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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a06f44c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #61045 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61045) diff --git a/old/61045-0.txt b/old/61045-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e6077ad..0000000 --- a/old/61045-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7284 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A Montessori Mother, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Montessori Mother - -Author: Dorothy Canfield Fisher - -Release Date: December 29, 2019 [EBook #61045] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MONTESSORI MOTHER *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - -[Illustration: _Maria Montessori_] - - - - - A - MONTESSORI - MOTHER - - BY - - DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER - - Author of “The Squirrel-Cage” - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK - HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY - 1913 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1912, - - BY - - HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY - - Published October, 1912 - - THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS - RAHWAY, N. J. - - - - - _DEDICATED - BY PERMISSION - TO - MARIA MONTESSORI_ - - - - -PREFACE - - -On my return recently from a somewhat prolonged stay in Rome, I -observed that my family and circle of friends were in a very different -state of mind from that usually found by the home-coming traveler. -I was not depressed by the usual conscientious effort to appear -interested in what I had seen; not once did I encounter the wavering -eye and flagging attention which are such invariable accompaniments to -anecdotes of European travel, nor the usual elated rebound into topics -of local interest after a tribute to the miles I had traveled, in some -such generalizing phrase of finality as, “Well, I suppose you enjoyed -Europe as much as ever.” - -If I had ever suffered from the enforced repression within my own soul -of my various European experiences I was more than indemnified by the -reception which awaited this last return to my native land. For I found -myself set upon and required to give an account of what I had seen, not -only by my family and friends, but by callers, by acquaintances in the -streets, by friends of acquaintances, by letters from people I knew, -and many from those whose names were unfamiliar. - -The questions they all asked were of a striking similarity, and I grew -weary in repeating the same answers, answers which, from the nature of -the subject, could be neither categorical nor brief. How many evenings -have I talked from the appearance of the coffee-cups till a very late -bedtime, in answer to the demand, “Now, you’ve been to Rome; you’ve -seen the Montessori schools. You saw a great deal of Dr. Montessori -herself and were in close personal relations with her. Tell us all -about it. Is it really so wonderful? Or is it just a fad? Is it true -that the children are allowed do exactly as they please? I should think -it would spoil them beyond endurance. Do they really learn to read and -write so young? And isn’t it very bad for them to stimulate them so -unnaturally? And....” this was a never-failing cry, “what is there in -it for our children, situated as we are?” - -Staggered by the amount of explanation necessary to give the shortest -answers that would be intelligible to these searching, but, on the -whole, quite misdirected questions, I tried to put off my interrogators -with the excellent magazine articles which have appeared on the -subject, and with the translation of Dr. Montessori’s book. There were -various objections to being relegated to these sources of information. -Some of my inquisitors had been too doubtful of the value of the -perhaps over-heralded new ideas to take the trouble to read the book -with the close and serious attention necessary to make anything out of -its careful and scientific presentation of its theories. Others, quite -honestly, in the breathless whirl of American business, professional -and social life, were too busy to read such a long work. Some had read -it and emerged from it rather dazed by the technical terms employed, -with the dim idea that something remarkable was going on in Italy of -which our public education ought to take advantage, but without the -smallest definite idea of a possible change in their treatment of their -own youngsters. All had many practical questions to put, based on the -difference between American and Italian life, questions which, by -chance, had not been answered in the magazine articles. - -I heard, moreover, in varying degree, from all the different -temperaments, the common note of skepticism about the results obtained. -Everyone hung on my first-hand testimony as an impartial eye-witness. -“You are a parent like us. Will it really work?” they inquired with -such persistent unanimity that the existence of a still unsatisfied -craving for information seemed unquestionable. If so many people in my -small personal circle, differing in no way from any ordinary group of -educated Americans, were so actively, almost aggressively interested in -hearing my personal account of the actual working of the new system, -it seemed highly probable that other people’s personal circles would -be interested. The inevitable result of this reasoning has been the -composition of this small volume, which can claim for partial expiation -of its existence that it has no great pretensions to anything but -timeliness. - -I have put into it, not only an exposition, as practical as I can make -it, of the technic of the method as far as it lies within the powers -of any one of us fathers and mothers to apply it, but in addition I -have set down all the new ideas, hopes, and visions which have sprung -up in my mind as a result of my close contact with the new system and -with the genius who is its founder. For ideas, hopes, and visions are -as important elements in a comprehension of this new philosophy as an -accurate knowledge of the use of the “geometric insets,” and my talks -with Dr. Montessori lead me to think that she feels them to be much -more essential. Contact with the new ideas is not doing for us what it -ought, if it does not act as a powerful stimulant to the whole body -of our thought about life. It should make us think, and think hard, -not only about how to teach our children the alphabet more easily, but -about such fundamental matters as what we actually mean by moral life; -whether we really honestly wish the spiritually best for our children, -or only the materially best; why we are really in the world at all. -In many ways, this “Montessori System” is a new religion which we are -called upon to help bring into the world, and we cannot aid in so great -an undertaking without considerable spiritual as well as intellectual -travail. - -The only way for us to improve our children’s lives by the application -of these new ideas is by meditating on them until we have absorbed -their very essence and then by making what varying applications of -them are necessary in the differing condition of our lives. I have -set down, without apology, my own Americanized meditations on Dr. -Montessori’s Italian text, simply because I chance to be one of the -first American mothers to come into close contact with her and her -work, and as such may be of value to my fellows. I have, however, -honestly labeled and pigeon-holed these meditations on the general -philosophy of the system, and set them in separate chapters so that it -should not be difficult for the most casual reader to select what he -wishes to read, without being forced into social, philosophical, or -ethical considerations. I confess that I shall be greatly disappointed -if he takes too exclusive advantage of this opportunity, for I quite -agree with the Italian founder of the system that its philosophical and -ethical elements are those which have in them most promise for a new -future for us all. - -Finally, in spite of all my excuses for the undertaking, I seem to -myself, now that I am fairly embarked upon it, very presumptuous -in speaking at all upon such high and grave matters, fit only for -the sure and enlightened handling of the specialist. But this is -a subject differing from biology, physiological psychology, and -philosophy (although the foundations of the system are laid deep in -those sciences), inasmuch as its usefulness to the race depends upon -its comprehension by the greatest possible number of ordinary human -beings. I hearten myself by remembering that if it is not to remain an -interesting and futile theory, it must be, in its broad outlines at -least, understood and practised by just such people as I am. We must -all collaborate. And here is the place to say that I consider this book -a very tentative performance; and that I will be very grateful for -suggestions from any of my readers which will help to make a second -edition more useful and complete. - -This volume of impressions, therefore, lays no claim to erudition. It -is not written by a biologist for other biologists, by a philosopher -for an audience of college professors, or by a professional pedagogue -to enlighten school-superintendents. An ordinary American parent, -desiring above all else the best possible chance for her children, -addresses this message to the innumerable legion of her companions in -that desire. - -Grateful acknowledgment is made to Miss M. I. Batchelder and Miss Mary -G. Gillmore, both of the Horace Mann School, for helpful suggestions; -to Miss Anne E. George, who also read the manuscript; to Dr. Maria -Montessori’s book “The Montessori Method” (Frederick A. Stokes Company, -New York); and to the House of Childhood, Inc., 200 Fifth Avenue, New -York, for the use of illustrations. Dr. Montessori’s didactic apparatus -is manufactured and distributed by the House of Childhood, Inc. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - PREFACE v - - I. SOME INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ABOUT PARENTS 1 - - II. A DAY IN A CASA DEI BAMBINI 7 - - III. MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN A CASA DEI BAMBINI 29 - - IV. SOMETHING ABOUT THE APPARATUS AND ABOUT - THE THEORY UNDERLYING IT 48 - - V. DESCRIPTION OF THE REST OF THE APPARATUS AND - THE METHOD FOR WRITING AND READING 67 - - VI. SOME GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT THE MONTESSORI - APPARATUS IN THE AMERICAN HOME 91 - - VII. THE POSSIBILITY OF AMERICAN ADAPTATIONS OF, - OR ADDITIONS TO, THE MONTESSORI APPARATUS 105 - - VIII. SOME REMARKS ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SYSTEM 117 - - IX. APPLICATION OF THIS PHILOSOPHY TO AMERICAN HOME LIFE 127 - - X. SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THE NATURE OF “DISCIPLINE” 141 - - XI. MORE ABOUT DISCIPLINE, WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO OBEDIENCE 153 - - XII. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF A UNIVERSAL ADOPTION - OF THE MONTESSORI IDEAS 165 - - XIII. IS THERE ANY REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE - MONTESSORI SYSTEM AND THE KINDERGARTEN? 171 - - XIV. MORAL TRAINING 195 - - XV. DR. MONTESSORI’S LIFE AND THE ORIGIN OF THE - CASA DEI BAMBINI 210 - - XVI. SOME LAST REMARKS 232 - - INDEX 239 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Maria Montessori _Frontispiece_ - - The schoolroom in the convent of the Franciscan - nuns in the Via Giusti page 8 - - The meal hour “ 22 - - The morning clean-up “ 26 - - Waiter carrying soup “ 26 - - Exercises in practical life “ 56 - - Building “the Tower” “ 56 - - Buttoning-frames to develop co-ordinated movements - of the fingers and prepare the children for exercises - of practical life “ 68 - - Solid geometrical insets “ 70 - - The broad stair “ 74 - - The long stair “ 74 - - Insets which the child learns to place both by sight - and touch “ 78 - - Tracing sandpaper letters “ 86 - - Tracing geometrical design “ 86 - - Training the “stereognostic sense”--combining - motor and tactual images “ 100 - - Color boxes comprising spools of eight colors and - eight shades of each color “ 116 - - Materials for teaching rough and smooth “ 138 - - Counting boxes “ 162 - - Insets around which the child draws, and then fills - in the outline with colored crayons “ 188 - - Word building with cut-out alphabet “ 224 - - - - -A MONTESSORI MOTHER - - - - -CHAPTER I - -SOME INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ABOUT PARENTS - - -An observation often made by philosophic observers of our social -organization is that the tremendous importance of primary teachers is -ridiculously underestimated. The success or failure of the teachers of -little children may not perhaps determine the amount of information -acquired later in its educative career by each generation, but no one -can deny that it determines to a considerable extent the character of -the next generation, and character determines practically everything -worth considering in the world of men. Yet the mind of the average -community admits this but haltingly. The teachers of small children are -paid more than they were, but still far less than the importance of -their work deserves, and they are still regarded by the unenlightened -majority as insignificant compared to those who impart information to -older children and adolescents, a class of pupils which, in the nature -of things, is vastly more able to protect its own individuality from -the character of the teacher. - -But is there a thoughtful parent living who has not quailed at the -haphazard way in which Fate has pitchforked him into a profession -greatly more important and enormously more difficult? For it is not -quite fair to us to say that we chose the profession of parent with -our eyes open when we repeated the words of the marriage service. It -cannot be denied that every pair of fiancés know that probably they -will have children, but this knowledge has about the same degree of -first-hand vividness in their minds that the knowledge of ultimate -certain death has in the mind of the average healthy young person: -there is as little conscious preparation for the coming event in the -one case as in the other. No, we have some right on our side, under the -prevailing conditions of education about the facts of life, in claiming -that we are tossed headlong by a force stronger than ourselves into -a profession and a terrifying responsibility which many of us would -never have had the presumption to undertake in cold blood. We might -conceivably have undertaken to build railway bridges, even though the -lives of multitudes depended on them; we might have become lawyers and -settled people’s material affairs for them or even, as doctors, settled -the matter of their physical life or death; but to be responsible to -God, to society, and to the soul in question for the health, happiness, -moral growth, and usefulness of a human soul, what reflective parent -among the whole army of us has not had moments of heartsick terror at -the realization of what he has been set to do? - -I say “moments” advisedly, for it must be admitted that most of us -manage to forget pretty continually the alarming possibilities of our -situation. In this we are imitating the curious actual indifference to -peril which, from time immemorial, has been observed among those who -are exposed to any danger which is very long continued. The incapacity -of human nature to feel any strong emotion for a considerable length -of time, even one connected with the supposedly sacrosanct instinct -for self-preservation, is to be observed in the well-worn examples -of people living on the sides of volcanoes, and of workers among -machinery, who will not take the most elementary precautions against -accidents if the precautions consume much time or thought. Consequently -it is not surprising that, as a whole, parents are not only not -stricken to the earth by the responsibilities of their situation, but -as a class are singularly blind to their duties, and oddly difficult to -move to any serious, continued consideration of the task before them. -This attitude bears a close relation to the axiom which has only to be -stated to win instant recognition from any self-analyzing human being, -“We would rather lie down and die than _think_!” We cannot, as a rule, -be forced to think really, seriously, connectedly, logically about the -form of our government, about our social organization, about how we -spend our lives, even about the sort of clothes we wear or the food -we eat,--questions affecting our comfort so cruelly that they would -make us reflect if anything could. But we ourselves are the only ones -to suffer from our refusal to use our minds fully and freely on such -subjects. It is intolerable that our callous indifference and incurable -triviality should wreak themselves upon the helpless children committed -to our care. The least we can do, if we will not do our own thinking, -is to accept, with all gratitude, the thinking that someone else has -done for us. - -For there is one loop-hole of escape in our modern world from this -self-imprisonment in shiftless ways of mental life, and that is -the creation and wide diffusion of the scientific spirit. There is -apparently in human nature, along with this invincible repugnance -to use reason on matters closely connected with our daily life, a -considerable pleasure in ratiocination if it is exercised on subjects -sufficiently removed from our personal sphere. The man who will eat -hot mince-pie and rarebit at two in the morning and cry out upon the -Fates as responsible for the inevitable sequence of suffering, may be, -often is, in his chemical laboratory, or his surgical practice, or his -biological research, an investigator of the strictest integrity of -reasoning. - -Reflection on this curious trait of human nature may bring some -restoration of self-respect to parents in the face of the apparently -astounding fact that most of the great educators have been by no -means parents of large families, and a large proportion of them have -been childless. This but follows the usual eccentric route taken by -discoveries leading to the amelioration of conditions surrounding -man. It was not an inhabitant of a malarial district, driven to -desperation by the state of things, who discovered the crime of the -mosquito. That discovery was made by men working in laboratories not -in the least incommoded by malaria. Hundreds of generations of devoted -mothers, ready and willing to give the last drop of their blood for -their children’s welfare, never discovered that unscalded milk-bottles -are like prussic acid to babies. Childless workers in white laboratory -aprons, standing over test-tubes, have revolutionized the physical -hygiene of infancy and brought down the death-rate of babies beyond -anything ever dreamed of by our parents. - -But let it be remembered as comfort, exhortation, and warning to -us that the greatest army of laboratory workers ever financed by a -twentieth-century millionaire, would have been of no avail if the -parents of the babies of the world had not taken to scalding the -milk-bottles. Let us insist upon the recognition of our merit, such as -it is. We will not, apparently we cannot, do the hard, consecutive, -logical, investigating thinking which is the only thing necessary in -many cases to better the conditions of our daily life; but we are -not entirely impervious to reason, inasmuch as the world has seen us -in this instance following, with the most praiseworthy docility, the -teachings of those who have thought for us. The milk-bottles in by -far the majority of American homes are really being scalded to-day; -and “cholera morbus,” “second summers,” “teething fevers,” and the -like are becoming as out-of-date as “fever ’n’ ague,” “galloping -consumption,” and the like. - -The lessened death-rate among babies is not only the most heartening -spectacle for lovers of babies, but for hopers and believers in the -general advancement of the race. This miraculous revolution in the -care of infants under a year of age has taken place in less than a -human generation. The grandparents of our children are still with us -to pooh-pooh our sterilizings, and to look on with bewilderment while -we treat our babies as intelligently as stock-breeders treat their -animals. Let us take heart of grace. If scientific methods of physical -hygiene in the care of children can be thus quickly inculcated, it is -certainly worth while to storm the age-old redoubts sheltering the no -less hoary abuses of their intellectual and spiritual treatment. - -A scientist of another race, taking advantage of the works of all the -other investigators along the same line (works which nothing could have -induced us to study), laboring in a laboratory of her own invention, -has been doing our hard, consecutive, logical, investigating thinking -for us. Let us have the grace to take advantage of her discoveries, -many of which have been stumbled upon from time to time in a haphazard, -unformulated way by the instinctive wisdom of experience, but the -synthesis of which into a coherent, usable system, with a consistent -philosophical foundation, has been left to a childless scientific -investigator. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -A DAY IN A CASA DEI BAMBINI - - -I had not seen a Montessori school when I first read through Dr. -Montessori’s book. I laid it down with the mental comments, “All very -well to write about! But, of course, it can’t work anything like that -in actual practice. Everyone knows that a child’s party of only five or -six children of that age (from two and a half to six) is seldom carried -through without some sort of quarrel, even though an equal number of -mothers are present, devoting themselves to giving the tots exactly -whatever they want. It stands to reason that twenty or thirty children -of that tender age, shut up together all day long and day after day, -must, if they are normal children, have a great many healthy normal -battles with each other!” - -After putting myself in a dispassionate and judicial frame of mind by -laying down these fixed preconceptions, I went to visit the Casa dei -Bambini in the Franciscan Nunnery on the Via Giusti. - -I half turn away in anticipatory discouragement from the task of -attempting, for the benefit of American readers, any description of -what I saw there. They will not believe it. I know they will not, -because I myself, before I saw it with my own eyes, would have -discounted largely the most moderate statements on the subject. But -even though stay-at-home people in other centuries may have salted -liberally the tall stories of old-time travelers, they certainly had -a taste for hearing them; and so possibly my plain account of what I -saw that day may be read, even though it be to the accompaniment of -incredulous exclamations. - -My first glimpse was of a gathering of about twenty-five children, -so young that several of them looked like real babies to me. I found -afterwards that the youngest was just under three, and the oldest just -over six. They were scattered about over a large, high-ceilinged, airy -room, furnished with tiny, lightly-framed tables and chairs which, -however, by no means filled the floor. There were big tracts of open -space, where some of the children knelt or sat on light rugs. One was -lying down on his back, kicking his feet in the air. A low, cheerful -hum of conversation filled the air. - -As my companion and I came into the room I noticed first that there was -not that stiffening into self-consciousness which is the inevitable -concomitant of “visitors” in our own schoolrooms. Most of the children, -absorbed in various queer-looking tasks, did not even glance up as we -entered. Others, apparently resting in the intervals between games, -looked over across the room at us, smiled welcomingly as I would at -a visitor entering my house, and a little group near us ran up with -outstretched hands, saying with a pleasant accent of good-breeding, -“Good-morning! Good-morning!” They then instantly went off about their -own affairs, which were evidently of absorbing interest, for after -that, except for an occasional friendly look or smile, or a momentary -halt by my side to show me something, none of the little scholars paid -the least attention to me. - -[Illustration: THE SCHOOL ROOM IN THE CONVENT OF THE FRANCISCAN NUNS IN -THE VIA GIUSTI. