Status
Available
Publication
New York : Henry Holt, 1995.
Description
The Absorbent Mind was Maria Montessori's most in-depth work on her educational theory, based on decades of scientific observation of children. Her view on children and their absorbent minds was a landmark departure from the educational model at the time. This book helped start a revolution in education. Since this book first appeared there have been both cognitive and neurological studies that have confirmed what Maria Montessori knew decades ago.
User reviews
LibraryThing member LTW
This is Montessori's last book, and the most in-depth discussion of her theory based on decades of scientific observation of children. It discusses the special mind of the child, and how nurturing the special potentialities that only children have is the only way to change (and save) humanity.
This is a very dense book, and requires a good deal of concentration and time to read. I would recommmend The Child in the Family as the first book for one wanting an overview of Montessori ideas
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Montessori's theories are particularly interesting today in light of recent neurological discoveries, especially those related to critical periods and language. This is a very dense book, and requires a good deal of concentration and time to read. I would recommmend The Child in the Family as the first book for one wanting an overview of Montessori ideas
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LibraryThing member dchaikin
A tough read, especially a 120 page stretch in the middle (chapers 5-15). But, it has a special kind of complex elegance. Montessori puts forward her theories of education and the whole state of the human race. It’s a real, full, coherent education theory that actually feels workable. This I
This is not a book to pick up lightly, and it’s not the one you want to go to if you are thinking of putting your children in a Montessori school and are looking for introduction into the method. This book is work. Also, the book extends far beyond the Montessori teaching method, and only some of the details of that system are included here. Maria Montessori gave the lectures that eventually became this book while in India during WWII. She had gone to Holland after being exiled from Italy by Mussolini in the 1930’s. When the Germans overran Holland, she was placed in India. She was in her 70’s and had successfully been teaching her method for 40 years. This was book was a life's work in summary.
I think these quotes cover part of her theory as expressed here:
We, by contrast, are recipients. Impressions pour into us, and we store them in our minds; but we ourselves remain apart from them, just as a vase keeps separate from the water it contains. Instead, the child undergoes a transformation. Impressions do not merely enter his mind; they form it. They incarnate themselves into him. The child creates his own “mental muscles,” using for this what he finds in the world about him. We have named this type of mentality, The Absorbent Mind. p. 24
The hand is in direct connection with man’s soul, and not only with the individual’s soul, but also with the different ways of life the men have adopted on the earth in different places and at different times. p. 138
We often forget that imagination is a force for the discovery of the truth. p161
The pity of it is that after six, children can no longer develop character and its qualities spontaneously. Thenceforward the missionaries, who are also imperfect, find themselves faced with considerable difficulties. They are working on the smoke, and not on the fire p190
If we examine the programmes of work recommended for use in schools, we see at once their poverty and dullness. The education of today is humiliating. It produces an inferiority complex and artificially lowers the powers of man. Its very organization sets a limit to knowledge well below the natural level. p195
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think is unique in education (I’m no expert). And it is all expressed with such intelligence. I kept finding comments that just needed to be highlighted, and I copied out six pages of quotes.This is not a book to pick up lightly, and it’s not the one you want to go to if you are thinking of putting your children in a Montessori school and are looking for introduction into the method. This book is work. Also, the book extends far beyond the Montessori teaching method, and only some of the details of that system are included here. Maria Montessori gave the lectures that eventually became this book while in India during WWII. She had gone to Holland after being exiled from Italy by Mussolini in the 1930’s. When the Germans overran Holland, she was placed in India. She was in her 70’s and had successfully been teaching her method for 40 years. This was book was a life's work in summary.
I think these quotes cover part of her theory as expressed here:
We, by contrast, are recipients. Impressions pour into us, and we store them in our minds; but we ourselves remain apart from them, just as a vase keeps separate from the water it contains. Instead, the child undergoes a transformation. Impressions do not merely enter his mind; they form it. They incarnate themselves into him. The child creates his own “mental muscles,” using for this what he finds in the world about him. We have named this type of mentality, The Absorbent Mind. p. 24
The hand is in direct connection with man’s soul, and not only with the individual’s soul, but also with the different ways of life the men have adopted on the earth in different places and at different times. p. 138
We often forget that imagination is a force for the discovery of the truth. p161
The pity of it is that after six, children can no longer develop character and its qualities spontaneously. Thenceforward the missionaries, who are also imperfect, find themselves faced with considerable difficulties. They are working on the smoke, and not on the fire p190
If we examine the programmes of work recommended for use in schools, we see at once their poverty and dullness. The education of today is humiliating. It produces an inferiority complex and artificially lowers the powers of man. Its very organization sets a limit to knowledge well below the natural level. p195
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Language
Original language
Italian