Maria Montessori Develop Quotations

If a child finds no stimuli for the activities which would contribute to his development, he is attracted simply to 'things' and desires to posses them.

Red RodsBefore elaborating any system of education, we must therefore create a favorable environment that will encourage the flowering of a child's natural gifts. All that is needed is to remove the obstacles. And this should be the basis of, and point of departure for, all future education. The first thing to be done, therefore, is to discover the true nature of a child and then assist him in his normal development.

For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?

The word education must not be understood in the sense of teaching but of assisting the psychological development of the child.

Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements.

Two things are necessary, the development of individuality and the participation of the individual in a truly social life.

A child's character develops in accordance with the obstacles he has encountered... or the freedom favoring his development that he has enjoyed.

The child is endowed with unknown powers, which can guide us to a radiant future. If what we really want is a new world, then education must take as its aim the development of these hidden possibilities.

The development of the individual can be described as a succession of new births at consecutively higher levels.

The development of the mind comes through movement

Only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur.

The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy.

And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.