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -Now I myself, like all the American matrons of my circle of -acquaintances, am laboring conscientiously to teach my children -“good manners,” but I decided, on the instant, nothing would induce -me to collect twenty children of our town and have a Montessori -teacher enter the room to be greeted by them. The contrast would be -too painful. These were mostly children of very poor, ignorant, and -utterly untrained parents, and ours are children of people who flatter -themselves that they are the opposite of all that; but I shuddered -to think of the long silent, discourteous stare which is the only -recognition of the presence of a visitor in our schools. And yet I -felt at once that I was attaching too much importance to a detail, the -merest trifle, the slightest, most superficial indication of the life -beneath. We Anglo-Saxons notice too acutely, I thought, these surface -differences of manner. - -But, on the other hand, I was forced to consider that I knew from -bitter experience that children of that age are still near enough -babyhood to be absolutely primeval in their sincerity, and that it is -practically impossible to make them, with any certainty of the result, -go through a form of courtesy which they do not feel genuinely. Also -I observed that no one had pushed the children towards us, as I push -mine, toward a chance visitor, with the command accompanied by an -inward prayer for obedience, “Go and shake hands with Mrs. Blank.” - -In fact, I noticed it for the first time, there seemed no one there -to push the children or to refrain from doing it. That collection of -little tots, most of them too busy over their mysterious occupations -even to talk, seemed, as far as a casual glance over the room went, -entirely without supervision. Finally, from a corner, where she had -been sitting (on the floor apparently) beside a child, there rose up a -plainly-dressed woman, the expression of whose quiet face made almost -as great an impression on me as the children’s greetings had. I had -always joined with heartfelt sympathy in the old cry of “Heaven help -the poor teachers!” and in our town, where we all know and like the -teachers personally, their exhausted condition of almost utter nervous -collapse by the end of the teaching year is a painful element in our -community life. But I felt no impulse to sympathize with this woman -with untroubled eyes who, perceiving us for the first time, came over -to shake hands with us. Instead, I felt a curious pang of envy, such as -once or twice in my sentimental and stormy girlhood I felt at the sight -of the peaceful face of a nun. I am now quite past the possibility of -envying the life of a nun, but I must admit that it suddenly occurred -to me, as I looked at that quiet, smiling Italian woman, that somehow -my own life, for all its full happiness, must lack some element of -orderliness, of discipline, of spiritual economy which alone could have -put that look of calm certainty on her face. It was not the passive, -changeless peace that one sees in the eyes of some nuns, but a sort of -rich, full-blooded confidence in life. - -She lingered beside us some moments, chatting with my companion, -who was an old friend of hers, and who introduced her as Signorina -Ballerini. I noticed that she happened to stand all the time with her -back to the children, feeling apparently none of that lion-tamer’s -instinct to keep an hypnotic eye on the little animals which is so -marked in our instructors. I can remember distinctly that there was for -us school-children actually a different feel to the air and a strange -look on the familiar school-furniture during those infrequent intervals -when the teacher was called for an instant from the room and left us, -as in a suddenly rarefied atmosphere, giddy with the removal of the -pressure of her eye; but when this teacher turned about casually to -face the room again, these children did not seem to notice either that -she had stopped looking at them or that she was now doing it again. - -We used to know, as by a sixth sense, exactly where, at any moment, -the teacher was, and a sudden movement on her part would have made us -all start as violently and as instinctively as little chicks at the -sudden shadow of a hawk ... and this, although we were often very fond -indeed of our teachers. Remembering this, I noticed with surprise that -often, when one of these little ones lifted his face from his work to -ask the teacher a question, he had been so unconscious of her presence -during his concentration on his enterprise that he did not know in -the least where to look, and sent his eager eyes roving over the big -room in a search for her, which ended in such a sudden flash of joy at -discovering her that I felt again a pang of envy for this woman who had -so many more loving children than I have. - -What could be these “games” which so absorbed these children, far -too young for any possibility of pretense on their part? Moving with -the unhampered, unobserved ease which is the rule in a Montessori -schoolroom, I began walking about, looking more closely at what the -children were holding, and I could have laughed at the simplicity -of many of the means which accomplished the apparent miracle of -self-imposed order and discipline before me ... if I had not been ready -to cry at my own stupidity for not thinking of them myself. One little -boy about three and a half years old had been intent on some operation -ever since we had entered the room, and even now as I drew near his -little table and chair, he only glanced up for an instant’s smile -without stopping the action of his fingers. I leaned over him, hoping -that the device which so held his attention was not too complicated -for my inexperienced, unpedagogical mind to take in. He was holding -a light wooden frame about eighteen inches square, on which were -stretched two pieces of cotton cloth, meeting down the middle like the -joining of a garment. On one of these edges was a row of buttonholes -and on the other a row of large bone buttons. The child was absorbed in -buttoning and unbuttoning those two pieces of cloth. - -He was new at the game, that was to be seen by the clumsy, misdirected -motions of his baby fingers, but the process of his improvement was so -apparent as, his eyes shining with interest, he buttoned and unbuttoned -steadily, slowly, without an instant’s interruption, that I watched -him, almost as fascinated as he. A child near us, apparently playing -with blocks, upset them with a loud noise, but my buttoning boy, -wrapped in his magic cloak of concentration, did not so much as raise -his eyes. I myself could not look away, and as I gazed I thought of -the many times a little child of mine had tried to learn the secret of -the innumerable fastenings which hold her clothes together and how I, -with the kindest impulse in the world, had stopped her fumbling little -fingers saying, “No, dear, Mother can do that so much better. Let -Mother do it.” It occurred to me now that the situation was very much -as if, in the midst of a fascinating game of billiards, a professional -player had snatched the cue from my husband’s hands, saying, “You just -stand and watch me do this. I can do it much better than you.” - -The child before me stopped his work a moment and looked down at his -little cotton waist. There was a row of buttons there, smaller but of -the same family as those on the frame. As he gazed down, absorbed, at -them, I could see a great idea dawn in his face. I leaned forward. -He attacked the middle button, using with startling exactitude of -imitation the same motion he had learned on his frame. But this button -was not so large or so well placed. He had to bend his head over, his -fingers were cramped, he made several movements backward. But then -suddenly the first half of his undertaking was accomplished. The button -was on one side, the buttonhole on the other. I held my breath. He set -to work again. The cloth slipped from his boneless little fingers, the -button twisted itself awry, I fairly ached with the idiotic habit of -years of interference to snatch it and do it for him. And then I saw -that he was slowly forcing it into place. When the bone disk finally -shone out, round and whole, on the far side of the buttonhole, the -child drew a long breath and looked up at me with so ecstatic a face -of triumph that I could have shouted, “Hurrah!” Then, without paying -any more attention to me, he rose, sauntered over to a corner of the -room where a thick piece of felt covered the floor, and lay down on his -back, his hands clasped under his head, gazing with tranquil, reposeful -vacuity at the ceiling. He was resting himself after accomplishing -a great step forward. I did not fail to notice that, except for my -entirely fortuitous observation of his performance, nobody had seen his -absorption any more than they now saw his apparent idleness. - -I tucked all these observations away in a corner of my mind for future -reflection, and moved on to the nearest child, a little girl, perhaps -a year older than the boy, who was absorbed as eagerly as he over a -similar light wooden frame, covered with two pieces of cloth. But these -were fastened together with pieces of ribbon which the child was tying -and untying. There was no fumbling here. As rapidly, as deftly, with -as careless a light-hearted ease as a pianist running over his scales, -she was making a series of the flattest, most regular bow-knots, much -better, I knew in my heart, than I could accomplish at anything like -that speed. Although she had advanced beyond the stage of intent -struggle with her material, her interest and pleasure in her own skill -was manifest. She looked up at me, and then smiled proudly down at her -flying fingers. - -Beyond her another little boy, with a leather-covered frame, was -laboriously inserting shoe-buttons into their buttonholes with the -aid of an ordinary button-hook. As I looked at him, he left off, and -stooping over his shoes, tried to apply the same system to their -buttons. That was too much for him. After a prolonged struggle he gave -it up for the time, returning, however, to the buttons on his frame -with entirely undiminished ardor. - -Next to him sat a little girl, with a pile of small pieces of money -before her on her tiny table. She was engaged in sorting these into -different piles according to their size, and, though I stood by her -some time, laughing at the passion of accuracy which fired her, she -was so absorbed that she did not even notice my presence. As I turned -away I almost stumbled over a couple of children sitting on the floor, -engaged in some game with a variety of blocks which looked new to me. -They were ten squared rods of equal thickness, of which the shortest -looked to be a tenth the length of the longest, and the others of -regularly diminishing lengths between these two extremes. These were -painted in alternate stripes of red and blue, these stripes being -the same width as the shortest rod. The children were putting these -together in consecutive order so as to make a sort of series, and -although they were evidently much too young to count, they were aiding -themselves by touching with their fingers each of the painted stripes, -and verifying in this way the length of the rod. I could not follow -this process, although it was plainly something arithmetical, and -turned to ask the teacher about it. - -I saw her across the room engaged in tying a bandage about a child’s -eyes. Wondering if this were some new, scientific form of punishment, -I stepped to that part of the room and watched the subsequent -proceedings. The child, his lips curved in an expectant smile, even -laughing a little in pleasant excitement, turned his blindfolded face -to a pile of small pieces of cloth before him. Several children, -walking past, stopped and hung over the edge of his desk with lively -interest. The boy drew out from the pile a piece of velvet. He felt -of this intently, running the sensitive tips of his fingers lightly -over the nap, and cocking his head on one side in deep thought. The -child-spectators gazed at him with sympathetic attention. When he gave -the right name, they all smiled and nodded their heads in satisfaction. -He drew out another piece from the big pile, coarse cotton cloth this -time, which he instantly recognized; then a square of satin over -which his little finger-tips wandered with evident sensuous pleasure. -His successful naming of this was too much for his envious little -spectators. They turned and fled toward the teacher and when I reached -her, she was the center of a little group of children, all clamoring to -be blindfolded. - -“How they do love that exercise!” she said, looking after them with -shining eyes ... I could have sworn, with mother’s eyes! - -“Are you too busy and hurried,” I asked, “to explain to me the game -those children are playing with the red and blue rods?” - -She answered with some surprise, “Oh, no, I’m not busy and hurried at -all!” (quite as though we were not all living in the twentieth century) -and went on, “The children can come and find me if they need me.” - -So I had my first lesson in the theory of self-education and -self-dependence underlying the Montessori apparatus, to the -accompaniment of occasional requests for aid, or demands for sympathy -over an achievement, made in clear, baby treble. That theory will be -taken up later in this book, as this chapter is intended only to be -a plain narration of a few of the sights encountered by an ordinary -observer in a morning in a Montessori school. - -After a time I noticed that four little girls were sitting at a -neatly-ordered small table, spread with a white cloth, apparently -eating their luncheons. The teacher, in answer to my inquiring glance -at them, explained that it was their turn to be the waitresses that -day, for the children’s lunch, and so they ate their own meal first. - -She was called away just then, and I sat looking at the roomful of busy -children, listening to the pleasant murmur of their chats together, -watching them move freely about as they liked, noting their absorbed, -happy concentration on their tasks. Already some of the sense of the -miraculous which had been so vivid in my mind during my first survey -of the school was dulled, or rather, explained away. Now that I had -seen some of the details composing the picture, the whole seemed more -natural. It was not surprising, for instance, that the little girl -sorting the pieces of money should not instead be pulling another -child’s hair, or wandering in aimless and potentially naughty idleness -about the room. It was not necessary either to force or exhort her to -be a quiet and untroublesome citizen of that little republic. She -would no more leave her fascinating occupation to go and “be naughty” -than a professor of chemistry would leave an absorbing experiment in -his laboratory to go and rob a candy-store. In both cases it would -be leaving the best sort of a “good time” for a much less enjoyable -undertaking. - -In the midst of these reflections (my first glimmer of understanding of -what it was all about), a lively march on the piano was struck up. Not -a word was spoken by the teacher, indeed I had not yet heard her voice -raised a single time to make a collective remark to the whole body of -children, but at once, acting on the impulse which moves us all to run -down the street towards the sound of a brass band, most of the children -stopped their work and ran towards the open floor-space near the piano. -Some of the older ones, of five, formed a single-file line, which was -rapidly recruited by the monkey-like imitativeness of the little ones, -into a long file. The music was martial, the older children held their -heads high and stamped loudly as they marched about, keeping time very -accurately to the strongly marked rhythm of the tune. The little tots -did their baby best to copy their big brothers and sisters, some of -them merely laughing and stamping up and down without any reference -to the time, others evidently noticing a difference between their -actions and those of the older ones, and trying to move their feet more -regularly. - -No one had suggested that they leave their work-tables to play in -this way (indeed a few too absorbed to heed the call of the music -still hung intently over their former occupations), no one suggested -that they step in time to the music, no one corrected them when they -did not. The music suddenly changed from a swinging marching air to a -low, rhythmical croon. The older children instantly stopped stamping -and began trotting noiselessly about on their tiptoes, imitated again -as slavishly as possible by the admiring smaller ones. The uncertain -control of their equilibrium by these littler ones, made them stagger -about, as they practised this new exercise, like the little bacchantes, -intoxicated with rhythm, which their glowing faces of delight seemed to -proclaim them. - -I was penetrated with that poignant, almost tearful sympathy in their -intense enjoyment which children’s pleasure awakens in every adult -who has to do with them. “Ah, what a _good_ time they are having!” I -cried to myself, and then reflected that they had been having some sort -of very good time ever since I had come into the room. And yet even -my unpractised eye could see a difference between this good time and -the kindergarten, charming as that is to watch. No prettily-dressed, -energetic, thoroughgoing young lady had beckoned the children away -from their self-chosen occupations. There was no set circle here with -the lovely teacher in the middle, and every child’s eyes fastened -constantly on her nearly always delightful but also overpoweringly -developed adult personality. There was no set “game” being played, -the discontinuation of which depended on the teacher’s more or less -accurate guess at when the children were becoming tired. Indeed, -as I reflected on this, I noticed that, although the bigger ones -were continuing their musical march with undiminished pleasure, the -younger ones had already exhausted the small amount of consecutive -interest their infant organisms are capable of, and, without spoiling -the fun for the others, indeed without being observed, had suddenly -stopped dancing and prancing as suddenly as they began and, with the -kitten-like fitfulness of their age, were wandering away in groups of -two and three out to the great, open courtyard. - -I suppose they went on playing quieter games there, but I did not -follow them, so absorbed was I in watching the four little girls who -had now at last finished their very leisurely meal and were preparing -the tables for the other children. They were about four and a half -and five years old, an age at which I would have thought children as -capable of solving a problem in calculus as of undertaking, without -supervision, to set tables for twenty other babies. They went at their -undertaking with no haste, indeed with a slowness which my racial -impatience found absolutely excruciating. They paused constantly for -prolonged consultations, and to verify and correct themselves as -they laid the knife, fork, spoon, plate, and napkin at each place. -Interested as I was, and beginning, as I did, to understand a little -of the ideas of the school, I still was so under the domination of my -lifetime of over-emphasis on the importance of the immediate result -of an action, that I felt the same impulse I had restrained with -difficulty beside the buttoning boy--to snatch the things from their -incompetent little hands and whisk them into place on the tables. - -But then I noticed that the clock showed only a little after eleven, -and that evidently the routine of the school was planned expressly so -that there would be no need for haste. - -The phrase struck my mental ear curiously, and arrested my attention. -I reflected on that condition with the astonished awe of a modern, -meeting it almost for the first time. “No need for haste”--it was like -being transported into the timeless ease of eternity. - -And then I fell to asking myself why there was always so much need for -haste in my own life and in that of my children? Was it, after all, -so necessary? What were we hurrying so to accomplish? I remembered my -scorn of the parties of Cook’s tourists, clattering into the Sistine -Chapel for a momentary glance at the achievement of a lifetime of -genius, painted on the ceiling, and then galloping out again for a -hop-skip-and-jump race down through the Stanze of Raphael. It occurred -to me, disquietingly, that possibly, instead of really training my -children, I might be dragging them headlong on a Cook’s tour through -life. It also occurred to me that if the Montessori ideas were taken -up in my family, the children would not be the only ones to profit by -them. - -[Illustration: THE MEAL HOUR. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -When I emerged from this brown study, the little girls had finished -their task and there stood before me tables set for twenty little -people, set neatly and regularly, without an item missing. The -children, called in from their play in the courtyard, came marching -along (they do take collective action when collective interests -genuinely demand it) and sat down without suggestions, each, I suppose, -at the place he had occupied while working at those same tiny tables. -I held my breath to see the four little waitresses enter the room, -each carrying a big tureen full of hot soup. I would not have trusted -a child of that age to carry a glass of water across a room. The -little girls advanced slowly, their eyes fixed on the contents of -their tureens, their attention so concentrated on their all-important -enterprise that they seemed entirely oblivious of the outer world. A -fly lighted on the nose of one of these solemnly absorbed babies. She -twisted the tip of that feature, making the most grotesque grimaces in -her effort to dislodge the tickling intruder, but not until she had -reached a table and set down her sacred tureen in safety, did she raise -her hand to her face. I revised on the instant all my fixed convictions -about the innate heedlessness and lack of self-control of early -childhood; especially as she turned at once to her task of ladling out -the soup into the plates of the children at her table, a feat which she -accomplished as deftly as any adult could have done. - -The napkins were unfolded, the older children tucked them under -their chins and began to eat their soup. The younger ones imitated -them more or less handily, though with some the process meant quite a -struggle with the napkin. One little boy, only one in all that company, -could not manage his. After wrestling with it, he brought it to the -teacher, who had dropped down on a chair near mine. So sure was I of -what her action inevitably would be, that I fairly felt my own hands -automatically follow hers in the familiar motions of tucking a napkin -under a child’s round chin. - -I cannot devise any way to set down on paper with sufficient emphasis -the fact that she did not tuck that napkin in. She held it up in her -hands, showed the child how to take hold of a larger part of the -corner than he had been grasping, and, illustrating on herself, gave -him an object-lesson. Then she gave it back to him. He had caught the -idea evidently, but his undisciplined little fingers, out of sight -there, under his chin, would not follow the direction of his brain, -though that was evidently, from the grave intentness of his baby face, -working at top speed. With a sigh, that irresistible sigh of the little -child, he took out the crumpled bit of linen and looked at it sadly. I -clasped my hands together tightly to keep them from flying at him and -accomplishing the operation in a twinkling. Why, the poor child’s soup -was getting cold! - -Again I wish to reiterate the statement that the teacher did not tuck -that napkin in. She took it once more and went through very slowly -all the necessary movements. The child’s big, black eyes fastened on -her in a passion of attention, and I noticed that his little empty -hands followed automatically the slow, distinctly separated, analyzed -movements of the teacher’s hands. When she gave the napkin back to him, -he seized it with an air of resolution which would have done honor -to Napoleon, grasping it firmly and holding his wandering baby-wits -together with the aid of a determined frown. He pulled his collar away -from his neck with one hand and, still frowning determinedly, thrust -a large segment of the napkin down with the other, spreading out the -remainder on his chest, with a long sigh of utter satisfaction, which -went to my heart. As he trotted back to his place, I noticed that the -incident had been observed by several of the children near us, on whose -smiling faces, as they looked at their triumphant little comrade, I -could see the reflection of my own gratified sympathy. One of them -reached out and patted the napkin as its proud wearer passed. - -But I had not been all the morning in that children’s home, perfect, -though not made with a mother’s hands, without having my mother’s -jealousy sharply aroused. A number of things had been stirring up -protests in my mind. I was alarmed at the sight of all these babies, -happy, wisely occupied, perfectly good, and learning unconsciously the -best sort of lessons, and yet in an atmosphere differing so entirely -from all my preconceived ideas of a home. All this might be all very -well for Italian mothers so poor that they were obliged to leave -their children in order to go out and help earn the family living; -or for English mothers, who expect as a matter of course that their -little children shall spend most of their time with nurse-maids and -governesses. But I could not spare my children, I told myself. I asked -nothing better than to have them with me every moment they were awake. -What was to be done about this ominously excellent institution which -seemed to treat the children more wisely than I, for all my efforts? -I felt an uneasy, apprehensive hostility towards these methods, -contrasting so entirely with mine, for mine were, I assured myself -hotly, based on the most absolute, supreme mother’s love for the child. - -I now turned to the teacher and said protestingly, “That would have -been a very little thing to do for a child.” - -She laughed. “I’m not his nurse-maid. I’m his teacher,” she replied. - -“That’s all very well, but his soup _will_ be cold, you know, and he -will be late to his luncheon!” - -She did not deny this, but she did not seem as struck as I was by -the importance of the fact. She answered whimsically, “Ah, one must -remember not to obtrude one’s adult materialism into the idealistic -world of children. He is so happy over his victory over himself that he -wouldn’t notice if his soup were iced.” - -[Illustration: THE MORNING CLEAN-UP.] - -[Illustration: WAITER CARRYING SOUP. