The Secret of Childhood

By Maria Montessori
The Spiritual Embryo
If we understand by education a childs psychic rather than
its intellectual development, we may truly say, that a
childs education should begin at birth. (page 29)
Proof of a childs psychic life may be found in the distinction
that is made between its conscious and its subconscious
activities. But even if we limit ourselves to more obvious
and basic concepts, we must admit that there is a play of
instincts within a child not only with respect to its physical
growth and nourishment but also with respect to various
psychic operations. (page 29)
Philosophers have always been intrigued with the state of a
child so helpless after birth, but up to the present teachers
and physicians have been too little concerned with it. Like
many other things that lie hidden in the subconscious, the
childs state has been considered simply as a fact without
any particular significance. (page 33)
The Sensitive Period
A child learns to adjust himself and make acquisitions in his
sensitive periods. These are like a beam that lights
interiorly or a battery that furnishes energy. (page 40)
It is this sensibility which enables a child to come into contact
with the external world in a particularly intense manner.
At such a time everything is easy; all is life and
enthusiasm. (page 40)
Order
The child was not interested in finding the object, but in

finding it in its place. (page 54)

It is a kind of inner sense that distinguishes the relationships
between various objects rather than the objects themselves.
It thus makes a whole of an environment in which the
several parts are mutually dependent. When a person is
oriented in such an environment, he can direct his activity
to the attainment of specific goals. Such an environment
provides the foundation for an integrated life. (page 55)
The Rights of the Child
Forced study brought on fear, weariness, and nervous
exhaustion. They became disheartened, and melancholy
replaced their natural gaiety. (page 210 & 211)
Movement
Through movement, he acts upon his external environment
and thus carries out his own personal mission in the world.
Movement is not only an impression of the ego but it is an
indispensable factor in the development of consciousness,
since it is the only real means which places the ego in a
clearly defined relationship with external reality.
Movement, or physical activity, is thus an essential factor
in intellectual growth, which depends upon the
impressions received from outside. Through movement we
come in contact with external reality, and it is through
these contacts that we eventually acquire even abstract
ideas. Physical activity connects the spirit with the world,
but the spirit has need of action in two fold sense, to
acquire concepts and to express it self exteriorly. (page 97)
The Hand
The two bodily movements most intimately connected with
mans intelligence are those of the tongue, which he uses
for speaking, and those of his hands, which he employs for
work. (page 80)

 The first movement of his small hand toward external objects

should thus be eagerly awaited. (page 82)
The first intelligent moving of these tiny hands, the first thrust
of that movement which represents the effort of the ego to
penetrate the world should fill an adults mind with
admiration. But instead he is afraid of those tiny hands
stretching out for things that are of no value and
importance in themselves, and he strives to keep them
from the child. He is constantly saying, Dont touch!
just as he constantly repeats, Be still! Keep quiet! (page
82)
The order to develop his mind a child must have objects in his
environment which he can hear and see. Since he must
develop himself through his movements, through the work
of his hands, he has need of objects with which he can
work that provide motivation for his activity. (page 82)
I HEAR AND I FORGET;
I SEE AND I REMEMBER;
I DO AND I UNDERSTAND.
BY MARIA MONTESSORI