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"from your children? The European war is far less dangerous to their bodies than the spiritual risks which they run. We must imagine a much greater war, a universal one, to which all young men are called, and where the survivors are pointed out as absolutely exceptional. Therefore you are educating your sons for death. What, then, is the use of troubling so much about them? Is it not useless to take care of their soft hair, and their rosy nails, and the fresh and bewitching beauty of their vigorous little bodies, if they are to die before long?

"Ah! all those who love children must fight in this deadly war, and struggle for peace." 
   

— Dr. Maria Montessori
From Spontaneos Activity in Education

Dr. Montessori wrote this in 1917, as the first great war tore Europe asunder. Like the wisest soldier, she knew that peace must be the ultimate goal of any struggle. In the United States we have an annual holiday known as Memorial Day, when we honor the men and women who have fallen in military service. We at CGMS honor them, just as we honor all those who have struggled and continue to struggle to improve this world, whether they be a soldier fighting to free a nation from tyranny, or someone risking everything to teach truths forbidden to young girls in some oppressive corner of the world.

Thoughts for the day:

• What is this "greater" spiritual war to which all children are called?
• What might Dr. Montessori mean when she asserts that parents are educating their children for "death" in this war? How can we avoid this?
• Do you know anyone who has put themselves in peril in order to fight for freedom? Please thank them if they still live. If not, today is a day to remember the good they brought to our world.

If you want to extend your professional development, or if you are interested in becoming a certified Montessori teacher, now is the time to visit our website at www.guidedstudies.com for more information.

" and assuages those desires which consume his precious powers in the vanity of illusion. Such a result is not to be achieved by imagining that he is living among his own possessions. Some teachers in charge of a model orphanage once said to me: ‘We too make our children perform the exercises of practical life which you describe; come and see.’ I went. Some of the authorities were also present, and a university professor of pedagogy.

Some children seated at a little table with playthings were laying the table for a doll’s meal; their faces were quite without expression.

I looked in amazement at the persons who had invited me. They seemed quite satisfied; they evidently thought that there was no difference between laying a table in play and laying it for an actual meal. For them imaginary life and real life were the same thing. May not this subtle form of error be instilled in infancy and afterwards persist as a mental attitude? " 
   

— Dr. Maria Montessori
From Spontaneos Activity in Education

Dr. Montessori stressed that the classroom belongs to the children. In today’s quote we gain a glimpse of why she felt this way.

Thoughts for the day:

* Why is it important that children own and control things in their environments?

* Is the classroom environment sufficient, or should the home environment also be involved?

* Is this need for control different for children than it is for adults? What kinds of ownership do you require from your home and work environments?

* If you currently work in a classroom, what are the ways that you communicate ownership?

CGMS’ next groups all begin soon.  If you want to extend your professional development, or if you are interested in becoming a certified Montessori teacher, now is the time to visit our website at www.guidedstudies.com for more information.

"…Reality is studied in detail, then the whole is imagined. The detail is able to grow in the imagination, and so total knowledge is attained. The act of studying things is, in a way, meditation on detail. This is to say that the qualities of a fragment of nature are deeply impressed upon an individual." 
   

— Dr. Maria Montessori
From Childhood to Adolescence

The role of the imagination may be one of the most contentious in Montessori today. Dr. Montessori did encourage educators to understand the distinction between fantasy and the real work of the child. Clearly she sees imagination as serving a critical function in the development of the child.

Thoughts for the day:

* Why do we tend to discourage children from misusing the classroom materials with imaginative play?

* What is the difference between fantasy and imagination? Do they each have a place?

*  What is the developmental role of the imagination in children? Is this role different than in adults?

*  How can a teacher enlist the imagination as an asset in the classroom?

Our next Primary and Elementary teacher training groups begin soon. Please visit our website at www.guidedstudies.com for more information.

"…for the progress of the world is continually opening new careers, and at the same time closing or revolutionizing the traditional types of employment." 
   

— Dr. Maria Montessori
From Childhood to Adolescence

When Dr. Montessori wrote this quote in 1948, most of humanity still lived by subsistence farming. There had not yet been an information technology revolution. A "computer" was not a device, but someone who spent her or his days computing figures. The term "outsourcing" hadn’t yet been invented. Most people expected to a good job to last their entire lives. 

Thoughts for the day:

* How does a Montessori education help children develop into adaptable adults?

* How adaptable are you to the ever accelerating changes around us?

CGMS’ next Primary and Elementary teacher training groups begin soon. Please visit our website at www.guidedstudies.com for more information.

"…is no small undertaking, it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live." 
   

— Dr. Maria Montessori
Education and Peace – Address in Copenhagen May 1937

Please visit our website at www.guidedstudies.com for more information.