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -“But warm soup is a good thing, a very good thing,” I insisted, “and -you have literally robbed him of his. More than that, I seem to see -that all this insistence on self-dependence for children must interfere -with a great many desirable regularities of family life.” - -She looked at me indulgently. “Yes, warm soup is a good thing, but is -it such a very important thing? According to our adult standards it -is more palatable, but it’s really about as good food if eaten cold, -isn’t it? And, anyhow, he eats it cold only this once. You’d snatch him -away from his plate of warm soup without scruple if you thought he was -sitting in a draught and would take cold. Isn’t his moral health as -important as his physical?” - -“But it might be very inconvenient for someone else, in an ordinary -home, to wait so interminably for him to learn to wait on himself.” - -Her answer was a home-thrust. “If it’s too much trouble to give him -the best conditions at home, wouldn’t he be better sent to a Casa dei -Bambini, which has no other aim than to have things just right for his -development?” - -This silenced me for a time. I turned away, but was recalled by her -remarking, “Besides, I’ve put him more in the way of getting his soup -hot from now on, than you would, by tucking in his napkin and sending -him back at once. To-day’s plateful would have been warm; but how about -to-morrow and the day after, and so on, unless you, or some other -grown-up happened to be at hand to wait on him. And on my part, what -could I do, if all twenty-five of the children were helpless?” - -I seized on this opportunity to voice some of the mother’s jealousy -which underlay all my extreme admiration and astonishment at the sights -of the morning, “If you didn’t keep such an octopus clutch on the -children, separating them all day in this way from their own families, -if they were sent home to eat their luncheons, why, there would be -mothers enough to go around. _They_ would be only too glad to tuck the -little napkins in!” - -The teacher looked at me, level-browed, and said, with a dry, enigmatic -accent which made me reflect uneasily, long afterwards, on her -words, “They certainly would. Do you really think that would be an -improvement?” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN A CASA DEI BAMBINI - - -Of course one day’s observations do not give even a bird’s-eye view of -all the operations of a Montessori school, and this chapter is intended -to supplement somewhat the very incomplete survey of the last and to -touch at least, in passing, upon some of the other important activities -in which the children are engaged. If this description seems lacking in -continuity and uniformity, it represents all the more faithfully the -impressions of an observer of a Casa dei Bambini. For there one sees -no trace of the slightly Prussian uniformity of action to which we are -accustomed in even the freest of our primary schools and kindergartens. -You need not expect at ten o’clock to hear the “ten-o’clock class in -reading,” for possibly on that day no child will happen to feel like -reading. You need not think that the teacher will call up the star -pupil to have him write for you. He may be lying on the floor absorbed -in an arithmetical game and a Montessori teacher would as soon blow up -her schoolroom with dynamite as interfere with the natural direction, -taken for the moment by the self-educating instincts of her children. - -In planning a visit to a Casa dei Bambini, you can be sure of only one -thing, not, however, an inconsiderable thing, and that is that all -the children will be happily absorbed in some profitable undertaking. -It never fails. There are no “blue Mondays.” Rain or shine outdoors, -inside the big room there always blows across the heart of the visitor -a fine, tonic breath of free, and hence, never listless life. On days -in winter when the sirocco blows, the debilitating wind from Africa, -which reduces the whole population of Rome to inert and melancholy -passivity, the children in the Casa are perhaps not quite so briskly -energetic as usual in their self-imposed task of teaching and governing -themselves, but they are by far the most briskly energetic Romans in -the city. - -It is all so interesting to them, they cannot stop to be bored or -naughty. Just as one of our keen, hungry-minded Yankee school-teachers, -turned loose for the first time in an historic European city, throws -herself with such fervor into the exploration of all its fascinating -and informing sights that she is astonished to hear later that it was -one of the hottest and most trying summers ever known, so these equally -hungry-minded, healthy children fling themselves upon the fascinating -and informing wonders of the world about them with such ardor that they -are always astonished when the long, happy day is done. - -The freedom accorded them is absolute, the only rule being that they -must not hurt or annoy others, a rule which, after the first brief -chaos at the beginning, when the school is being organized, is always -respected with religious care by these little citizens; although to -call a Montessori school a “little republic” and the children “little -citizens,” gives much too formal an idea of the free-and-easy, happily -unforced and natural relations of the children with each other. The -phrase Casa dei Bambini is being translated everywhere nowadays by -English-speaking people as “The House of Childhood,” whereas its real -meaning, both linguistic and spiritual, is, “The Children’s Home.” - -That is what it is, a real home for _children_, where everything is -arranged for their best interests, where the furniture is the right -size for them, where there are no adult occupations going on to be -interrupted and hindered by the mere presence of the children, where -there are no rules made solely to facilitate life for grown-ups, where -children, without incurring the reproach (expressed or tacit) of -disturbing their elders, can freely and joyously, and if they please, -noisily, develop themselves by action from morning to night. With the -removal by this simple means of most of the occasions for friction -in the life of little children, it is amazing to see how few, how -negligibly few occasions there are for naughtiness. The great question -of discipline which so absorbs us all, solves itself, melts into thin -air, becomes non-existent. Each child gives himself the severest sort -of self-discipline by his interest in his various undertakings. He -learns self-control as a by-product of his healthy absorption in some -fascinating pursuit, or as a result of his instinctive imitation of -older children. - -For instance, no adult was obliged to shout commandingly to the -little-girl waitress not to drop her soup-tureen to brush the fly from -her nose. She was so filled with the pride of her responsible position -that she obeyed the same inner impulse towards self-control which -induces adult self-sacrifice. On the other hand, the buttoning boy did -not refrain by a similar, violent effort of his will from snatching the -blocks from the arithmetical children. It simply never occurred to him, -so happily absorbed was he in his own task. - -I asked, of course, the question which obsesses every new observer in -a Children’s Home, “But what do you do, with all this fine theory of -absolute freedom, when a child _is_ naughty? Sometimes, even if not -often, you surely must encounter the kicking, screaming, snatching, -hair-pulling ‘bad’ child!” I was told then that the health of such a -child is looked into at once, such perverted violence being almost -certainly the result of deranged physical condition. If nothing -pathological can be discovered, he is treated as a morally sick child, -given a little table by himself, from which he can look on at the -cheerful, ordered play of the schoolroom, allowed any and all toys he -desires, petted, soothed, indulged, pitied, but (of course this is the -vital point) severely let alone by the other children, who are told -that he is “sick” and so cannot play with them until he gets well. -This quiet isolation, with its object-lesson of good-natured play among -the other children, has a hypnotically calming effect, the child’s -“naughtiness” for very lack of food to feed upon, or resistance to blow -its flames, disappears and dies away. - -This, I say, was the explanation given me at first, but later, when I -came to know more intimately the little group of Montessori enthusiasts -in Rome, I learned more about the matter. One of my Montessori friends -told me laughingly, “We found that nobody would believe us at all when -we told the simple truth, when we said that we never, literally never, -do encounter that hypothetical, ferociously naughty, small child. They -look at us with such an obvious incredulity that, for the honor of the -system, we had to devise some expedient. So we ransacked our memories -for one or two temporary examples of ‘badness’ which we met at first -before the system was well organized, and remembered how we had dealt -with them. Now, when people ask us what we do when the children begin -to scratch and kick each other, instead of insisting that children as -young as ours, when properly interested, never do these things, we tell -them the old story of our device of years ago.” - -I have said that the real translation for Casa dei Bambini is The -Children’s Home, and I feel like insisting upon this rendering, which -gives us so much more idea of the character of the institution. At -least, from now on, in this book, that English phrase will be used from -time to time to designate a Montessori school. It is, for instance, -their very own home not only in the sense that it is a place arranged -specially for their comfort and convenience, but furthermore a place -for which they feel that steadying sense of responsibility which is one -of the greatest moral advantages of a home over a boarding-house, a -moral advantage of home life which children in ordinary circumstances -are rarely allowed to share with their elders. They are boarders -(though gratuitous ones) with their father and mother, and, as a -natural consequence, they have the remote, detached, unsympathetic -aloofness from the problem of running the house which is characteristic -of the race of boarders. - -In the Casa dei Bambini this is quite different. Because it is their -home and not a school, the hours are very long, practically all the day -being spent there. The children have the responsibility not only for -their own persons, but for the care of their Home. They arrive early -in the morning and betake themselves at once to the small washstands -with pitchers and bowls of just the size convenient for them to handle. -Here they make as complete a morning toilet as anyone could wish, -washing their faces, necks, hands, and ears (and behind the ears!), -brushing their teeth, making manful efforts to comb their hair, -cleaning their finger-nails with scrupulous care, and helping each -other with fraternal sympathy. It is astonishing (for anyone who had -the illusion that she knew child-nature) to note the contrast between -the vivid purposeful attention they bestow on all these processes when -they are allowed to do them for themselves, and the bored, indifferent -impatience we all know so well when it is our adult hands which are -doing all the work. The big ones (of five and six) help the little -ones, who, eager to be “big ones” in their turn, struggle to learn as -quickly as possible how to do things for themselves. - -After the morning toilet of the children is finished, it is the turn of -the schoolroom. The fresh-faced, shining-eyed children scatter about -the big room, with tiny brushes and dust-pans and little brooms. They -attack the corners where dust lurks, they dust off all the furniture -with soft cloths, they water the plants, they pick up any litter which -may have accumulated, they learn the habit of really examining a room -to see if it is in order or not. One natural result of this daily -training in close observation of a room is a much greater care in the -use of it during the day, a result the importance of which can be -certified by any mother who has to “pick up” after a family of small -children. - -After the room is fresh and clean, the “order of exercises” is very -flexible, varying according to circumstances, the weather, the -desire of the children. They may perhaps sing a hymn together before -dispersing to their different self-chosen exercises with the apparatus. -Sometimes the teacher gives them some exercises in manners, showing -them how to rise gracefully and quietly from their little chairs, how -to say good-morning; how to give and receive politely some object; -how to carry things safely across the room, etc., etc. Sometimes they -all sit about the teacher and have a talk with her, an exercise in -ordinary well-bred conversation which is sadly needed by our American -children, who are seldom, at least as young as this, trained to express -themselves in any but trivial requests, or, as in the kindergarten, -in repeating stories. The teacher questions the children about the -happenings of their lives, about anything of more general interest -which they may have observed, or on any topic which excites a general -interest which they may have observed. Of course, because she is a -Montessori teacher she does as little of this talking as possible -herself, confining herself to brief remarks which may draw out the -children. Such conversation is of the greatest help to the fluency and -correctness of speech and to an early enriching of the vocabulary, all -important factors in the release of the child from the prison of his -baby limitations. The habit of listening while others talk acquired in -these general morning conversations is also of incalculable value, as -is attested by the proverbial rarity of the good listener even among -adults. - -Of course the main business of the day is the use of the apparatus, the -different Montessori exercises, and these soon occupy the attention -of all the children. With intervals of outdoor play in the courtyard -garden, care of the plants there, the morning progresses till the lunch -hour, which has been described. After this, or indeed, whenever they -feel sleepy, the smaller children take their naps, and they do not go -home until five or six o’clock in the afternoon, having back of them -a peaceful, harmonious day, every instant of which has been actively, -happily, and profitably employed, and which has been full from morning -till night of goodwill and comradeship. - -From time to time it happens that a new brother or sister is -introduced into this big family, with its régime of perfect freedom -from unnecessary restraint. The behavior of children who are brought -into the school after the beginning of the school-year is naturally -extremely various, since they are allowed then, as always, to express -with perfect liberty their own individualities. Some join at once, of -their own accord, in one or another of the interesting “games” they see -being played by the other children already initiated, and in half an -hour are indistinguishable from the older inhabitants of that little -world, drawing their fingers alternately over sandpaper and smooth wood -to learn the difference between “rough” and “smooth,” or delightedly -matching the different-colored spools of silk. Others, naturally shy -ones, naturally reserved ones, those who have been rendered suspicious -by injudicious home treatment, or those who have naturally slow mental -machines, hold aloof for a time. They are allowed to do this as long as -they please. They are welcomed once smilingly, and then left to their -own devices. - -I remember, in the Via Giusti school, seeing for several days in -succession a tiny girl, not more than three, with wide, shy, fawn-eyes, -sitting idle at a little table, in the middle of the morning, with all -her wraps on. When I inquired the meaning of this very unusual sight, -the Directress told me that, apparently, the child had something of -the wild-animal terror of being caught in a trap, and had indicated, -terrified, when her mother, on the first morning, tried to take off -her cap and cloak, that she wished to be free at any moment to make -her escape from these new and untried surroundings. So her wraps -were not removed, she was allowed to sit near the door, which was -kept ajar, and not a look or gesture from the Directress disturbed -the reassuring isolation in which that baby, by slow degrees, found -herself and learned her first lesson of the big world. I think she -sat thus for three whole days, at first starting nervously if anyone -chanced to approach her, with the painful, apprehensive glare of the -constitutionally timid child, but little by little conquering herself. - -One day she reached over shyly for a buttoning frame, left on the next -table by a child who had wandered off to other joys. She sat with -this some time, looking about suspiciously to see if some adult were -meditating that condescending swoop of patronizing congratulation -which is so offensive to the self-respecting pride of a naturally -reserved personality. No one noticed her. Still glancing up with -frequent suspicious starts, she began trying to insert the buttons in -the buttonholes, and then, by degrees, lost herself, forgot entirely -the tragic self-consciousness which had embittered her little life, -and with a real “Montessori face,” a countenance of ardent, happy, -self-forgetting interest in overcoming obstacles, she set definitely -to work. After a time, finding that her cape impeded her motions, she -flung it off, taking unconsciously the step into which, three days -before, only superior physical force could have coerced her. - -I watched her through the winter with much interest, her reticent, -self-contained nature always marking her off from the other little ones -more or less, and I rejoiced to see that all the natural manifestations -of her differing individuality were religiously respected by the wise -Directress. It was not long before she was trotting freely about the -room choosing her activities with lively delight, and looking on with -friendly, though never very intimate, interest at the doings of the -other children. But it was months before she cared to join at all in -enterprises undertaken in common by the majority of the pupils, the -rollicking file, for instance, which stamped about lustily in time -to the music. She watched them, half-astonished, half-disapproving, -wholly contented with her own permitted aloofness, like a slim little -greyhound watching the light-hearted, heavy-footed antics of a litter -of Newfoundland puppies. At least one person who saw her thanked Heaven -many times that a kind Providence had saved her from well-meaning adult -efforts to make her over according to the Newfoundland pattern. Hers -was a rare individuality, the integrity of which was being preserved -entire for the future leavening of an all-too-uniform civilization. For -although the Montessori school furnishes the best possible practical -training for democracy, inasmuch as every child learns speedily first -the joys of self-dependence and then the self-abnegating pleasure of -serving others, it is also preparing the greatest possible amelioration -of our present-day democracy, by counteracting that bad, but apparently -not inevitable, tendency of democracy to a dead level of uniform -and characterless mediocrity. The Casa dei Bambini proves in actual -practice that even the best interests of the sacred majority do not -demand that powerful and differing individualities be forced into -a common mould, but only guided into the higher forms of their own -natural activities. - -This brief digression is an illustration of the way in which every -thoughtful observer in a Montessori school falls from time to time into -a brown study which takes him far afield from the busy babies before -him. No greater tribute to the broadly human and universal foundation -of the system could be presented than this inevitable tendency in -visitors to see in the differing childish activities the unchaining -of great natural forces for good which have been kept locked and -padlocked by our inertia, our short-sightedness, our lack of confidence -in human nature, and our deep-rooted and unfounded prejudice about -childhood, our instinctive, mistaken, harsh conviction that it will be -industrious, law-abiding, and self-controlled only under pressure from -the outside. - -It must be admitted that there is one variety of child who is the -mortal terror of Montessori teachers. This is not the violently -insubordinate child, because his violence and insubordination at -home only indicate a strong nature which requires nothing but proper -activities to turn it to powerful and energetic life. No, what reduces -a Montessori teacher to despair is a child like one I saw in a school -for the children of the wealthy, a beautiful, exquisitely attired -little fairy of four, whose lovely, healthful body had been cared for -with the most scientific exactitude by trained nurses, governesses, -and nurse-maids, and the very springs of whose natural initiative and -invention seemed to have been broken by the debilitating ministrations -of all those caretakers. It is significant that the teacher of this -school admitted to me that she found her carefully-reared pupils -generally more listless, more selfish, harder to reach, and harder -to stimulate than poor children; but the least prosperous of us need -not think that because we cannot afford nurse-maids our children will -fare better than those of millionaires, for one too devoted mother can -equal a regiment of servants in crushing out a child’s initiative, his -natural desire for self-dependence, his self-respect, and his natural -instinct for self-education. - -The great point of vantage of a Montessori school over an ordinary -school in dealing with these morally starved children of too prosperous -parents, is that it catches them younger, before the pernicious habit -of passive dependence has continued long enough entirely to wreck their -natural instincts. Beside the beautiful child of four with the sapped -and weakened will-power mentioned above, was an equally beautiful, -exquisitely dressed little tot of just three, whose glowing face of -happy energy provided the most welcome contrast to the saddening mental -torpor of the older child, who, though naturally in every way a normal -little girl, stood hopelessly apathetic before all the fascinating -lures to her invention which the Montessori apparatus spread before -her. The little girl of three, without a word from the teacher, -regulated for herself a busy, profitable, happy, purposeful life, -getting out one piece of apparatus after another, “playing” with it -until her fresh interest was gone, putting it away, and falling with -equal ardor upon something else. The older child regarded her with the -curious passive wonder of a Hindu when he sees us Occidentals getting -our fun out of dancing and engaging in various active sports ourselves -instead of reclining upon pillows to watch other people paid thus to -exert themselves. She was given a choice of geometric insets, and -provided with colored pencils and a big sheet of paper, baits which not -even an idiot child can resist, and, sitting uninventive before this -delightful array, remarked with a polite indifference that she was used -to having people draw pictures for her. The poor child had acquired -the habit of having somebody else do even her playing. - -In the face of this melancholy sight, I was comforted by the teacher’s -hopeful assurance that the child had made some advance since the -beginning of the school, and showed some signs that intellectual -activity was awakening naturally under the well-nigh irresistible -stimulus of the Montessori apparatus. - -One exception to the general truth that the children in a Montessori -school do not take concerted action is in the “lesson of silence.” This -is often mentioned in accounts of the Casa dei Bambini, but it is so -important that it may perhaps be here described again. It originated as -a lesson for one of the senses, hearing, but though it undoubtedly is -an excellent exercise for the ears it has a moral effect which is more -important. It is certainly to visitors one of the most impressive of -all the impressive sights to be seen in the Children’s Home. - -One may be moving about between the groups of busy children, or sitting -watching their lively animation or listening to the cheerful hum of -their voices, when one feels a curious change in the atmosphere like -the hush which falls on a forest when the sun suddenly goes behind a -cloud. If it is the first time one has seen this “lesson,” the effect -is startling. A quick glance around shows that the children have -stopped playing as well as talking, and are sitting motionless at their -tables, their eyes on the blackboard where in large letters is written -“Silenzio” (Silence). Even the little ones who cannot read, follow -the example of the older ones, and not only sit motionless, but look -fixedly at the magic word. The Directress is visible now, standing by -the blackboard in an attitude and with an expression of tranquillity -which is as calming to see as the meditative impassivity of a Buddhist -priest. The silence becomes more and more intense. To untrained ears it -seems absolute, but an occasional faint gesture or warning smile from -the Directress shows that a little hand has moved almost but not quite -inaudibly, or a chair has creaked. - -At first the children smile in answer, but soon, under the hypnotic -peace of the hush which lasts minute after minute, even this silent -interchange of loving admonition and response ceases. It is now evident -from the children’s trance-like immobility that they no longer need -to make an effort to be motionless. They sit quiet, rapt in a vague, -brooding reverie, their busy brains lulled into repose, their very -souls looking out from their wide, vacant eyes. This expression of -utter peace, which I never before saw on a child’s face except in -sleep, has in it something profoundly touching. In that matter-of-fact, -modern schoolroom, as solemnly as in shadowy cathedral aisles, falls -for an instant a veil of contemplation, between the human soul and the -external realities of the world. - -And then a real veil of twilight falls to intensify the effect. The -Directress goes quietly about from window to window, closing the -shutters. In the ensuing twilight, the children bow their heads on -their clasped hands in the attitude of prayer. The Directress steps -through the door into the next room and a slow voice, faint and clear, -comes floating back, calling a child’s name. - -“El...e...na!” - -A child lifts her head, opens her eyes, rises as silently as a little -spirit, and with a glowing face of exaltation, tiptoes out of the room, -flinging herself joyously into the waiting arms. - -The summons comes again, “Vit...to...ri...o!” - -A little boy lifts his head from his desk, showing a face of sweet, -sober content at being called, and goes silently across the big room, -taking his place by the side of the Directress. And so it goes until -perhaps fifteen children are clustered happily about the teacher. -Then, as informally and naturally as it began, the “game” is over. The -teacher comes back into the room with her usual quiet, firm step; light -pours in at the windows; the mystic word is erased from the blackboard. -The visitor is astonished to see that only six or seven minutes have -passed since the beginning of this new experience. The children smile -at each other, and begin to play again, perhaps a little more quietly -than before, perhaps more gently, certainly with the shining eyes of -devout believers who have blessedly lost themselves in an instant of -rapt and self-forgetting devotion. - -And, in a sense, they too have been to church. This modern scientific -Roman woman-doctor, who probably never heard of William Penn, has -rediscovered the mystic joys of his sect, and has appropriated to her -system one of the most beneficial elements of the Quaker Meeting. - -Before seeing this “lesson of silence” one does not realize that there -is a lack in the world of the Casa dei Bambini. After seeing it one -feels instantly that it is an essential element, this brief period of -perfect repose from the mental activity which, though unstimulated, is -practically incessant; this brief excursion away from all the restless, -shifting, rapid things of the world into the region of peace and calm -and immobility. And yet who of us, without seeing this in actual -practice, would ever have dreamed that little children would care for -such an exercise, would submit to it for an instant, much less throw -themselves into it with all the ardor of little Yogis, and emerge from -it sweeter, more obedient, calmed, and gentler as from a tranquilizing -prayer? Sometimes, once in a day is not enough for them, and later -they ask of their own accord to have this experience repeated. Their -pleasure in it is inexpressible. The expression which comes over their -little faces when, in the midst of their busy play, they feel the first -hush fall about them is something never to be forgotten. - -It makes one feel a sort of envy of these children who are so much -better understood than we were at their age. And the fact that our own -hearts are somehow calmed and refreshed by this bath of silent peace -makes one wonder if we are not all of us still children enough to -benefit by many of the habits of life taught there, to profit by the -adaptation to our adult existence of some of the principles underlying -this scheme of education for babies. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -SOMETHING ABOUT THE APPARATUS AND ABOUT THE THEORY UNDERLYING IT - - -As I look at the title of this chapter before setting to work on it, -the sight of the word “Theory” makes me apprehensively aware that I -am stepping down into very deep water without any great confidence in -my powers as a swimmer. But I recall again the reflection which has -buoyed me up more than once in the composition of these unscientific -impressions, namely that I am addressing an audience no more scientific -than I am, an audience of ordinary, fairly well educated American -parents. Furthermore I am convinced that my book can do no more -valuable service than if by the tentative incompleteness of its account -it drives every reader to the study of the system in Dr. Montessori’s -own carefully written treatise. - -It is always, I believe, essential to an understanding of any -educational system to comprehend first of all the underlying principle -before going on to its adaptation to actual conditions. This adaptation -naturally varies as the actual conditions vary, and should change in -many details if it is to embody faithfully, under differing conditions, -the fundamental principle. But the master idea in every system is -unvarying, eternal, and it should be stated, studied, and grasped, -before any effort is made to learn the details of its practical -application. A statement of this fundamental principle will be found in -different phrasings, several times in the course of this book, because -it is essential not only to learn it once, but to bear it constantly -in mind. _Any attempt to use the Montessori apparatus or system by -anyone who does not fully grasp or is not wholly in sympathy with its -bed-rock idea, results inevitably in a grotesque, tragic caricature of -the method_, such a farcical spectacle as we now see the attempt to -Christianize people by forcible baptism to have been. - -The central idea of the Montessori system, on which every smallest -bit of apparatus, every detail of technic rests solidly, is a full -recognition of the fact that no human being can be educated by anyone -else. He must do it himself or it is never done. And this is as true at -the age of three as at the age of thirty; even truer, for the man of -thirty is at least as physically strong as any self-proposed mentor is -apt to be, and can fight for his own right to chew and digest his own -intellectual food. - -It can be readily seen how this dominating idea changes completely -the old-established conditions in the schoolroom, turning the high -light from the teacher to the pupil. Since the child can really be -taught nothing by the teacher, since he himself must do every scrap -of his own learning, it is upon the child that our attention centers. -The teacher should be the all-wise observer of his natural activity, -giving him such occasional quick, light-handed guidance as he may for a -moment need, providing for him in the shape of the ingenious Montessori -apparatus stimuli for his intellectual life and materials which enable -him to correct his own mistakes; but, by no means, as has been our -old-time notion, taking his hand in hers and leading him constantly -along a fixed path, which she or her pedagogical superiors have laid -out beforehand, and into which every childish foot must be either -coaxed or coerced. - -We have admitted the entire validity of this theory in physical life. -We no longer send our children for their outdoor exercise bidding them -walk along the street, holding to Nurse’s hand like little ladies and -gentlemen. If we can possibly manage it we turn them loose with a -sandpile, a jumping-rope, hoops, balls, bats, and other such stimuli to -their natural instinct for vigorous body-developing exercise. And we -have a “supervisor” in our public playgrounds only to see that children -are rightly started in their use of the different games, not at all to -play every game with them. We do this nowadays because we have learned -that little children are so devoted to those exercises which tend to -increase their bodily strength that they need no urging to engage in -them. The Montessori child, analogously, is allowed and encouraged to -let go the hand of his mental nurse, to walk and run about on his own -feet, and an almost endless variety of stimuli to his natural instinct -for vigorous mind-developing, intellectual exercise is placed within -his reach. - -The teacher, under this system, is the scientific, observing supervisor -of this mental “playground” where the children acquire intellectual -vigor, independence, and initiative as spontaneously, joyfully, -and tirelessly as they acquire physical independence and vigor as -a by-product of physical play. We have long realized that children -do not need to be driven by force, or even persuaded, to take the -amount of exercise necessary to develop their growing bodies. Indeed -the difficulty has been to keep them from doing it so continuously -as to interfere with our sedentary adult occupations and tastes. We -have learned that all we need to do is to provide the jumping-rope -and then leave the child alone with other children. The most -passionately inspired pedagogue can never learn to skip rope for a -child, any more than in after years he can ever learn the conjugation -of a single irregular verb for a pupil. The learner must do his own -learning, and, this granted, it follows naturally that the less he -is interfered with by arbitrary restraint and vexatious, unnecessary -rules, the more quickly and easily he will learn. An observation of -the typical, joyfully busy child in a Casa dei Bambini furnishes more -than sufficient proof that he enjoys acquiring mental as well as -physical agility and strength, and asks nothing better than a fair and -unhindered chance at this undertaking. - -But even when this deep-laid foundation principle of self-education -has been grasped, all is not plain sailing for the adventurer on the -Montessori ocean. A set of theories relating to such complicated -organisms as human beings, cannot in the nature of things be of -primer-like simplicity. For my own convenience I very soon made two -main divisions of the different branches on which the Montessori -system is developed out of its central main idea. One division, the -practical, is made up of theories based on acute, scientific knowledge -of the child’s body, his muscles, brain, and nerves, such as only a -doctor and a physiological psychologist combined can have. The second -division is made up of theories based on the spiritual nature of man, -as disclosed by the study of history, by unbiased direct observation -of present-day society, and by that divining fervor of enthusiastic -reverence for the element of perfectibility in human nature which has -always characterized founders of new religions. - -This chapter is to be devoted to the narration of what a person, -neither a doctor nor a physiological psychologist, was able to -understand of the first division. - -I think the first point which struck me especially was the insistence -on the fact that very little children have no greater natural interest -than in learning how to do something with their bodies. We all know -how much more fascinating a place our kitchens seem to be for our -little children than our drawing-rooms. I have heard this inevitable -gravitation towards those back regions of the house accounted for on -the theory the “children seem to like servants better than other -people. There seems to be some sort of natural affinity between a child -and a cook.” One morning spent in the Casa dei Bambini showed me the -true reason. Children like cooks and chamber-maids better than callers -in the parlor, because servants are always doing something imitable; -and they like kitchens and pantries better than drawing-rooms because -the drawing-room is a museum full of objects, interesting it is true, -but inclosed in the padlocked glass-case of the command, “Now, don’t -touch!” while the kitchen is a veritable treasure-house of Montessori -apparatus. - -The three-year-old child who, eluding pursuit from the front of -the house, sits down on the kitchen floor with a collection of -cookie-cutters of different shapes in his lap, and amuses himself -by running his fingers around their edges, is engaged in a true -“stereognostic exercise” as it is alarmingly dubbed in scientific -nomenclature. If there is a closet of pots and pans, and he has -time before he is dragged off to clean clothes and the vacuity of -adult-invented toys, to fit the right covers to the pots and see -which pan goes inside which, he has gone through a “sensory exercise -for developing his sense of dimension.” If he is struck by the fact -that the package of oatmeal, although so large, weighs less than the -smaller bag of salt, he has been initiated into a “baric exercise”; -while if there are some needles of ice left on the floor by a careless -iceman, with these and a permitted dabbling in warm dishwater, he -unconsciously invents for himself a “thermic exercise.” If the cook is -indulgent or too busy to notice, there may be added to these interests -the creative rapture to be evolved from a lump of dough, or a fumbling -attempt to fathom the mysterious inwardness of a Dover egg-beater. - -I have heard it said of the Montessori method that a system of -education accomplished with such simple everyday means could scarcely -claim that it is either anything new or the discovery of any one -person. It seems to me that is about like denying any novelty to -the discovery that pure air will cure consumption. The pure air has -always been there, consumptives have had nothing to do but to breathe -it to get well, but the doctors who first drove that fact into our -impervious heads deserve some credit and can certainly claim that they -were innovators with their descent upon the stuffy sickrooms and their -command to open the windows. - -Children from time immemorial have always done their best, struggling -bravely against the tyranny of adult good intentions, to educate -themselves by training their senses in all sorts of sense exercise. -They have always been (generations of exasperated mothers can bear -witness to it!) “possessed” to touch and handle all objects about -them. What Dr. Montessori has done is to appear suddenly, like the -window-breaking doctors, and to cry to us, “Let them do it!” Or rather, -to suggest something better for them to touch and handle since it -is neither necessary nor desirable that one’s three-year-old should -perfect his sense of form either on one’s cherished Sèvres vase or on a -more or less greasy cooking utensil. Nor has he that perverse fondness -for the grease of the kettle, or that wicked joy in the destruction of -valuable bric-à-brac which our muddle-headed observation has led us to -attribute to him. Those are merely fortuitous, and for him negligible, -accompaniments to the process of learning how to distinguish accurately -different forms. Dr. Montessori assures us, and proves her assertion, -that his sole interest is in the varying shapes of the utensils he -handles, and that if he is given cleaner, lighter articles with more -interesting shapes, he requires no urging to turn to them from his -greasy and heavy pots and pans. - -Bearing in mind, therefore, the humble and familiar relatives of the -Montessori apparatus to be found in our own kitchens and dining-rooms, -let us look at it a little more in detail. - -The buttoning-frames have been described (page 13). One’s invention -can vary them nearly to infinity. In the Casa dei Bambini there are -these frames arranged for buttons and buttonholes, for hooks and eyes, -for lacings, patent snap-fasteners, ribbon-ends to tie, etc., etc. -The aim of this exercise is so apparent that it is scarcely necessary -to mention it, except for the constant temptation of a child-lover -before the Montessori apparatus to see in it only the most enchanting -diversion for a child, which amuses him, though so simply, far more -than the most elaborate of mechanical toys. But, and here is where our -wool-gathering wits must learn a lesson from purposeful forethought: we -should never forget that _there is no smallest item in the Montessori -training which is intended merely to amuse the child_. He is given -these buttoning-frames not because they fascinate him and keep him out -of mischief, but because they help him to learn to handle, more rapidly -than he otherwise would, the various devices by which his clothes and -shoes are held together, on his little body. As for the profound and -vitally important reason why he should be taught and allowed as soon as -possible to dress himself, that will be treated in the discussion of -the philosophical side of this baby-training (page 129 ff.). - -It is apparent, of course, that the blindfolded child who was -identifying the pieces of different fabrics was training his sense -of touch. The sight of this exercise reminds the average person with -a start of surprise that he too was born with a sense of touch which -might have been cultivated if anyone had thought of it; for most of -us, by the enormity of our neglect of our five senses, reduce them, -for all practical purposes to two, sight and hearing, and distrust -any information which comes to us by other means. Our complacency -under this self-imposed deprivation is astonishing. It is as if a man -should wear a patch over one eye because he is able to see with one -and thinks it not worth while to use two. Now, it is apparent that -our five senses are our only means of conveying information to our -brains about the external world which surrounds us, and it is equally -apparent that to act wisely and surely in the world, the brain has need -of the fullest and most accurate information possible. Hence it is a -foregone conclusion, once we think of it at all, that the education of -all the senses of a child to rapidity, agility, and exactitude is of -great importance, not at all for the sake of the information acquired -at the time by the child, but for the sake of the five, finely accurate -instruments which this education puts under his control. The child -who was identifying the different fabrics was blindfolded to help him -concentrate his sense of touch on the problem and not aid this sense or -mislead it, as we often do, with his sight. - -[Illustration: EXERCISES IN PRACTICAL LIFE.] - -[Illustration: BUILDING “THE TOWER.” - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -It may be well here to set down a few facts about the relative -positions of the senses of touch and of sight, facts which are not -known to many of us, and the importance of which is not realized by -many who happen to know them. Everyone knows, to begin with, that -a new-born baby’s eyes, while physically perfect, are practically -useless, and that the ability to see with them accurately comes very -gradually. It seems that it comes much more gradually than the people -usually in charge of little children have ever known, and that, roughly -speaking, up to the age of six, children need to have their vision -reinforced by touch if, without great mental fatigue, they are to get -an accurate conception of the objects about them. - -It appears furthermore that, as if in compensation for this slow -development of vision, the sense of touch is extraordinarily developed -in young children. In short, that the natural way for little ones to -learn about things is to touch them. Dr. Montessori found that the -finger-tips of little children are extremely sensitive, and she claims -that there is no necessity, granted proper training, why this valuable -faculty, only retained by most adults in the event of blindness, should -be lost so completely in later life. - -Now it is plain to be seen that we adults, with our fixed habit of -learning about things from looking at them, have, in neglecting -this means of approach to the child-brain, been losing a golden -opportunity. If children learn more quickly and with less fatigue -through their fingers than through their eyes, why not take advantage -of this peculiarity--a peculiarity which extends even more vividly -to child-memory, for it is established beyond question that a little -child can remember the “feel” of a given object much more accurately -and quickly than the look of it. It is easy to understand, once this -explanation is given, the great stress that is laid, in Montessori -training, on the different exercises for developing and utilizing the -sense of touch. - -One of the first things a child just admitted to a Casa dei Bambini is -taught is to keep his hands scrupulously clean, because we can “touch -things better” with clean finger-tips than with dirty ones. And, of -course, he is allowed to take the responsibility of keeping his own -hands clean, and encouraged to do it by the presence of the little -dainty washstands, just the right height for him, supplied with bowl, -pitcher, etc., just the right size for him to handle. The joy of the -children in these simple little washstands, and their deft, delighted, -frequent use of them is a reproach to us for not furnishing such an -easily secured amelioration in the life of every one of our babies. - -The education of the sense of touch, like all the Montessori exercises -for the senses, begins with a few simple and strongly contrasting -sensations and proceeds little by little, to many only very slightly -differing sensations, following the growth of the child’s ability to -differentiate. The child with clean finger-tips begins, therefore, with -the first broad distinction between rough and smooth. He is taught to -pass his finger-tips lightly, first over a piece of sandpaper, and then -over a piece of smoothly polished wood, or glossy enameled paper, and -is told briefly, literally in two words, the two names of those two -abstract qualities. - -Here, in passing, with the first mention of this sort of exercise, it -should be stated that the children are taught to make these movements -of the hand and all others like them _always_ from left to right, so -that a muscular habit will be established which will aid them greatly -later when they come to “feel” their letters, which are, of course, -always written from left to right. - -The children are encouraged to keep their eyes closed while they are -“touching” things, because they can concentrate their attention in -this way. And here another general observation should be made: that in -the Montessori language “touching” does not mean the brief haphazard -contact of hand with object which we usually mean, but a systematic -examination of an object by the finger-tips such as a blind person -might make. - -After the first broad distinction is learned between rough and -smooth, there are then to be conquered all the intervening shades and -refinements of those qualities. The children take the greatest delight -in these exercises and almost at once begin to invent new ones for -themselves, “feeling” whatever materials are near them and giving -them their proper names, or asking what their names are. It is as if -their little minds were suddenly opened, as our dully perceptive adult -minds seldom are, to the infinite variety of surfaces in the world. -They notice the materials of their own dresses, the stuffs used in -upholstering furniture, curtains, dress fabrics, wood, smooth and -rough, steel, glass, etc., etc., with exquisitely fairy-light strokes -of their sensitive little finger-tips, which seem almost visibly to -grow more discriminating. - -The “technical apparatus” for continuing this training is varied, but -always simple. A collection of slips of sandpaper of varying roughness -to be placed in order from fine to coarse by the child (blindfolded -or not, as he seems to prefer); other collections of bits of fabrics -of all sorts to be identified by touch only; of slips of cardboard, -enameled or rough; blotting-paper, writing-paper, newspaper, etc., -etc.; of objects of different shapes, cubes, pyramids, balls, -cylinders, etc., for the blindfolded child to identify; later on of -very small objects like seeds of different shapes or sizes; finally, of -any objects which the child knows by sight, his playthings, articles -around the house, to be recognized by his touch only. - -There is one result on the child’s character of this sort of exercise -which Dr. Montessori does not specifically mention but which has struck -me forcibly in practical experimentation with it. I have found that -little hands and fingers trained by these fascinating “games” to light, -attentive, discriminating, and unhurried handling of objects, lose very -quickly that instinctive childish, violent but very uncertain clutch -at things, which has been for so many generations the cause of so much -devastation in the nursery. Little tots of four, trained in this way, -can be trusted with glassware and other breakable objects, which would -go down to certain destruction in the fitfully governed hands of the -average undisciplined child of twelve. In other words the child of four -has fitted himself by means of a highly enjoyable process to be, in one -more respect, an independent, self-respecting, trustworthy citizen of -his world. - -Of course all these different exercises are much more entertaining -when, like other fun-producing “games,” they