Part 1 (1/2)
Spontaneous Activity in Education
by Maria Montessori
I
A SURVEY OF THE CHILD'S LIFE
=The general lahich govern the child's psychical health have their parallel in those of its physical health=--Many persons who have askedchildren on lines that would e, have expressed a doubt whether this would be possible
The difficulties they put forward are in to respect the will of others rather than his own? Should he not so him to carry out a necessary, rather than a chosen, task?
Finally, should he not learn self-sacrifice, since man's life is not a life of ease and enjoy certain practical items of elee of six, and e their objection in this forly specter of arithrammar What do you propose? Would you abolish all this, or do you admit that the child must inevitably bow to these necessities?
It is obvious that the whole of the argument revolves round the interpretation of that ”liberty” which is the avowed basis of the system of education advocated by me
Perhaps in a short time all these objections will provoke a sether with my commentary on them, in future editions of this work But at the present tih indeed it is not very easy to give a direct, clear and convincing answer to the of questions on which everybody has firmly rooted convictions
A parallel ood deal of the work
Indirectly, these questions have been answered already by the progress iene Hoere they treated formerly? Many, no doubt, can still rearded as indispensable by the masses An infant had to be strapped and swaddled, or its legs would grow crooked; the liga eventually; it was important that it should alear a cap to keep its ears froed as not to cause perood s toand sharp instead of round and snub, and put little gold earrings through the lobes of their ears very soon after birth ”to iotten in some countries; but in others they obtain to this day
Who does not re a baby to walk?
Even in the first months after birth, at a period of life when the nervous system is not completely developed, and it is impossible for the infant to coordinate its move baby to walk” Holding the little creature by the body, they watched the aimless movements of the tiny feet, and deluded the an effort to walk; and because it does actually by degrees begin to arch its feet and ress to her instruction When finally the h not the equilibriu power to stand on the feet--mothers made use of certain straps hich they held up the baby's body, and thus round with themselves; or, when they had no time to spare, they put the baby into a kind of bell-shaped basket, the broad base of which prevented it fro its are of the basket; thus the child, though it could not rise on its feet, _advanced_, _
Other relics of a very recent past are a species of convex crohich were put round the heads of babies when they were considered capable of rising to their feet, and were accordingly emancipated fro accustomed hitherto to supports comparable to the crutches of the cripple, fell perpetually, and the croas a protection to the head, which would otherwise have been injured
What were the revelations of Science, when it entered upon the scene for the salvation of the child? It certainly offered no perfectedthe noses and the ears, nor did it enlightenbabies to walk immediately after birth No It proclaimed first of all that Nature itself will determine the shape of heads, noses, and ears; that ue cut; and further, that legs will grow straight and that the function of walking will come naturally, and requires no intervention
Hence it follows that we should leave as much as possible to Nature; and the more the babe is left free to develop, the more rapidly and perfectly will he achieve his proper proportions and higher functions
Thus swaddling bands are abolished, and the ”utmost tranquillity in a restful position” is recos perfectly free, will be left lying full length, and not jogged up and down to ”a by this device It will not be forced to walk before it is time When this time comes, it will raise itself and walk spontaneously
In these days nearly all -bands, straps, and baskets have practically disappeared
As a result, babies have straighter legs and walk better and earlier than formerly
This is an established fact, and aone; for what a constant anxiety it htness of a child's legs, and the shape of its nose, ears, and head were the direct results of our care! What a responsibility, to which every one must have felt unequal! And what a relief to say: ”Nature will think of that I will leave row in beauty; I will be a quiescent spectator of thewith regard to the inner life of the child We are beset by such anxieties as these: it is necessary to for and ordering of the emotions And we ask ourselves hoe are to do this Here and there we touch the soul of the child, or we constrain it by special restrictions, much as mothers used to press the noses of their babies or strap down their ears And we conceal our anxiety beneath a certain row up possessing character, intelligence and feeling But when all these things are lacking, we are vanquished What are we to do then? Who will give character to a degenerate, intelligence to an idiot, human emotions to a moral maniac?
If it were really true that men acquired all such qualities by these fitful manipulations of their souls, it would suffice to apply a little y to the process when these souls are evidently feeble But this is not sufficient
Then we are no more the creators of spiritual than of physical forulates all these things If we are convinced of this, weobstacles to natural develop to deal with many separate problems--such as, what are the best aids to the develople problem will present itself as the basis of all education: How are we to give the child freedo this freedoous to those laid down by science for the forrowth; it is a freedom in which the head, the nose, and the ears will attain the highest beauty, and the gait the utenital powers of the individual Thus here again liberty, the sole means, will lead to the ence and sentiive to us, the educators, peace, and the possibility of conterowth
This liberty will further deliver us froht of a fictitious responsibility and a dangerous illusion
Woe to us, e believe ourselves responsible for matters that do not concern us, and delude ourselves with the idea that we are perfecting things that will perfect themselves quite independently of us! For then we are like lunatics; and the profound question arises: What, then, is our trueourselves, what is indeed the truth? And what sins of oe? If, like Chanticleer, we believe that the sun rises in thebecause the cock has crohat duties shall we find e come to our senses?