Maria Montessori books

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Hainstock, E. (1968). Teaching Montessori in the home. New York: Random House.

Hainstock offers suggestions for providing an at-home Montessori program for children from the age of two through five. She establishes the goal of giving the child a sense of discovery and awareness. Sensitive periods are delineated, and Montessori's life and basic philosophy are outlined. Hainstock points out that the child must be taught independence, and she warns the parent to resist the temptation to help the child.

Parents who desire to establish a Montessori learning environment must have a specific place and equipment for the home school. At the beginning, the materials should be used only for school time so that the child learns respect for them as learning devices. The parent should establish a schedule which involves one and a half to two hours at the same time each day. Learning activities should be stopped while the child is still enjoying what he/ she is doing.

Hainstock suggests that the child be taught to be responsible for his/her own room, and that chores be assigned that are the sole responsibility of the child.

The author provides a list of items to prepare the learning environment. In addition, she lists activities, their purposes and how they should be demonstrated to the child. Instructions for making equipment are given as well as patterns for sandpaper letters and numbers and geometric inserts.

Montessori, M. (1949). Education and Peace. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company.

This book is comprised of a collection of speeches made by Dr. Montessori at international congresses and conferences. A common theme is the notion that adults are bent on conquest. Human society has not yet achieved a level of organization necessary to confront its current needs. Despite enormous technological advances, humans have not learned to tame their own inner energies. Consequently, we have a tendency to think of peace as domination of a loser by a winner.

Montessori suggests that we make the child the basis for restructuring our own psyches. The child is, after all, the incarnation of human individuality. When a child's aspirations are left unsatisfied, the child suffers from arrested mental, moral, and psychic development.

Two things are needed for peace in the world: a new, better human and an environment which places no limits on the aspirations of the individual. Education is the best weapon for peace. Education for peace involves the spiritual development of the human being, enhancing his/her value and preparing him/her to understand the times in which he/she lives.

There is a need for recognition of us all as members of the human race. There is need to establish moral agreement among all people; this will assist in the development of a better human being who will show us how to make all mankind aware of its unity.

Montessori suggests establishing the Party of the Child; the goal of this social movement will be to bring about recognition of the dignity of the child.

A brief discussion of the Montessori Method is conducted.

Montessori, M. [1978 (1941)]. Dr. Montessori's own handbook. New York: Shocken Books.

Montessori published this handbook for use by parents and educators who expressed interest in implementing her methods in America. She points out that the child must develop in the areas of motor skills (learning to walk, maintain balance, etc.) and sensory skills (reception of sensations from the environment.) The latter provides the groundwork for intelligence through observation, comparison, and judgment.

Montessori describes the "Children's House," an environment which is adapted to the needs and size of the child so that he/she has the opportunity to develop activities.

Montessori's method is of three parts. The first is motor education which includes care and management of the educational environment. The second is sensory education which is enhanced through the use of didactic materials. These methods encourage the child to recognize variances in shapes, colors and sizes. Last, language is addressed through precision of sensory description and teacher modeling.

The role of the teacher becomes that of "directoress" permitting the child to participate in auto-education through trial and error. The teacher guides the child, keeping enthusiasm alive. At the heart of the Montessori method is respect for the child and recognition that each child has special needs.

Montessori, M. [1965 (1917)]. Spontaneous activity in education: the advanced Montessori method. New York: Shocken Books.

Montessori states that the basis of her method is liberty, and that educators must avoid putting obstacles in the way of the child's natural development. To this end, the child should be given an environment which is proportioned to his/her size to permit him/her the liberty to pursue exercises which are at his/her own level. Hence, the child will develop an active life which will result in an improved spiritual life and the seed of intellectual life; the health of the body is dependent upon the health of the spirit.

Montessori finds fault with standard educational processes which seek to render the child obedient by any mean. In essence, the teacher replaces the child's intelligence with his/her own. Instead, Montessori urges teachers to abandon the lecture method and to allow students to discover things on their own.

Organization is seen in the physical development of the child. Likewise, the child should be permitted to have the liberty to experience exercises which are organized according to his/her internal development. Providing a "staircase of experience" allow the natural evolution of the soul and will lead to equilibrium, serenity and self discipline. The child will select activities based upon his/her own needs; the teacher cannot possibly know the intimate needs of each child.

Montessori discusses in detail her observations of children's work habits and involvement in activities.

Freedom in intellectual work is the basis for internal discipline. As a child masters skills, he/she masters him/herself; Montessori calls this the "phenomenon of discipline."

Teachers must become more scientific in their approach; the development of observation skills and patience is necessary. In addition, the teacher must have knowledge of the physical needs of the child.

Schools should assume the role of generating and sponsoring reform in the care of the child. Art and items of beauty should be used in the classroom, as they promote concentration of thought.

The natural chain requires gradual movement from what the child knows to what the child does not know.