are “played” with a crowd -of other children. When one child of a group is blindfolded, and as our -American children say “It,” while the others sit about, watching his -identification of more and more difficult objects, ready, all of them, -for a shout of applause at a success, or at a failure for an instant -laughing pounce on the coveted blindfold and application of it to the -child next in order, of course there is much more jolly laughter, the -interest is keener, and the attention more concentrated by the contact -with other wits, than can be the case with a single child, even with an -audience of the most sympathetic mother or aunt. There is absolutely -no adequate substitute for the beneficial action and reaction of -children upon one another such as form such a considerable part of the -Montessori training in a Casa dei Bambini. On the other hand, those of -us who live, as we almost all do, far from any variety of a Montessori -school, can, with the exercise of our ingenuity and mother-wit, arrange -a great number of more or less adequate temporary expedients. A large -number of the Montessori devices, if they were not called “sensory -exercises,” would be recognized as merely fascinating new games for -children. What is blind-man’s buff but a “sensory exercise for training -the ear,” since what the person who is “It” does is to try to catch -the slight movements made by the other players accurately enough to -pursue and capture them? Children have another game called, for some -mysterious reason of childhood, “Still pond, no more moving!” a -variety of blind-man’s buff, which trains still more finely the sense -of hearing, since the players are required to stand perfectly still, -and the one who is “It” must detect their presence by such almost -imperceptible sounds as their breathing, or the rustling caused by an -involuntary movement. If Montessori herself had invented this game, it -could not be more perfectly devised for bodily control. Children who -wriggle about in ordinary circumstances without the slightest capacity -to control their bodies, even in response to the sternest adult -commands for quiet, will stand in some strained position without moving -a finger, their concentration so intense that even their breathing is -light and inaudible. We must all have seen children happily playing -such games; many of us have spent hours and hours of our childhood -over them; Froebel used them and others like them plentifully in his -system; there are all sorts of more or less hit-or-miss imitations of -them being constructed by modern child-tamers; but no one before this -Italian woman-doctor ever analyzed them so that we plain unprofessional -people could fully grasp their fascination for us; ever told us that -children like them because they afford an opportunity to practise -self-control, and that similar games based on the same idea that it is -“fun” to exercise one’s different senses in company or in competition -with one’s youthful contemporaries, would be just as entertaining as -these self-invented games, handed down for untold generations from -one set of children to another. All the varieties of blindfold sensory -exercises are variations on the theme of blind-man’s buff, which is -so perennially interesting to all children. Any small group of young -children, two or three little neighbors come in to play, will with a -little guidance at first readily “play” any of the “tactile exercises” -described above (pages 60, 61) for hours on end, instead of wrangling -about the rocking-horse--a toy invented for solitary or semi-solitary -consumption. Any group of children, collected anywhere for ever so -short a time, can be converted into a half-hour’s Montessori school, -though as a rule the younger they are the better material they are, -since they have not fallen into bad mental habits. - -The various exercises or “games” for exercising the sense of touch, -although not described here in all the detail of their elaboration in -the Casa dei Bambini, can be elaborated from these suggestions as one’s -own, or what is more likely, the children’s inventiveness may make -possible. - -The definite education of taste and smell has not been very much -developed by Dr. Montessori, although simple exercises have been -successfully devised, such as dropping on the tongue tiny particles -of substances, sweet, sour, salt, bitter, etc., having the child -rinse his mouth out carefully between each test. Similar exercises -with different-smelling substances can be undertaken with blindfolded -children, asking them to guess what they are smelling. Dr. Montessori -lays no great stress on this, however, as the sense of smell with -children is not highly developed. - -Practice in judging weight is given by the use of pieces of wood of -the same size but of different weights, chestnut contrasted with oak, -poplar-wood with maple, etc., etc., the child learning by slightly -lifting them up and down on the palm of his hand. Later on this -can be varied by the use of any objects of about the same size but -of different weights, and later still by single objects of weights -disproportionate to their size, such as a bit of lead or a small pillow. - -The difference between these carefully devised exercises and the -haphazard, almost unconscious comparison by the child in the kitchen -of the bag of salt and the box of oatmeal, is a very good example of -the way in which Dr. Montessori has systematized and ordered, graded -and arranged the exercises which every child instinctively craves. The -average mother, with leisure to devote to her much-loved child, calls -him away from the pantry-shelf where he may upset the oatmeal box or -spill the salt, thus “getting into mischief,” and leads him, with -mistaken affection, back to his toy animals. The luckier child of a -poorer, busier, or more indifferent mother is allowed to “mess around” -in the kitchen until he makes himself too intolerable a nuisance. He -goes through in this way many valuable sense exercises, but he wastes a -great deal of his time in misdirected and futile effort, and does, as -a matter of fact, make a great deal of trouble for his elders which -is not at all a necessary accompaniment to his own life, liberty, or -pursuit of information. - -Dr. Montessori has neither led the child away from his instinctively -chosen occupations, nor left him in the state of anarchic chaos -resulting from his natural inability to choose, among the bewildering -variety of objects in the world, those which are best suited for his -self-development. She has, so to speak, taken out into the kitchen, -beside the child, busy with his self-chosen amusements, her highly -trained brain, stored with pertinent scientific information, and she -has looked at him long and hard. As a result she is able to show us, -what our own blurred observation never would have distinguished, -just which elements, in the heterogeneous mass of his naturally -preferred toys, are the elements towards which the tendrils of his -rapidly-growing intellectual and muscular organism are reaching. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -DESCRIPTION OF THE REST OF THE APPARATUS AND THE METHOD FOR WRITING - AND READING - - -The carefully graded advance, from the simpler to the harder exercises, -which is so essential a part of the correct use of the Montessori, as -of all other educational apparatus, seems to most mothers contemplating -the use of the system, a very difficult feature. “How am I to know?” -they ask. “Which exercise is the best one to offer a child to begin -with, how can I tell when he has sufficiently mastered that so that -another is needed, and how shall I select the right one to go on with?” - -Perhaps the first answer to make to these questions is the one which -so often successfully solves Montessori problems: “Have a little more -trust in your child’s natural instincts. Don’t think that a single -mistake on your part will be fatal. It will not hurt him if you happen -to suggest the wrong thing, if you do not insist on it, for, left -freely to himself, he will not pay the least attention to anything -that is not suitable for him. Give him opportunity for perfectly free -action, and then _watch him carefully_.” - -If he shows a lively spontaneous interest in a Montessori problem, and -devotes himself to solving it, you may be sure that you have hit upon -something which suits his degree of development. If he goes through -with it rather easily and, perhaps, listlessly, and needs your reminder -to keep his attention on it, in all probability it is too easy; he has -outgrown it, he no longer cares to occupy himself with it, just as you -no longer care to jump rope, though that may have been a passion with -you at the age of eight. - -If, on the other hand, he seems distressed at the difficulties before -him, and calls repeatedly for help and explanation, one of three -conditions is present. Either the exercise is too hard for him, or he -has acquired already the bad habit of dependence on others, in both -of which cases he needs an easier exercise; or, lastly, he has simply -had enough formal “sensory exercises” for a while. It is the most -mistaken notion about the Montessori Children’s Home to conceive that -the children are occupied from morning till night over the apparatus of -her formal instruction. They use it exactly as long, or as often, or as -seldom, as they please, just as a child in an ordinary nursery uses his -ordinary toys. It must be kept constantly in mind that the wonderful -successes attained by the Montessori schools in Rome cannot be repeated -by the mere repetition of sensory exercises, thrust spasmodically into -the midst of another system, or lack of system, in child-training. The -Italian children of five or six, who have had two or three years of -Montessori discipline, and who are such marvels of sweet, reasonable -self-control, who govern their own lives so sanely, who have -accomplished such astonishing feats in reading and writing, are the -results of many other factors besides buttoning-frames and geometric -insets, important as these are. - -[Illustration: BUTTONING-FRAMES TO DEVELOP CO-ORDINATED MOVEMENTS OF -THE FINGERS AND PREPARE THE CHILDREN FOR EXERCISES OF PRACTICAL LIFE. - - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -Perhaps the most vital of these other factors is the sense of -responsibility, genuine responsibility, not the make-believe kind, with -which we are too often apt to put off our children when they first show -their touchingly generous impulse to share some of the burdens of our -lives. For instance, to take a rather extreme instance, but one which -we must all have seen, a child in an ordinary home is allowed to pick -up a bit of waste-paper on the floor, after having had his attention -called to it, and is told to throw it in the waste-paper basket. This -action of mechanical obedience, suitable only for a child under two -years of age, is then praised insincerely to the child’s face as an -instance of “how _much_ help he is to Mother!” - -The Montessori child is trained, through his feeling of responsibility -for the neatness and order of his schoolroom, to notice litter on -the floor, just as any housekeeper does, without needing to have her -attention called to it. It is her floor and her business to keep it -clean. And this feeling of responsibility is fostered and allowed every -opportunity to grow strong, by the sincere conviction of the Montessori -teacher that it is more important for the child to feel it, than for -the floor to be cleaned with adult speed. As a result of this long -patience on the part of the Directress, a child who has been under her -care for a couple of years, will (to go on with our chosen instance) -pick up litter from the floor and dispose of it, as automatically as -the mistress of the house herself, and with as little need for the goad -either of upbraiding for neglect, or praise incommensurate with the -trivial service. This is an attitude in marked contrast to that of many -of our daughters who often attain high-school age without acquiring -this feeling, apparently perfectly possible to inculcate if the process -is begun early enough, of loyal solidarity with the interests of the -household. - -With this caution that a Montessori life for a little child does not in -the least mean his incessant occupation with formal sensory exercises, -let us again take up the description and use of the apparatus. - -The first thing which is given a child is usually either one of the -buttoning-frames (shown in the illustration facing page 68), or what -are called the “solid geometric insets.” This latter game with the -formidable name is illustrated opposite this page, where it is seen to -resemble the set of weights kept beside their scales by old-fashioned -druggists. No other Montessori exercise is more universally popular -with the littlest ones who enter the Children’s Home, and few others -hold their attention so long. This combines training for both sight and -touch, since, as an aid to his vision, the child is taught to run his -finger-tips around the cylinder which he is trying to fit in, and then -around the edges of the holes. His finger-tips recognize the similarity -of size before his eyes do. This piece of apparatus is, of course, -entirely self-corrective, and needs no supervision. When it becomes -easy for a child quickly to get all the cylinders into the right holes, -he has probably had enough of this exercise, although his interest in -it may recur from time to time, during many weeks. - -[Illustration: SOLID GEOMETRICAL INSETS. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -One of the exercises which it is usual to offer him next is the -construction of the Tower. This game could be played (and often is) -with the nest of hollow blocks which nearly every child owns, and it -consists of building a pyramid with them, the biggest at the bottom, -the next smaller on this, and so on to the apex made by the tiniest -one. This is to learn the difference between big and small; and as the -child progresses in exactitude of vision, the game can be varied by -piling the blocks in confusion at one side of the room and constructing -the pyramid, a piece at a time, at some distance away. This means that -when the child leaves his pyramid to go and get the block needed next, -he must “carry the size in his eye” as the phrase runs, and pick out -the block next smaller by an effort of his visual memory. - -The difference between long and short is taught by means of ten squared -rods of equal thickness, but regularly varying length, the shortest one -being just one-tenth as long as the longest. The so-called Long Stair -(illustration facing page 74) is constructed by the child with these. -This is perhaps the most difficult game among those by which dimensions -are taught, and a good many mistakes are to be anticipated. The -material is again quite self-corrective, however, and little by little, -with occasional silent or brief reminders from the adult onlooker, the -child learns first to correct his own mistakes, and then not to make -them. Thickness and thinness are studied with ten solids, brick-like -in shape, all of the same length, but of regularly varying thickness, -the thinnest one being one-tenth as thick as the biggest one. With -these the child constructs the Big Stair (illustration facing page -74). Later on (considerably later), when the child begins to learn his -numbers, these “stairs” are used to help him. The large numbers cut out -of sandpaper and pasted on smooth cardboard, are placed by the child -beside the right number of red and blue sections on each rod of the -Long Stair. - -After the construction of the Long and Big Stair the child is usually -ready for the exercises with different fabrics to develop his sense -of touch, and for the first beginning of the exercises leading to -writing; especially the strips of sandpaper pasted upon smooth wood -used to teach the difference between rough and smooth. At the same time -with these exercises, begin the first ones with color which consist of -simply matching spools of identical color, two by two. - -When these simple exercises of the tactile sense have been mastered, -the child is allowed to attempt the more difficult undertaking of -recognizing all the minute gradations between smooth and rough, -between dark blue and light blue, etc., etc. - -The training of the eye to discriminate between minute differences in -shades, is carried on steadily in a series of exercises which result -in an accuracy of vision in this regard which puts most of us adults -to shame. These color-games are played with silk wound around flat -cards, like those on which we often buy our darning-cotton. There are -eight main colors, and under each color eight shades, ranging from dark -to light. The number of games which can be played with these is only -limited by the ingenuity of the Directress or mother, and, although -most of them are played more easily with a number of children together, -many are quite available for the solitary “only child at home.” He -can amuse himself by arranging his sixty-four bobbins in the correct -order of their colors, or he can later, as in the pyramid-making game, -pile them all on one side of the room, and make his graduated line at -a distance, “holding the color” in his mind as he crosses the room, a -feat which almost no untrained adult can accomplish; although it is -surprising what results can be obtained any time in life by conscious, -definite effort to train one of the senses. There is nothing miraculous -in the results obtained in the Casa dei Bambini. They are the simple, -natural consequence of definite, direct _training_, which is so seldom -given. The remarkable improvement in general acuteness of his vision -after training his eyes to follow the flight of bees, has been -picturesquely and vigorously recorded by John Burroughs; and all of us -know how many more chestnuts we can see and pick up in a given time, -after a few hours’ concentration on this exercise, than when we first -began to look for them in the grass. - -The color-games played by a number of children together with the -different-colored spools are various, but resemble more or less the -old-fashioned game of authors. One of them is played thus. Eight -children choose each the name of a color. Then the sixty-four spools -are poured out in confusion on the table around which the children -sit. One of them (the eldest or one chosen by lot) begins to deal out -to the others in turn. That is, the one on his right asking for red, -the dealer must quickly choose a spool of the right color and hand it -to his neighbor. Then the child beyond asks for blue, and so it goes -until the dealer makes a mistake. When he does, the deal goes to the -child next him. After every child has before him in a mixed pile the -eight shades of his chosen color, they all set to work as fast as -they can to see who can soonest arrange them in the right chromatic -order. The child who does this first has “won” the game, and is the one -who deals first in the next game. Children of about the same age and -ability repeat this game with the monotonously eternal vivid interest -which characterizes an old-established quartet of whist-players, and -they attain, by means of it and similar games with the color spools, a -control of their eyes which is a marvel and which must forever add -to the accuracy of their impressions about the world. When a generation -of children trained in this manner has grown up, landscape painters -will no longer be able to complain, as they do now, that they are -working for a purblind public. - -[Illustration: THE BROAD STAIR.] - -[Illustration: THE LONG STAIR. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -We are now approaching at last the extremely important and hitherto -undescribed “geometric insets,” whose mysterious name has piqued the -curiosity of more than one casual and hasty reader of accounts of the -Montessori system. A look at the pictures of these shows them to be as -simple as all the rest of Dr. Montessori’s expedients. Anyone who was -ever touched by the picture-puzzle craze, or who in his childhood felt -the fascination of dissected maps, needs no explanation of the pleasure -taken by little children of four and five in fitting these queer-shaped -bits of wood into their corresponding sockets, the square piece into -the square socket, the triangle into the three-cornered hole, the -four-leafed clover shape into the four-lobed recess. There can be no -better description of the way in which a child is initiated into the -use of this piece of apparatus than the one written by Miss Tozier for -_McClure’s Magazine_: - -“A small boy of the mature age of four, who has been sitting plunged -either in sleep or meditation, now starts up from his chair and wanders -across to his directress for advice. He wants something to amuse him. -She takes him to the cupboard, throws in a timely suggestion, and he -strolls back to his table with a smile. He has chosen half a dozen -or more thin, square tablets of wood and a strip of navy-blue cloth. -He begins by spreading down the cloth, then he puts his blocks on -it in two rows. They are of highly-varnished wood, light blue, with -geometrical figures of navy-blue in the centre; there is a triangle, a -circle, a rectangle, an oval, a square, an octagon. The teacher, who -has followed him, stands on the other side of the table. She runs two -of her fingers round one of the edges of the triangle. ‘Touch it so,’ -she says. He promptly and delightedly imitates her. She then pulls all -the figures out of their light-blue frames by means of a brass button -in each, mixes them up on the table; and tells him to call her when -he has them all in place again. The dark-blue cloth shows through the -empty frame, so that it appears as if the figures had only sank down -half an inch. While he continues to stare at this array, off goes the -teacher. - -“‘Is she not going to show him how to begin?’ - -“‘An axiom of our practical pedagogy is to aid the child only to be -independent,’ answers Dr. Montessori. ‘He does not wish help.’ - -“Nor does he seem to be troubled. He stares a while at his array of -blocks; yet his eye does not grow quite sure, for he carefully selects -an oval from the mixed-up pile and tries to put it in the circle. It -won’t go. Then, quick as a flash, as if subconsciously rather than -designedly, he runs his little forefinger around the rim of the figure -and then round the edge of the empty space left in the light-blue -frames of both the oval and the circle. He discovers his mistake at -once, puts the figure into its place, and leans back a moment in his -chair to enjoy his own cleverness before beginning with another. He -finally gets them all into their proper frames, and instantly pulls -them out again, to do it quicker and better next time. - -“These blocks with the geometric insets are among the most valuable -stimuli in the Casa dei Bambini. The vision and the touch become, -by their use, accustomed to a great variety of shapes. It will be -noted, too, that the child apprehends the forms synthetically, as -given entities, and is not taught to recognize them by aid of even the -simplest geometrical analysis. This is a point on which Dr. Montessori -lays particular stress.” - -Now it is to be borne in mind that although, for the children, this is -only a “game,” as fascinating to them as the picture-puzzle is to their -elders, their far-seeing teacher is utilizing it, far cry though it may -seem, to begin to teach them to write. And here I realize that I have -at last written a phrase for which my bewildered reader has probably -been waiting in an astonished impatience. For of all the profound, -searching, regenerating effects of the Montessori system, none seems -to have made an impression on the public like the fact, almost a -by-product of the method, that Montessori children learn to write and -read more easily than others. I have heard Dr. Montessori exclaim in -wonder many times over the popular insistence on that interesting -and important, but by no means central, detail of her work; as though -reading and writing were our only functions in life, as though we could -get information and education only from the printed page, a prop which -is already, in the opinion of many wise people, too largely used in our -modern world as a substitute for first-hand, individual observation. - -It cannot be denied, however, that the way Montessori children learn -to write is very spectacular. The theory underlying it is far too -complicated to describe in complete detail in a book of this sort, but -for the benefit of the person who desires to run and read at the same -time, I will set down a short-cut, unscientific explanation. - -The inaccuracy and relative weakness of a little child’s eyesight, -compared to his sense of touch, has been already mentioned (page 57). -This simple element in child physiology must be borne constantly in -mind as one of the determining factors in the Montessori method of -teaching writing. The child who is “playing” with the geometric insets -soon learns, as we have seen from Miss Tozier’s description, that he -can find the shallow recess which is the right shape for the piece of -wood which he holds in his hand if he will run the fingers of his other -hand around the edge of his piece of wood and then around the different -recesses. - -[Illustration: INSETS WHICH THE CHILD LEARNS TO PLACE BOTH BY SIGHT AND -BY TOUCH. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -It is hard for an ordinary adult really to conceive of the importance -of this movement for a little child. Indeed, so fixed is our usual -preference for vision as a means of gaining information, that it gives -one a very queer feeling to watch a child, with his eyes wide open, -apparently looking intently at the board with its different-shaped -recesses, but unable to find the one matching the inset he holds, until -he has gone through that eerie, blind-man’s motion with his finger-tips. - -Now that motion, very frequently repeated, not only tells him where -to fit in his inset, but, like all frequently repeated actions, wears -a channel in his brain which tends, whenever he begins the action, -to make him complete it in the way he always has done it. It can be -seen that, if, instead of a triangle or a square, the child is given a -letter of the alphabet and shown how to follow its outlines with his -fingers in the direction in which they move when the letter is written, -the brain channel and muscular habit resulting are of the utmost -importance. - -But before he can make any use of this, he needs to learn another -muscular habit, quite distinct from (although always associated with) -the mastery of the letters of the alphabet, namely, the mastery of -the pencil. The exceeding awkwardness naturally felt by the child in -holding this new implement for the first time, has nothing to do with -his recognition of A or B, although it adds another great difficulty -to his reproducing those letters. He must learn how to manage his -pencil before he engages upon the much more complicated undertaking -of constructing with it certain fixed symbols, just as he must learn -how to walk before he can be sent on an errand. The old-fashioned way -(still generally in use in Italy, and not wholly abandoned in all -parts of our own country) was to force the child to fill innumerable -copy-books with monotonous straight lines or “pot-hooks,” a weariness -of the spirit and a thorn in the flesh which any one who has suffered -from it can describe feelingly. One way adopted by modern educators to -avoid this dreary exercise is by frankly running away from the issue -and postponing teaching children to write until a much more mature -age than formerly, in the hope that general exercises in free-hand -drawing will sufficiently supplement the general strengthening and -steadying of the muscles which come with more mature development. It -is an inaccurate but, perhaps, suggestive comparison to say that this -is a little as though young children should not be taught how to walk -because it is so hard for them to keep their balance, but made to wait -until all their bones are mature. - -Dr. Montessori has solved the difficulty by another use of the -geometric insets. This time it is the hole left by the removal of one -of the insets which is used. Suppose, for instance, that one chooses -the triangular inset. It is set down on a piece of paper and the -triangle is lifted out, leaving the paper showing through. The child -is provided with colored crayons and shown how to trace around the -outline of the triangular-shaped piece of paper. The fact that the -metal frame stands up a little from the paper prevents his at first -wildly unsteady pencil from going outside the triangle. When he has -traced around the outline[A] with his blue crayon, he lifts the frame -up and there is the most beautiful blue triangle, all the work of his -own hands! He usually gazes at this in delighted surprise, and then it -is suggested to him to fill in this outline with strokes of his pencil. -He is allowed to make these as he chooses, only being cautioned not to -pass outside the line. At first the crayon goes “every which way,” and -the “drawings” are hardly recognizable because the outline has been -so overrun at every point; but gradually the child’s muscular control -is improved and finally carried to a very high degree of perfection. -Regular, even parallel lines begin to appear and the final result is as -even as a Japanese color-wash. It is evident that in the course of this -work he makes of his own accord, with the utmost interest animating -each stroke, as many lines as would fill hours and hours of enforced -drudgery over copy-books. When, after much practice, the muscles have -learned almost automatically to control fingers holding a pencil, that -particular muscular habit is sufficiently well-learned for the child to -begin on another enterprise. - -Now of course, though it is most interesting to color triangles and -circles, a child does not spend all his day at it. Among other things -which occupy and amuse him at this time is getting acquainted with -the look and feel of the letters of the alphabet. The children are -presented, one at a time, sometimes only one a day, with large script -letters, made of black sandpaper pasted on smooth white cards, and are -taught how to draw their fingers over the letter in the direction taken -when it is written. At the same time the teacher repeats slowly and -distinctly the sound of the letter, making sure that the child takes -this in. - -After this, the little Italian child, happy in the possession -of a phonetically spelled language, has an easier time than our -English-speaking children, who begin then and there their lifelong -struggle with the insanities of English spelling. But this is a -struggle to which they must come under any system, and much less -formidable under this than it has ever been before. For the next step -is, of course, to put these letters together into simple words. There -is no need to wait until a child has toiled all through the alphabet -before beginning this much more interesting process. As soon as he -knows two letters he can spell Mamma. There is no question as yet of -his constructing the letters with his own hands. He simply takes them -from their separate compartments and lays them on the floor or table in -the right order. In handling them throughout all of these exercises the -children are encouraged constantly to make that blind-man’s motion of -tracing around the letter. The rough sandpaper apparently shouts out -information to the little finger-tips highly sensitized by the tactile -exercises, for the child nearly always corrects himself more surely -by touching than by looking at his sandpaper alphabet. Of course, the -strongest of muscular habits is being formed as he does this. - -A pleasant variation on this routine is a test of the child’s new -knowledge. The teacher asks him to give her B, give her D, P, M, etc. -The letters are kept in little pasteboard compartments, a compartment -for all the B’s, another for all the D’s, and so on. The child, in -answer to the teacher’s request, looks over these compartments and -picks out from all the others the letter she has asked for. This, of -course, seems only like a game to him, a variation on hide-and-seek. - -All these processes go on day after day, side by side, all invisibly -converging towards one end. The practice with the crayons, the -recognition of the letters by eye and touch, the revelation as to the -formation of words with the movable alphabet, are so many roads leading -to the painless acquisition of the art of writing. They draw nearer -and nearer together, and then, one day, quite suddenly, the famous -“Montessori explosion into writing” occurs. The teacher of experience -can tell when this explosion is imminent. First the parallel lines -which the child makes to fill and color the geometric figures become -singularly regular and even; second, his acquaintance with the alphabet -becomes so thorough that he recognizes the letters by sense of touch -only, and, third, he increases in facility for composing words with the -movable alphabet. The burst into spontaneous writing usually comes only -after these three conditions are present. - -It usually happens that a child has a crayon in his hand and begins the -motion of his fingers made as he traces around one of his sandpaper -letters. But this time he has the pencil in his fingers, and the -idea suddenly occurs to him, usually reducing him to breathless -excitement, that if he traces on the paper with his pencil the form -of the letters, he will be writing. In the twinkling of an eye it is -done. He has written with his own hand one of the words which he has -been constructing with the movable alphabet. He is usually as proud -of this achievement as though he had invented the art of writing. The -first children who were taught in this manner and who experienced this -explosion into writing did really believe, I gather, that writing -was something of their own invention. They rushed about excitedly to -explain, to anyone who would listen, all about this wonderful new -discovery: “Look! Look! You don’t need the movable letters to make -words. See, you just take a pencil or a piece of chalk, and draw the -letters for yourself ... as many as you please ... anywhere!” And, in -fact, for the first few days after this explosion, their teachers and -mothers found writing “anywhere!” all over the house. The children -were in a fever of excited pride. Since then, although the first word -always causes a spasm of joy, children in a Children’s Home are so used -to seeing the older ones writing and reading, that their own feat is -taken more calmly, as a matter of course. It really always takes place -in this sudden way, however. One day a child cannot write, and the next -he can. - -The formation of the letters, so hard for children taught in the old -way, offers practically no difficulty to the Montessori child. He has -traced their outline so often with his finger-tips that his knowledge -of them is lodged where, in his infant organism, it belongs, in his -muscular memory; so that when, pencil in his well-trained hand, he -starts his fingers upon an action already so often repeated as to be -automatic, muscular habit and muscular memory do the rest. He does -not need consciously to direct each muscle in the action of writing, -any more than a practised piano-player thinks consciously of which -finger goes after which. The vernacular phrase expressing this sort of -involuntary, muscular-memory facility is literally true in his case, -“He has done it so often that he could do it with his eyes shut.” It -is to be noted that for a long time after this explosion into writing, -the children continue incessantly to go through the three preparatory -steps, tracing with their fingers the sandpaper letters, filling in -the geometric forms and composing with the movable alphabet. These are -for them what scales are for the pianist, a necessary practice for -“keeping the hand in.” By means of constantly tracing the sandpaper -letters the children write almost from the first the most astonishingly -clear, firm, regular hand, much better than that of most adults of my -acquaintance. - -It is apparent, from even this short-hand account of this remarkably -successful method, that children cannot learn to write by means of -it without considerable (even if unconscious and painless) effort on -their part, and without intelligence, good judgment, and considerable -patience on the part of the teacher. The popular accounts of the -miracles accomplished by Dr. Montessori’s apparatus have apparently -led some American readers to fancy that it is a sort of amulet one can -tie about the child’s neck, or plaster to apply externally, which will -cause the desired effect without any further care. As a matter of fact, -it is a carefully devised trellis which starts the child’s sensory -growth in a direction which will be profitable for the practical -undertaking of learning how to write, a trellis invented and patented -by Dr. Montessori, but which those of us who attempt to teach children -must construct for ourselves on her pattern, following step by step the -development of each of the children under our care. - -[Illustration: TRACING SAND-PAPER LETTERS.] - -[Illustration: TRACING GEOMETRICAL DESIGN. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -And yet, although the Montessori apparatus does not teach children by -magic how to write a good hand, in comparison with the methods now in -use, it is really almost miraculous in its results. In our schools -children learn slowly to write (and how badly!) when they are seven -or eight, cannot do it fluently until they are much older, and never -do it very well, if the average handwriting of our high-school and -college student is any test of our system. In the Montessori schools a -child of four usually spends about a month and a half in the definite -preparation for writing, and children of five usually only a month. -Some very quick ones of this age learn to write with all the letters in -twenty days. Three months’ practice, after they once begin to write, -is, as a rule, enough to steady their handwriting into an excellently -clear and regular script, and, after six months of writing, a -Montessori tot of five can write fluently, legibly, and (most important -and revolutionary change) with pleasure, far beyond that usually felt -by a child in, say, our third or fourth grades. - -He has not only achieved this valuable accomplishment with enormous -economy of time, but he has been spared, into the bargain, the endless -hours of soul-killing drudgery from which the children in our schools -now suffer. The Montessori child has, it is true, gone through a far -more searching preparation for this achievement, but it has all been -without any strain on his part, without any consciousness of effort -except that which springs from the liveliest spontaneous desire. It has -tired him, literally, no more than if he had spent the same amount of -time playing tag. - -I have heard some scientific talk which sounded to my ignorant ears -very profound and psychological, about whether this capacity of -Montessori children to write can be considered as a truly “intellectual -achievement,” or only a sort of unconsciously learned trick. This is a -fine theoretic distinction which I think most mothers will feel they -can safely ignore. Whatever it is from a psychological standpoint, and -however it may be rated in the Bradstreet of pure science, it is an -inestimable treasure for our children. - -Reading comes after writing in the Montessori system, and has not -apparently as inherently close a connection with it as is sometimes -thought. That is, a child who can form letters perfectly with his -pencil and can compose words with the movable alphabet may still be -unable to recognize a word which he himself has neither written nor -composed. But, of course, with such a start as the Montessori system -gives him, the gap between the two processes is soon bridged. There -are various reasons why a detailed account of the Montessori method -of teaching reading need not be given here. One is that this book -is written for mothers and not teachers, and since the methods for -teaching reading in our schools are much better than those used for -teaching writing, mothers will naturally, as a rule, leave reading -until the child is under a teacher. Furthermore, there is nothing so -very revolutionary in the Montessori method in this regard and there -exist already in this country several excellent methods for teaching -reading. And yet a few notes on some features of the Montessori system -will be of interest. - -Like many variations of our own system it begins with the recognition -of single words. At first these are composed with the movable alphabet. -Later, when the child can interpret readily words composed in this way, -they are written in large clear script on slips of paper. The child -spells the word out letter by letter, and then pronounces these sounds -more and more rapidly until he runs them together and perceives that he -is pronouncing a word familiar to him. This is always a moment of great -satisfaction to him and of encouragement to his teacher. - -After this has continued until the children recognize single words -quickly, the process is extended to phrases. Here the teacher goes very -slowly, with great care, to avoid undue haste and lack of thoroughness. -There is a danger here that the children will fall into the mechanical -habit (familiar to us all) of reading aloud a page with great glibness, -although the sense of the words has made no impression on their minds. -To avoid this the Montessori Directress adopts the simple expedient -of not allowing them at first to read aloud. She carries on, instead, -a series of silent conversations with the children, writing on the -board some simple request for an action on their part. “Please stand -up,” “Please shut your eyes,” and so on. Later longer and more -complicated sentences are written on slips of paper and distributed -to the children. They read these to themselves (not being misled by -their oral fluency into thinking they understand what they do not), and -show that they have understood by performing the actions requested. In -other words, these are short letters addressed by the teacher to the -children, and answered by silent action on the part of the children. -Like all of the Montessori devices, this is self-corrective. It is -perfectly easy for the child to be sure whether he has understood -the sentence or not, and his attention is fixed, not on pronouncing -correctly (which has nothing to do with understanding the sentences -before him), but on the comprehension of the written symbols. As for -the teacher, she has an absolutely perfect check on the child. If he -does not understand, he does not do the right thing. It means the -elimination of the “fluent bluffer,” a phenomenon not wholly unfamiliar -to teachers, even when they are dealing with very young children. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -SOME GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT THE MONTESSORI APPARATUS IN THE AMERICAN - HOME - - -The first thing to do, if you can manage it, is to secure a set of -the Montessori apparatus. It is the result of the ripest thought, -ingenuity, and practical experience of a gifted specialist who has -concentrated all her forces on the invention of the different devices -of her apparatus. But there are various supplementary statements to be -made which modify this simple advice. - -One is, that the arrival in your home of the box containing the -Montessori apparatus means just as much for the mental welfare of -your children as the arrival in the kitchen of a box of miscellaneous -groceries means for their physical health. The presence on the pantry -shelf of a bag of the best flour ever made will not satisfy your -children’s hunger unless you add brains and good judgment to it, and -make edible, digestible bread for them. There is nothing magical or -miraculous about the Montessori apparatus. It is as yet the best raw -material produced for satisfying the intellectual hunger of normal -children from three to six, but it will have practically no effect -on them if its use is not regulated by the most attentive care, -supplemented by a keen and never-ceasing objective scrutiny of the -children who are to use it. This is one reason why mothers find it -harder to educate their children by the Montessori system (as by all -other systems) than teachers do, for they have an age-long mental habit -of clasping their little ones so close in their arms that, figuratively -speaking, they never get a fair, square look at them. - -This study of the children is an essential part of all education -which Dr. Montessori is among the first pointedly and definitely to -emphasize. The necessity for close observation of conditions before -any attempt is made to modify them is an intellectual habit which is -the direct result of the methods of positive sciences, in the study of -which she received her intellectual training. Just as the astronomer -looks fixedly at the stars, and the biologist at the protoplasm before -he tries to generalize about their ways of life and action, so we must -learn honestly and whole-heartedly to try to see what sort of children -Mary and Bob and Billy _are_, as well as to love them with all our -might. This should not be, as it is apt to be, a study limited to -their moral characteristics, to seeing that Mary’s fault is vanity and -Bob’s is indifference, but should be directed with the most passionate -attention to their intellectual traits as well, to the way in which -they naturally learn or don’t learn, to the doors which are open, and -those which are shut, to their intellectual interest. For children -of three and four have a life which it is no exaggeration to call -genuinely intellectual, and their constant presence under the eyes of -their parents gives us a chance to know this, which helps to make up -for our lack of educational theory and experience in which almost any -teacher outstrips us. - -There are no two plants, in all the infinity of vegetable life, -which are exactly alike. There are not, so geologists tell us, even -two stones precisely the same. To lump children (even two or three -children closely related) in a mass, with generalizations about what -will appeal to them, is a mental habit that experience constantly -and luridly proves to be the extremest folly. This does not mean -individualism run wild. There are some general broad principles which -hold true of all plants, and which we will do well to learn from an -experienced gardener. All plants prosper better out-of-doors than in -a cellar, and all children have activity for the law of their nature. -But lilies-of-the-valley shrivel up in the amount of sunshine which -supplies just the right conditions for nasturtiums, and your particular -three-year-old may need a much quieter (or more boisterous) activity -than his four-year-old sister. Neither of them may be, at first, in the -least attracted by the problem of the geometric insets, or by the idea -of matching colors. They may not have reached that stage, or they may -have gone beyond it. You will need all your ingenuity and your good -judgment to find out where they are, intellectually, and what they are -intellectually. The Montessori rule is never to try to force or even -to coax a child to use any part of the apparatus. The problem involved -is explained to him clearly, and if he feels no spontaneous desire to -solve it, no effort is made to induce him to undertake it. Some other -bit of apparatus is what, for the moment, he needs, and one only wastes -time in trying to persuade him to feel an interest which he is, for the -time, incapable of. - -If you doubt this, and most of us feel a lingering suspicion that we -know better than the child what he wants, look back over your own -school-life and confess to yourself how utterly has vanished from -your mind the information forced upon you in courses which did not -arouse your interest. My own private example of that is a course on -“government.” I was an ordinarily intelligent and conscientious child, -and I attended faithfully all the interminable dreary recitations -of that subject, even filling a note-book with selections from the -teacher’s remarks, and, at the end of the course, passing a fairly -creditable examination. The only proof I have of all this is the record -of the examination and the presence, among my relics of the past, of -the note-book in my handwriting; for, among all the souvenirs of my -school-life, there is not one faintest trace of any knowledge about the -way in which people are governed. I cannot even remember that I ever -did know anything about it. My mind is a perfect, absolute blank on the -subject, although I can remember the look of the schoolroom in which -I sat to hear the lectures on it, I can see the face of the teacher as -plainly as though she still stood before me, I can recall the pictures -on the wall, the very graining of the wood on my desk. There is only -no more recollection of the subject than if the lectures had been -delivered in Hindustani. The long hours I spent in that classroom are -as wholly wasted and lost out of my all-too-short life as though I had -been thrust into a dark closet for those three hours a week. Even the -amount of “discipline” I received, namely the capacity to sit still and -endure almost intolerable ennui, would have been exactly as great in -one case as in the other, and would have cost the State far less. - -All of us must have some such recollection of our school-life to set -beside the vivifying, exciting, never to be forgotten hours when we -first really grasped a new abstract idea, or learned some bit of -scientific information thrillingly in touch with our own understandable -lives; and we need no other proof of the truth of the maxim, stated -by all educators, but stated and _constantly acted upon_ by Dr. -Montessori, that the prerequisite of all education is the interest of -the student. There is no question here to be discussed as to whether -he learns more or less quickly, more or less well, according as he -is interested or not. The statement is made flatly by the Italian -educator that he does not, he cannot learn at all, anything, if he is -not interested. There is no use trying to call in the old war-horse -of “mental discipline” and say that it is well to force him to learn -whether he has an interest in the subject or not, because the fact is -that he cannot learn without feeling interest; and the appearance of -learning, the filled note-books, the attended recitations, the passed -examinations, we all know in our hearts to be but the vainest of -illusions and to represent only the most hopelessly wasted hours of our -youth. - -Dr. Montessori, with her usual bold, startlingly consistent acceptance -as a practical guide to conduct of a fact which her reason tells her to -be true, acts on this principle with her characteristic whole-souled -fervor. If the children are not interested, it is the business of the -educator to furnish something which will interest them (as well as -instruct them) rather than to try to force their interest to center -itself on some occupation which the educator has thought beforehand -would turn the trick.