancy.
 Providing a suitable prepared environment to address child’s
sensitivities & needs.
 Removing obstacles to development.
 Fostering independent functioning
 Golden Rule:
Observe – Link – Retreat - Observe
Maria Montessori:
“If no help is given to a
child, if his environment
is neglected, his psychic
life will be in constant
danger…
We must assist him from
his earliest moments…in a
delicate respect for the
outward manifestations of
this development and in
providing those means
necessary for his
formation which he
cannot obtain by his
efforts alone.”
Parent Education Series
By: Maria A. Garcia September 2011