Maria Montessori The Absorbent Mind

The Absorbent Mind
“The Absorbent Mind” by Maria Montessori gives a comprehensive education about the various stages of child development. The book has 22 chapters that cover different ideas in six major categories. The first category focuses on the formative education of the child when they are most malleable. Here, under the subcategory of world reconstruction, the author notes that the first two years of development provide the foundation of psychic construction. Under the education for life subcategory, Montessori stresses the need to instill a love for learning in children that can follow them for the rest of their life.
Next, in the second category, the author focuses on the period of growth. The book details how the various stages of psychic individuality develop and transition into the next stage. In another subcategory, the author discusses a new orientation in children where they begin to take an interest in various tasks. It can be observed that children find satisfaction in fulfilling various tasks.
Subsequently, the third category focuses on the spiritual aspects of a child’s development. In the first subcategory, the author notes that the existence of human life is a miracle of creation that has confounded thinkers of every age. In the next subcategory, the author discusses man’s universality and observes that were it not for man’s ability to adapt to his conditions and circumstances, he would long be extinct. In the third subcategory, the author discusses the concept of ‘the psycho-embryonic life’ which denotes the concept of spiritual embryo. The idea is that life begins at conception and the cell receives psychochemical impressions.
In the fourth category, the author explores a child’s relationship with their environment and discusses their conquest of independence in one category and the need for care to be taken at life’s beginning because a child at this stage is highly malleable according to their environment.
Following this, a category on language and communication discusses body language and verbal communication as the primary tools a child must learn to express themselves. The first subcategory expands on this. In the second subcategory, the author discusses the call of language and notes that as a child learns a language that helps them master their environment, they are drawn towards mastery. Further, in the fourth subcategory, the author appreciates the obstacles in a child’s environment that may limit their ability to learn a language.
The fifth category focuses on development. There is a subcategory that focuses on movement and total development that observes that maturity is shown in one’s ability to consider another individual’s perspective, a subcategory focusing on intelligence and the hand that observes that nothing in the movement of children is hidden and that everything is overtly manifested. The third subcategory focuses on the idea that before a child can imitate, they must first observe. The fourth subcategory discusses the growth of consciousness over time.
Lastly, the sixth category explores character development and the place of culture in such development. The first subcategory stresses that interaction with the environment leads to both mastery of one’s environment and the realization of self. The second subcategory explores how character defects such as drug addictions on the part of parents can affect their young ones. The third subcategory explores how the environment the child grows in influences their need for positive contribution in society. An interesting concept is discussed in the fourth subcategory where the author notes that character development in children is an act of offense and not a defensive act. This is to say that normalization will result in uniformity of character in children and that the children who develop a different character do so by conquering their environment. Lastly, the author discusses why adults should give children limited instruction on what to do or what not to do because adults take action from a point of mental reflection while children take action based on the laws of nature.
Bibliography
Maunz. M. E. (2019). The absorbent mind. Retrieved from http://ageofmontessori.org/the-absorbent-mind/
Whitworthmontessori. (2016). The absorbent mind: A book review. Retrieved from https://whitworthmontessori.weebly.com/observations/the-absorbent-mind-a-book-review