[B] When we capture and try to tame a little wild -creature of unknown habits (and is not this a description of each -little new child?) our first effort is to find some food which will -agree with him, and experimentation is always our first resort. We -offer him all sorts of things to eat, and observe which he selects. -It is true that we do make some broad generalizations from the results -of our experiences with other animals, and we do not try to feed a -little creature who looks like a woodchuck on honey and water, nor a -new variety of moth on lettuce-leaves. But even if the unknown animal -looks ever so close a cousin of the woodchuck family, we do not try to -force the lettuce-leaves down his throat if, after a due examination of -them, he shows plainly that he does not care for them. We cast about -to see what else may be the food he needs; and though we may feel very -impatient with the need for making all the troublesome experiments with -diet, we never feel really justified in blaming the little creature for -having preferences for turnip-tops, nor do we have a half-acknowledged -conviction that, perhaps, if we had starved him to eat lettuce-leaves, -it might have been better for him. We are only too thankful to hit upon -the right food before our little captive dies of hunger. - -Something of all this is supposed to go through the mind of the -Montessori mother as she refrains from arguing with her little son -about the advisability of his being interested in one, rather than -another, of the Montessori contrivances; and these considerations are -meant to explain to her the prompt acquiescence of the Montessori -teacher in the child’s intellectual “whims.” She is not foolishly -indulging him to make herself less trouble, or to please him. She is -only trying to find out what his natural interest is, so that she may -pounce upon it and utilize it for teaching him without his knowing -it. She is only taking advantage of her knowledge of the fact that -water runs down-hill and not up, and that you may keep it level by -great efforts on your part, and even force it to climb, but that you -can only expect it to work for you when you let it follow the course -marked out for it by the laws of physics. In other words, she sees -that her business is to make use of every scrap of the children’s -interest, rather than to waste her time and theirs trying to force -it into channels where it cannot run; to carry her waterwheel where -the water falls over the cliff, and not to struggle to turn the river -back towards the watershed. And anyone who thinks that a Montessori -teacher has “an easy time because she is almost never really teaching,” -underestimates grotesquely the amount of alert, keen ingenuity and -capacity for making fine distinctions, required for this new feat of -educational engineering. - -On the other hand, the advanced modern educators who cry jealously that -there is nothing new in all this, that it is the principle underlying -their own systems of education, need only to ask themselves why their -practice is so different from that of the Italian doctor, why a teacher -who can force, coerce, coax, or persuade all the members of a class of -thirty children to “acquire” practically the same amount of information -about a given fixed number of topics within a given fixed period of -time, is called a “good” teacher? They will answer inevitably that -chaos and anarchy in the educational world would result from any course -of study less fixed than that in their schools. And an impartial -observer, both of our schools and of history, might reply that chaos -and anarchy have been prophesied every time a more liberal form of -government, giving more freedom to the individual, has been suggested, -anywhere in the world. - -In any case, the Montessori mother, with the newly acquired apparatus -spread out before her, needs to gird herself up for an intellectual -enterprise where she will need not only all the strength of her brain, -but every atom of ingenuity and mental flexibility which she can -bring to bear on her problem. She will do well, of course, to fortify -herself in the first place by a careful perusal of Dr. Montessori’s -own description of the apparatus and its use, or by reading any other -good manual which she can find. The booklet sent out with the apparatus -gives some very useful detailed instructions which it is not necessary -to repeat here, since it comes into the hands of everyone who secures -the apparatus. One of the main things for the Montessori mother to -remember is that the teachers in the Casa dei Bambini are trained to -make whatever explanations are necessary, as brief as possible, given -in as few words as they can manage, and with good long periods of -silence in between. - -Much of the apparatus is so ingeniously devised that any normally -inventive child needs but to have it set before him to divine its -correct use. The buttoning-frames, and the solid and plane geometric -insets need not a single word of explanation, even to start the -child upon the exercise. But the various rods and blocks, used for -the Long and Broad Stair and the Tower, are so much like ordinary -building-blocks that, the first time they are presented, the child -needs a clear presentation of how to handle them. This can be made an -object-lesson conducted in perfect silence; although later, when the -child begins to use the sandpaper numbers with them as he learns the -series of numbers up to ten, he needs, of course, to be guided in this -exercise. - -With these rods and blocks especially, care should be taken to observe -the Montessori rule that apparatus is to be used for its proper purpose -only, in order to avoid confusion in the child’s mind. He should never -use the color spools, for instance, to build houses with. Not that, by -any means, he should be coaxed to continue the exercises in color if he -feels like building houses; but other material should be given him--a -pack of cards, building-blocks, small stones, anything handy, but never -apparatus intended for another exercise. - -In the exercises for learning the difference between rough and smooth, -the child needs at first a little guidance in learning how to draw his -finger-tips _lightly_ from left to right over the sandpaper strips; and -in the exercises of discrimination between different fabrics, he needs -someone to tie the bandage over his eyes and, the first time, to -show him how to set to work. - -[Illustration: TRAINING THE “STEREOGNOSTIC SENSE”--COMBINING MOTOR AND -TACTUAL IMAGES. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -A silent object-lesson, or a word or two, are needed to show him how -to separate and distinguish between the pieces of wood of different -weights in the baric exercises, and a similar introduction is needed to -the cylindrical sound-boxes. - -As he progresses both in age and ability, and begins some of the more -complicated exercises, he needs a little longer explanation when he -begins a new exercise, and a little more supervision to make sure that -he has understood the problem. In the later part of the work with -plane geometric insets, and in the work with colored crayons, he needs -occasional supervision, not to correct the errors he makes, but to see -that he keeps the right aim in sight. Of course, when he begins work -with the alphabet he needs more real “teaching,” since the names of -the letters must be told him, and care must be taken that he learns -firmly the habit of following their outlines in the right direction, -of having them right side up, etc. But throughout one should remember -that most “supervision” is meddling, and that one does the child a -real injury in correcting a mistake which, with a little more time -and experience, he would have been able to correct for himself. It -is well to keep in mind, also, that little children, some of them at -least, have a peculiarity shared by many of us adults, and that is a -nervousness under even silent inspection. I know a landscape painter of -real ability who is reduced almost to nervous tears and certainly to -paralyzed impotence, by the harmless presence of the group of silent, -staring spectators who are apt to gather about a person making a sketch -out of doors. Even though we may refrain from actually interfering -in the child’s fumbling efforts to conquer his own lack of muscular -precision, we may wear on him nervously if we give too close an -attention to his efforts. The right thing is to show him (if necessary) -what he is to try to do, and then if it arouses his interest so that -he sets to work upon it, we will do well to busy ourselves somewhat -ostentatiously with something else in the room. Occasionally a child, -even a little child, has acquired already the habit of asking for -help rather than struggling with an obstacle himself. The best way to -deal with this unfortunate tendency is to provide simpler and simpler -exercises until, through making a very slight effort “all himself,” -the child learns the joy of self-conquest and re-acquires his natural -taste for independence. Most of us, with healthy normal children, -however, meet with no trouble of this kind. The average child of three, -or even younger, set before the solid geometric insets, clears the -board for action by the heartiest and most instinctive rejection of any -aid, suggestions, or even sympathy. His cry of “Let _me_ do it!” as -he reaches for the little cylinders with one hand and pushes away his -would-be instructor with the other, does one’s heart good. - -It is to be seen that Dr. Montessori’s demand for child-liberty does -not mean unbridled and unregulated license for him, even intellectual -license; nor does her command to her teachers to let him make his -own forward advance mean that they are to do nothing for him. They -may, indeed, frequently they must, set him carefully on a road not -impossibly hard for him, and head him in the right direction. What they -are not to do, is to go along with him, pointing out with a flood of -words the features of the landscape, smoothing out all the obstacles, -and carrying him up all the hills. - -More important than any of the details in the use of the apparatus -is the constant firm intellectual grasp on its ultimate purpose. The -Montessori mother must assimilate, into the very marrow of her bones, -the fundamental principle underlying every part of every exercise, the -principle which she must never forget an instant in all the detailed -complexity of its ingenious practical application. She is to remember -constantly that the Montessori exercises are neither games to amuse -the children (although they do this to perfection), nor ways for the -children to acquire information (although this is also accomplished -admirably, though not so directly as in the kindergarten work). They -are, like all truly educative methods, means to teach the child -how to learn. It is of no great importance that he shall remember -perfectly the form of a square or a triangle, or even the sacred cube -of Froebelian infant-schools. It is of the highest importance that he -shall acquire the mental habit of observing quickly and accurately -the form of any object he looks at or touches, because if he does, he -will have, as an adult, a vision which will be that of a veritable -superman, compared to the unreliable eyesight on which his parents -have had to depend for information. It is of no especial importance -that he shall learn quickly to distinguish with his eyes shut that a -piece of maple the same size as a piece of pine is the heavier of the -two. It is of the utmost importance that he shall learn to take in -accurate information about the phenomena of the world, from whichever -sense is most convenient, or from all of them at once, correcting and -supplementing each other as they so seldom do with us badly trained -adults. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE POSSIBILITY OF AMERICAN ADAPTATIONS OF, OR ADDITIONS TO, THE - MONTESSORI APPARATUS - - -Holding firmly in mind the guiding principle formulated in the -paragraph preceding, it may not be presumptuous for us, in addition -to exercising our children with the apparatus devised by Dr. -Montessori, to attempt to apply her main principles in ways which -she has not happened to hit upon. She herself would be the first to -urge us to do this, since she constantly reiterates that she has but -begun the practical application of her theories, and she calls for -the co-operation of the world in the task of working out complete -applications suitable for different conditions. - -It is my conviction that, as soon as her theories are widely known -and fairly well assimilated, she will find, all over the world, a -multitude of ingenious co-partners in her enterprise, people who, quite -unconscious of her existence, have been for years approximating her -system, although never doing so systematically and thoroughly. Is it -not said that each new religion finds a congregation ready-made, of -those who have been instinctively practising the as yet unformulated -doctrines? - -An incident in my own life which happened years ago, is an example of -this. One of the children of the family, an adored, delicate little boy -of five, fell ill while we were all in the country. We sent at once in -the greatest haste to the city for a trained nurse, and while awaiting -her arrival, devoted ourselves to the task of keeping the child amused -and quiet in his little bed. The hours of heart-sickening difficulty -and anxiety which followed can be imagined by anyone who has, without -experience, embarked on that undertaking. We performed our wildest -antics before that pale, listless little spectator, we offered up our -choicest possessions for his restless little hands, we set in motion -the most complicated of his mechanical toys; and we quite failed either -to please or to quiet him. - -The nurse arrived, cast one glance at the situation, and swept us -out with a gesture. We crept away, exhausted, beaten, wondering by -what possible miraculous _tour de force_ she meant single-handed to -accomplish what had baffled us all, and holding ourselves ready to -secure for her anything she thought necessary, were it the horns of -the new moon. In a few moments she thrust her head out of the door -and asked pleasantly for a basket of clothes-pins, just common wooden -clothes-pins. - -When we were permitted to enter the room an hour or so later, our -little patient scarcely glanced at us, so absorbed was he in the -fascinatingly various angles at which clothes-pins may be thrust -into each other’s clefts. When he felt tired, he shut his eyes -and rested quietly, and when returning strength brought with it a -wave of interest in his own cleverness, he returned to the queer -agglomeration of knobby wood which grew magically under his hands. Now -Dr. Montessori could not possibly have used that “sensory exercise,” -as they have no clothes-pins in Italy, fastening their washed garments -to wires, with knotted strings; and the nurse was probably married -with children of her own before Dr. Montessori opened the first Casa -dei Bambini; but that was a true Montessori device, and she was a real -“natural-born” Montessori teacher. And I am sure that everyone must -have in his circle of acquaintances several persons who have such an -intuitive understanding of children that Dr. Montessori’s arguments -and theories will seem to them perfectly natural and axiomatic. One of -my neighbors, the wife of a farmer, a plain Yankee woman who would be -not altogether pleased to hear that she is bringing up her children -according to the theories of an inhabitant of Italy, has, by the -instinctive action of her own wits, hit upon several inventions which -might, without surprising the Directress, be transferred bodily to -any Casa dei Bambini. All of her children have gone through what she -calls the “folding-up fever,” and she has laid away in the garret, -waiting for the newest baby to grow up to it, the apparatus which has -so enchanted and instructed all the older ones. This “apparatus,” to -use the unfortunately mouth-filling and inflated name which has become -attached to Dr. Montessori’s simple expedients, is a set of cloths -of all shapes and sizes, ranging from a small washcloth to an old -bedspread. - -When the first of my neighbor’s children was a little over three, his -mother found him, one hot Tuesday, busily employed in “folding up,” -that is, crumpling and crushing the fresh shirtwaists which she had -just laboriously ironed smooth. She snatched them away from him, as any -one of us would have done, but she was nimble-witted enough to view -the situation from an impersonal point of view which few of us would -have adopted. She really “observed” the child, to use the Montessori -phrase; she put out of her mind with a conscious effort her natural, -extreme irritation at having the work of hours destroyed in minutes, -and she turned her quick mind to an analysis of the child’s action, as -acute and sound as any the Roman psychologist has ever made. Not that -she was in the least conscious of going through this elaborate mental -process. Her own simple narration of what followed, runs: “I snatched -’em away from him and I was as mad as a hornit for a minit or two. And -then I got to thinkin’ about it. I says to myself, ‘He’s so little that -’tain’t nothin’ to him whether shirtwaists are smooth or wrinkled, so -he couldn’t have taken no satisfaction in bein’ mischievous. Seems ’s -though he was wantin’ to fold up things, without really sensin’ what -he was doin’ it _with_. He’s seen me fold things up. There’s other -things than shirtwaists he could fold, that ’twouldn’t do no harm for -him to fuss with.’ And I set th’ iron down and took a dish-towel out’n -the basket and says to him, where he set cryin’, ‘Here, Buddy, here’s -somethin’ you can fold up.’ And he set there for an hour by the clock, -foldin’ and unfoldin’ that thing.” - -That historic dish-towel is still among the “apparatus” in her garret. -Five children have learned deftness and exactitude of muscular action -by means if it, and the sixth is getting to the age when his mother’s -experienced eye detects in him signs of the “fever.” - -Now, of course, the real difference between that woman and Dr. -Montessori, and the real reason why Dr. Montessori’s work comes in the -nature of a revelation of new forces, although hundreds of “natural -mothers” long have been using devices strongly resembling hers, is -that my neighbor hasn’t the slightest idea of what she is doing and -she has a very erroneous idea of why she is doing it, inasmuch as she -regards the fervor of her children for that fascinating sense exercise, -as merely a Providential means to enable her to do her housework -untroubled by them. She could not possibly convince any other mother -of any good reason for following her examples because she is quite -ignorant of the good reason. - -Dr. Montessori, on the other hand, with the keen self-consciousness of -its own processes which characterizes the trained mind, is perfectly -aware not not only of what she is doing, but of a broadly fundamental -and wholly convincing philosophical reason for doing it; namely, that -the child’s body is a machine which he will have to use all his life in -whatever he does, and the sooner he learns the accurate and masterful -handling of every cog of this machine the better for him. - -Now, whenever frontier conditions exist, people generally are forced -to learn to employ their senses and muscles much more competently than -is possible under the usual modern conditions of specialized labor -performed almost entirely away from the home; and though for most of -us the old-fashioned conditions of farm-life so ideal for children, -the free roaming of field and wood, the care and responsibility for -animals, the knowledge of plant-life, the intimate acquaintance with -the beauties of the seasons, the enforced self-dependence in crises, -are impossibly out of reach, we can give our children some of the -benefits to be had from them by analyzing them and seeing exactly which -are the elements in them so tonic and invigorating to child-life, -and by adapting them to our own changed conditions. There are even a -few items which we might take over bodily. A number of families in -my acquaintance have inherited from their ancestors odd “games” for -children, which follow perfectly the Montessori ideas. One of them is -called the “hearth-side seed-game” and is played as the family sits -about the hearth in the evening,--though it might just as well be -played about a table in the dining-room with the light turned low. -Each child is given a cup of mixed grains, corn, wheat, oats, and -buckwheat. The game is a competition to see who can the soonest, by -the sense of touch only, separate them into separate piles, and it -has an endless fascination for every child who tries it--if he is of -the right age, for it is far too fatiguing for the very little ones. -Another family makes a competitive game of the daily task of peeling -the potatoes and apples needed for the family meals. Once the general -principle of the “Montessori method” is grasped, there is no reason why -we should not apply it to every activity of our children. Indeed Dr. -Montessori is as impatient as any other philosopher, of a slavishly -close and unelastic interpretation of her ideas. Furthermore, it is to -be remembered that the set of Montessori apparatus was not intended by -its inventor to represent all the possible practical applications of -her theories. For instance, there are in it none of the devices for -gymnastic exercises of the whole body which she recommends so highly, -but which as yet she has been able to introduce but little into her -schools. Here, too, what she would wish us to do is to make an effort -to comprehend intelligently what her general ideas are and then to use -our own invention to adapt them to our own conditions. - -A good example of this is the enlightenment which comes to most of -us, after reading her statement about the relative weakness of little -children’s legs. She calls our attention to the fact that the legs of -the new-born baby are the most negligible members he possesses, small -and weak out of all proportion to his body and arms. Then with an -imposing scientific array of carefully gathered statistics, she proves -that this disproportion of strength and of size continues during early -childhood, up to six or seven. In other words, that a little child’s -legs are weaker and tire more quickly than the rest of him, and hence -he craves not only those exercises which he takes in running about in -his usual active play, but others which he can take without bearing all -his weight on his still rather boneless lower extremities. - -This fact, although doubtless it has been common property among doctors -for many years, was entirely new to me; and probably will be to many -of the mothers who read this book, but an ingenious person has only -to hear it to think at once of a number of exercises based on it. Dr. -Montessori herself suggests a little fence on which the children can -walk along sideways, supporting part of their weight with their arms. -She also describes a swing with a seat so long that the child’s legs -stretched out in front of him are entirely supported by it, and which -is hung before a wall or board against which the child presses his feet -as he swings up to it, thus keeping himself in motion. These devices -are both so simple that almost any child might have the benefit of -them, but even without them it is possible to profit by the above bit -of physiological information, if it is only by restraining ourselves -from forbidding a child the instinctive gesture we must all have seen, -when he throws himself on his stomach across a chair and kicks his -hanging legs. If all the chairs in the house are too good to allow this -exercise, or if it shocks too much the adult ideas of propriety, a -bench or kitchen-chair out under the trees will serve the same purpose. - -Everyone who is familiar with the habits of natural children, or -who remembers his own childish passions, knows how they are almost -irresistibly fascinated by a ladder, and always greatly prefer it to -a staircase. The reason is apparent. After early infancy they are not -allowed to go upstairs on their hands and knees, but are taught, and -rightly taught, to lift the whole weight of their bodies with their -legs, the inherent weakness of which we have just learned. Of course -this very exercise in moderation is just what weak legs need; but why -not furnish also a length of ladder out of doors, short enough so that -a fall on the pile of hay or straw at the foot will not be serious? -As a matter of fact, you will be astonished to see that even with a -child as young as three, the hay or straw is only needed to calm your -own mind. The child has no more need of it than you, nor so much, his -little hands and feet clinging prehensilely to the rounds of the ladder -as he delightedly ascends and descends this substitute for the original -tree-home. - -The single board about six inches wide and three or four inches from -the ground (a length of joist or studding serves very well) along -which the child walks and runs, is an exercise for equilibrium which -is elsewhere described (page 149). This can be varied, as he grows