Persistence is the foundation of will, and decision is an act of will. Children must be provided the freedom to learn to balance impulses and inhibitions. Otherwise, they will be enslaved by their inability to make decisions for themselves.

Imagination commences with contact with reality. Man should not empty the creative activity of thought for its own sake without basing it on truth. Hence, it is necessary for children to perceive things in their environment exactly.

School as a place where social awareness is developed. Prizes and punishments lead to anxiety and unconscious acceptance of injustice. To have students of varying ability levels compete with no another leaves the gifted child with no one to emulate. In addition, a child with greater financial means will not recognize his/her advantage over the child of lesser means.

Montessori, M. [1966 (1948)]. The discovery of the child. Madras, India: Kalakshetra Publications.

Montessori discusses the development of her method on this book. She credits the work of Edward Seguin as being instrumental in the creation of her ideas. She worked experimentally with "defectives" who were institutionalized before she applied her methods to work with "normal" children.

Montessori provides specific information regarding her methods. Included are descriptions of materials to be used, physical measurement of the children, and specific exercises for the classroom. Techniques for the development of writing, reading and arithmetic skills are presented.

The inclusion of nature in education is discussed. Montessori cities Itard's The Savage of Aveyron, a description of the education of a young boy who survived being lost in the wilds during his early childhood.

Mental work should be bound to the physical being. Exercises of the practical life are real and proper "gymnastics." We must help the child develop exactness and economy of movement. Montessori's silence exercises are also described.

Montessori reminds teachers that objects are the principal agents of learning, not the educator. In learning, the child should be the active being, not the teacher. To this end, Montessori provides instruction as to how materials are to be presented to students.

Montessori, M. [1970 (1960)]. The secret of childhood. Notre Dame, Indiana: Fides Publishers.

In this publication, Montessori expounds on the premise that the child is the father of the man. Psychoanalysis has led to the discovery of the significance of childhood events.

Getting to know the soul of the child is an indispensable element for the moral development of mankind. To this end, Montessori discusses the development of the infant who is born into an alien environment which has been modified by man. Rather than handling the newborn with the roughness which is our wont, we should provide for the psychic adjustment of the baby to the world surrounding it.

Every creature has within it instincts which transcend the functions of the physiological organs, and the child possesses an active psychic life even when he/she cannot manifest it.

The senses initiate psychic development. There are "sensitive periods" in development which are points when the greatest growth occurs. If the child is faced with obstacles during these sensitive periods, it will suffer warping of it being. Obstacles are often due to conflict with the parent as a result of the child acting independently.

By the time the child reaches age two, he/she is sensitive to order in its environment; this provides for inner order and orientation.

Parents frequently substitute their own personality for that of the child by imposing his/her will on the child. Restraining the child inhibits the development of personality and intelligence. Parents should adapt themselves to the child's needs and should not be an obstacle to the child's development.

Montessori describes the development of her method.

Interest and fascination arise form the elimination of anything confusing and superfluous. Anything which contributes to the development of the child will be of interest to him. The volume includes a chart of items which children find to be of interest and those which are extraneous.

The teacher must be a person of humility and intellectual purity. Montessori discusses how the teacher should be prepared spiritually.

There are deviations such as selfishness, desire for power, inferiority complex, etc., which stand in the way of the child's development.

The child has the right to feel him/herself to be of value.

Chattin-McNichols, John (1992). The Montessori Controversy. Albany: Delnar Publishers

This book presents a balanced and up-to-date view of the Montessori method in the context of contemporary early childhood education and child development theory. It focuses primarily on the preschool level, although one chapter is devoted to elementary Montessori.

The first chapters are very good as basic information for people who are not familiar with Montessori, such as parents or beginning students in education classess. After an introductory chapter on the various meanings of "Montessori", a chapter deals with common misconceptions. Another chapter is devoted to describing the historical reasons for the lack of understanding and appreciation of Montessori by traditional educators, such as Universities and school districts. This ignorance and misinformation about a type of schooling that is both common and growing, is the controversy of the title.

The middle third of the book consists of a chapter on each of five major curriclum areas in Montessori: practical life, sensorial, math, language, and a chapter that looks at the cultural subjects (social studies and the sciences) in the Montessori elementary school.

The last third of the book examines a number of current issues in Montessori education. There is a chapter on fantasy play in the Montessori school, and another chapter on Piaget and Montessori. Two chapters provide a critical review of all the research on Montessori education. A final chapter examines current events such as public Montessori, Montessori middle schools, and so on.

Loeffler, M. (Ed.) (1992). Montessori in Contemporary American Culture. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc.

Montessori in Contemporary American Culture is a record of the 1990 Spring Symposium of the American Montessori Society. The papers compiled by editor Margaret Loeffler provide a variety of views with regards to the history of Montessori in the American educational system and how the core ideas and concepts are currently being changed and adopted based on research in the areas of child development and education. The papers presented are by Montessori advocates as well as education experts from outside the Montessori community.