in -strength and poise, by having him try some of the simpler rope-walking -tricks of balance, walking on the board with one foot, or backward, -or with his eyes shut. It is fairly safe to say, however, that having -provided the board, you need exercise your own ingenuity no further in -the matter. The variety and number of exercises of the sort which a -group of active children can devise goes far beyond anything the adult -brain could conceive. The exercises with water are described (page -151). These also can be varied to infinity, by the use of receptacles -of different shapes, bottles with wide or narrow mouths, etc. - -The folding-up exercises seem to me excellent, and the hearth-side -seed-game is, in a modified form, already in use in the Casa dei -Bambini. Small, low see-saws, the right size for very young children, -are of great help in aiding the little one to learn the trick of -balancing himself under all conditions; and let us remember that the -sooner he learns this all-important secret of equilibrium, the better -for him, since he will not have the heavy handicap of the bad habit of -uncertain, awkward, misdirected movements, and he will never know the -disheartening mental distress of lack of confidence in his own ability -deftly, strongly, and automatically to manage his own body under all -ordinary circumstances. - -A very tiny spring-board, ending over a heap of hay, is another -expedient for teaching three- and four-year-olds that they need not -necessarily fall in a heap if their balance is quickly altered. If -this simple device is too hard to secure, a substitute which any -woman and even an older child can arrange for a little one, is a long -thin board, with plenty of “give” to it, supported at each end by big -stones, or by two or three bits of wood. The little child bouncing up -and down on this and “jumping himself off” into soft sand, or into a -pile of hay, learns unconsciously so many of the secrets of bodily -poise that walking straight soon becomes a foregone conclusion. - -One of the blindfold games in use in Montessori schools is played with -wooden solids of different shapes, cubes, cylinders, pyramids, etc. The -blindfolded child picks these, one at a time, out of the pile before -him and identifies each by his sense of touch. In our family this has -become an after-dinner game, played in the leisure moments before -we all push away from the table and go about our own affairs, and -managed with a napkin for blindfold, and with the table-furnishings for -apparatus. - -The identification of different stuffs, velvet, cotton, satin, woolen, -etc., can be managed in any house which possesses a rag-bag. I do not -see why the possession of a doll, preferably a rag-doll, should not be -as valuable as the Montessori frames. Most dolls are so small that the -hooks and eyes and the buttons and buttonholes on their minute garments -are too difficult for little fingers to manage, whereas a doll which -could wear the child’s own clothes would certainly teach him more -about the geography of his raiment than any amount of precept. I can -lay no claim to originality in this idea. It was suggested to my mind -by the constant appearance in new costumes of the big Teddy-bear of -a three-year-old child, whose impassioned struggles with the buttons -of her bear’s clothes forms the most admirable of self-imposed manual -gymnastics. - -Lastly, it must not be forgotten that the “sets of Montessori -apparatus” must be supplemented by several articles of child-furniture. -There is not in it the little light table, the small low chair so -necessary for children’s comfort and for their acquiring correct, -agreeable habits of bodily posture. Such little chairs are easily to be -secured but, alas! rarely found in even the most prosperous households. -We must not forget the need for a low washstand with light and easily -handled equipment; the hooks set low enough for little arms to reach -up to them, so that later we shall not have to struggle with the habit -fixed in the eight-year-old boy, of careless irresponsibility about -those of his clothes which are not on his back; the small brooms and -dust-pans so that tiny girls will take it as a matter of course that -they are as much interested as their mothers in the cleanliness of a -room; in short, all the devices possible to contrive to make a little -child really at _home_ in his father’s house. - -[Illustration: COLOR BOXES COMPRISING SPOOLS OF EIGHT COLORS AND EIGHT -SHADES OF EACH COLOR. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -SOME REMARKS ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SYSTEM - - -When I first began to understand to some extent the thoroughgoing -radicalism of the philosophy of liberty which underlies all the -intricate detail of Dr. Montessori’s system, I used to wonder why it -went home to me with such a sudden inward conviction of its truth, -and why it moved me so strangely, almost as the conversion to a new -religion. This Italian woman is not the first, by any means, to speak -eloquently of the righteousness of personal liberty. As far back as -Rabelais’ “Fay ce que vouldras” someone was feeling and expressing -that. Even the righteousness of such liberty for the child is no -invention of hers. Jean Jacques Rousseau’s “Émile,” in spite of all its -disingenuous evading of the principle in practice, was founded on it in -theory; and Froebel had as clear a vision as any seer, as Montessori -herself, of just the liberty his followers admit in theory and find it -so hard to allow in practice. - -Why, then, should those who come to Rome to study the Montessori work, -stammerers though they might be, wish, all of them, to go away and -prophesy? For almost without exception this was the common result -among the widely diverse national types I saw in Rome; always granting, -of course, that they had seen one of the good schools and not those -which present a farcical caricature of the method. - -In thinking the matter over since, I have come to the conclusion that -the vividness of inward conviction arises from the fact that the -founder of this “new” philosophy bases it on the theory of democracy; -and there is no denying that the world to-day is democratic, that we -honestly in our heart of hearts believe, as we believe in the law of -gravity, that, on the whole, democracy, for all its shortcomings, has -in it the germ of the ideal society of the future. - -Now, our own democracy was based, a hundred or so years ago, on the -idea that men reach their highest development only when they have, for -the growth of their individuality, the utmost possible freedom which -can be granted them without interfering with the rights and freedom -of others. Little by little during the last half-century the idea has -grown that, inasmuch as women form half the race, the betterment of the -whole social group might be hastened if this beneficial principle were -applied to them. - -If you will imagine yourself living sixty or so years ago, when, -to conservative minds, this idea of personal liberty for women was -like the sight of dynamite under the foundations of society, and to -radical minds shone like the dawn of a brighter day, you can imagine -how startling and thrilling is the first glimpse of its application -to children. I felt, during the beginning of my consideration of the -question, all the sharp pangs of intellectual growing-pains which -must have racked my grandfather when it first occurred to him that -my grandmother was a human being like himself, who would very likely -thrive under the same conditions which were good for him. For, just as -my grandfather, in spite of the sincerest affection for his wife, had -never conceived that he might be doing her an injury by insisting on -doing her thinking for her, so I, for all my love for my children, had -never once thought that, by my competent, loving “management” of them, -I might be starving and stunting some of their most valuable moral and -intellectual qualities. - -In theory I instantly granted this principle of as much personal -liberty as possible for children. I could not help granting it, -pushed irresistibly forward as I was by the generations of my voting, -self-governing ancestors; but the resultant splintering upheaval of all -my preconceived ideas about children was portentous. - -The first thing that Dr. Montessori’s penetrating and daring eye -had seen in her survey of the problem of education, and the fact to -which she devotes throughout her most forceful, direct, and pungent -explanation, had simply never occurred to me, in spite of Froebel’s -mild divination of it; namely, that children are nothing more or less -than human beings. I was as astonished by this fact as I was amazed -that I had not thought of it myself; and I instantly perceived a -long train of consequences leading off from it to a wholly unexplored -country. True, children are not exactly like adults; but then, neither -are women exactly like men, nor are slow, phlegmatic men exactly -like the red-headed, quick-tempered type; but they all belong to the -genus of human beings, and those principles which slow centuries of -progress have proved true about the genus as a whole hold true about -subdivisions of it. Children are much weaker physically than most -adults, their judgment is not so seasoned by experience, and their -attention is more fitful. Hence, on the whole, they need more guidance -than grown-ups. But, on the other hand, the motives, the instincts, the -needs, the potential capacities of children are all human and nothing -but human. Their resemblances to adults are a thousand times more -numerous and vital than their differences. What is good for the one -must, in a not excessively modified form, be good for the other. - -With this obvious fact firmly in mind, Dr. Montessori simply -looked back over history and drew upon the stores of the world’s -painfully acquired wisdom as to the best way to extract the greatest -possibilities from the world’s inhabitants. If it is true, she -reasoned, that men and women have reached their highest development -only when they have had the utmost possible liberty for the growth of -their individualities, if it is true that slavery has been the most -ruinously unsatisfactory of all social expedients, both for masters and -slaves, if society has found it necessary for its own good to abolish -not only slavery but caste laws and even guild rules; if, with all its -faults, we are agreed that democracy works better than the wisest of -paternal despotisms, then it ought to be true that in the schoolroom’s -miniature copy of society there should be less paternal despotism, -more democracy, less uniformity of regulation and more,--very much -more,--individuality. - -Therefore, although we cannot allow children as much practical freedom -as that suitable for men of ripe experience, it is apparent that it is -our first duty as parents to make every effort to give them as full -a measure of liberty as possible, exercising our utmost ingenuity to -make the family life an enlightened democracy. But this is not an -easy matter. A democracy, being a much more complicated machine than -an autocracy, is always harder to organize and conduct. Moreover the -family is so old a human institution that, like everything else very -old, it has acquired barnacle-like accretions of irrelevant tradition. -Elements of Russian tyranny have existed in the institution of the -family so long that our very familiarity with them prevents us from -recognizing them without an effort, and prevents our conceiving family -life without them; quite as though in this age of dentistry, we -should find it difficult to conceive of old age without the good old -characteristic of toothlessness. To renovate this valuable institution -of the family (and one of the unconscious aims of the Montessori system -is nothing more or less than the renovation of family life), we must -engage upon a daily battle with our own moral and intellectual inertia, -rising each morning with a fresh resolve to scrutinize with new eyes -our relations to our children. We must realize that the idea of the -innate “divine right of parents” is as exploded an idea as the “divine -right of kings.” Fathers and mothers and kings nowadays hold their -positions rightfully only on the same conditions as those governing -other modern office-holders, that they are better fitted for the job -than anyone else. - -I speak from poignant personal experience of the difficulty of holding -this conception in mind. When I said above that I “saw at once a long -train of consequences following this new principle of personal liberty -for children,” I much overstated my own acumen; for I am continually -perceiving that I saw these consequences but very vaguely through the -dimmed glasses of my unconscious, hidebound conservatism, and I am -constantly being startled by the possibility of some new, although very -simple application of it in my daily contact with the child-world. A -wholesome mental exercise in this connection is to run over in one’s -mind the dramatic changes in human ideas about family life which -have taken place gradually from the Roman rule that the father was -the governor, executioner, lawgiver, and absolute autocrat, down to -our own days. For all our clinging to the idea of a closely intimate -family-life, most of us would turn with horror from any attempt to -return to such tyranny as that even of our own Puritan forebears. -It is possible that our descendants may look back on our present -organization with as much astonished and uncomprehending revulsion. - -The principle, then, of the Montessori school is the ideal principle of -democracy, namely, that human beings reach their highest development -(and hence are of most use to society) only when for the growth of -their individuality they have the utmost possible liberty which can be -granted them without interfering with the rights of others. Now, when -Dr. Montessori, five years ago, founded the first Casa dei Bambini, -she not only believed in that principle but she saw that children are -as human as any of us; and, acting with that precipitate Latin faith -in logic as a guide to practical conduct which is so startling to -Anglo-Saxons, she put these two convictions into actual practice. The -result has electrified the world. - -She took as her motto the old, old, ever-misunderstood one of -“Liberty!”--that liberty which we still distrust so profoundly in spite -of the innumerable hard knocks with which the centuries have taught us -it is the only law of life. She was convinced that the “necessity for -school discipline” is only another expression of humanity’s enduring -suspicion of that freedom which is so essential to its welfare, and -that schoolroom rules for silence, for immobility, for uniformity -of studies and of results, are of the same nature and as outworn as -caste rules in the world of adults, or laws against the free choice of -residence for a workman, against the free choice of a profession for -women, against the free advance of any individual to any position of -responsibility which he is capable of filling. - -All over again in this new field of education Dr. Montessori fought the -old fight against the old idea that liberty means red caps and riots -and guillotines. All afresh, as though the world had never learned the -lesson, she was obliged to show that liberty means the only lasting -road to order and discipline and self-control. Once again, for the -thousandth time, people needed to be reminded that the reign of the -tyrant who imposes laws on human souls from the outside (even though -that tyrant intends nothing but the best for his subjects and be -called “teacher”), produces smothered rebellion, or apathy, or broken -submissiveness, but never energetic, forward progress. - -For this constant turning to that trust in the safety of freedom which -is perhaps the only lasting spiritual conquest of our time, is the -keynote of her system. This is the real answer to the question, “What -is there in the Montessori method which is so different from all other -educational methods?” This is the vital principle often overlooked in -the fertility of invention and scientific ingenuity with which she has -applied it. - -This reverence for the child’s personality, this supreme faith that -liberty of action is not only safe to give children, but is the -prerequisite of their growth, is the rock on which the edifice of her -system is being raised. It is also the rock on which the barks of many -investigators are wrecked. When they realize that she really puts her -theory into execution, they cry out aghast, “What! a school without a -rule for silence, for immobility, a school without fixed seats, without -stationary desks, where children may sit on the floor if they like, or -walk about as they please; a school where children may play all day if -they choose, may select their own occupations, where the teacher is -always silent and in the background--why, that is no school at all--it -is anarchy!” - -One seems to hear faint echoes from another generation crying out, -“What! a society without hereditary aristocracy, without a caste -system, where a rail-splitter may become supreme governor, where -people may decide for themselves what to believe without respect for -authority, and may choose how they wish to earn their livings, ... this -is no society at all! It is anarchy!” - -Dr. Montessori has two answers to make to such doubters. One is that -the rule in her schools, like the rule in civilized society, is that -no act is allowed which transgresses against the common welfare, or -is in itself uncomely or offensive. That the children are free, does -not mean that they may throw books at each other’s heads, or light a -bonfire on the floor, any more than free citizens of a republic may -obstruct traffic, or run a drain into the water-supply of a town. It -means simply that they are subject to no _unnecessary_ restraint, and -above all to no meddling with their instinctive private preferences. -The second answer, even more convincing to hard-headed people than the -first, is the work done in the Case dei Bambini, where every detail -of the Montessori theory has been more than proved, with an abundance -of confirmatory detail which astonishes even Dr. Montessori herself. -The bugbear of discipline simply does not exist for these schools. -By taking advantage of their natural instincts and tendencies, the -children are made to perform feats of self-abnegation, self-control, -and collective discipline, impossible to obtain under the most rigid -application of the old rules, and, as for the amount of information -acquired unconsciously and painlessly by those babies, it is one of the -fairy-stories of modern times. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -APPLICATION OF THIS PHILOSOPHY TO AMERICAN HOME LIFE - - -Naturally, the question which concerns us is, how the spiritual -discoveries made in this new institution in a far-away city of Italy, -can be used to benefit our own children, in our own everyday, American -family life. It must be stated uncompromisingly, to begin with, that -they can be applied to our daily lives only if we experience a “change -of heart.” The use of the vernacular of religion in this connection is -not inappropriate, for what we are facing, in these new principles, -is a new phase of the religion of humanity. We are simply, at last, -to include children in humanity, and since despotism, even the most -enlightened varieties of it, has been proved harmful to humanity, we -are to abstain from being their despots, even their paternal, wise, and -devoted despots. This does not mean that they are not to live under -some form of government of which we are the head. We have as much right -to safeguard their interests against their own weaknesses as society -has to safeguard ours, in forbidding grade railways in big cities for -instance, but we have no more right than society has to interfere with -inoffensive individual tastes, preferences, needs, and, above all, -initiative. - -At this point I can hear in my mind’s ear a chorus of indignant -parents’ voices, crying out that nothing is further from their theory -or practice than despotism over the children, and that, so far from -ruling their little ones, they are the absolute slaves of their -offspring (forgetting that in many cases there is no more despotic -master than a slave of old standing). To answer this natural protest I -wish here to be allowed a digression for the purpose of attempting a -brief analysis of a trait of human egotism, the understanding of which -bears closely on this phase of the relations of parent and child. I -refer to the instinctive pleasure taken by us all in the dependence of -someone upon us. - -This is so closely connected with benevolence that it is usually wholly -unrecognized as a separate and quite different characteristic. Even -when it is seen, it is identified only by those who suffer from it, -and any intimation of its existence on their part savors so nearly of -ingratitude that they have not, as a rule, ventured to complain of what -is frequently an almost intolerable tyranny. Just as it is the spiteful -member of a family who is the only one to blurt out home-truths which -run counter to the traditional family illusions, so it is only a -thoroughly bad-tempered analyst, one who takes a malicious pleasure in -dwelling on human meannesses, who can perform the useful function of -diagnosing this little suspected, very prevalent, human vice. - -Here is the sardonic Hazlitt, derisively relieving his mind on the -subject of benefactors. “... Benefits are often conferred out of -ostentation or pride. As the principle of action is a love of power, -the complacency in the object of friendly regard ceases with the -opportunity or the necessity for the manifest display of power; and -when the unfortunate protégé is just coming to land and expects a last -helping hand, he is, to his surprise, pushed back in order that he -may be saved from drowning once more. You are not haled ashore as you -had supposed by those kind friends, as a mutual triumph, after all -your struggles and their exertions on your behalf. It is a piece of -presumption in you to be seen walking on terra firma; you are required -at the risk of their friendship to be always swimming in troubled -waters that they may have the credit of throwing out ropes and sending -out life-boats to you without ever bringing you ashore. The instant you -can go alone, or can stand on your own ground, you are discarded.” - -Now the majority of us in these piping times of mediocrity have -no grounds, fancied or real, for assuming the rôle of tyrannical -Providence to other people. But the instinct, in spite of the decreased -opportunity for its exercise, is none the less alive in our hearts; -and when chance throws in our way a little child, our primitive, -instinctive affection for whom confuses in our minds the motives -underlying our pseudo-benevolent actions, do we not wreak upon it -unconsciously all that latent desire to be depended upon, to be the -stronger, to be looked up to, to gloat over the weakness of another? - -If this seems an exaggerated statement, consider for a moment the real -significance of the feeling expressed by the mothers we have all met, -when they cry, “Oh, I can’t _bear_ to have the babies grow up!” and -when they refuse to correct the pretty, lisping, inarticulate baby -talk. I have been one of those mothers myself, and I certainly would -have regarded as malicious and spiteful any person who had told me -that my feelings sprang from almost unadulterated egotism, and that I -“couldn’t bear to have the babies grow up” because I wanted to continue -longer in my complacent, self-assumed rôle of God, that I wished to -be surrounded by little sycophants who, knowing no standard but my -personality, could not judge me as anything but infallible, and that I -was wilfully keeping the children granted me by a kind Heaven as weak -and dependent on me as possible that they might continue to secrete -more food for my egotism. - -What I now see to be a plain statement of the ugly truth underlying my -sentimental reluctance to have the babies grow up would have seemed to -me the most heartless attack on mother-love. It now occurs to me that -mother-love should be something infinitely more searching and subtle. -Modern society with its enforced drains and vaccinations and milk -inspection and pure-food laws does much of the physical protecting -which used to fall to the lot of mothers. Our part should not be, like -bewildered bees, to live idly on the accumulation of virtues achieved -for us by the hard won battles of our ancestors against their lower -physical instincts; but to catch up the standard and advance into the -harder battle against the hidden, treacherous ambushes of egotism, to -conceive a new, high devotion for our children, a devotion which has -in it courage for them as well as care for them; which is made up of -faith in their better, stronger natures, as well as love for them, and -which begins by the ruthless slaughter, so far as we can reach it, -of the selfishness which makes us take pleasure in their dependence -on us, rather than in seeing them grow (even though it may mean away -from us) in the ability wisely to regulate their own lives. We must -take care that we mothers do not treat our children as we reproach men -for having treated women, with patronizing, enfeebling protection. We -must learn to wish, above all things, to see the babies grow up since -there is no condition (for any creature not a baby) more revolting -than babyishness, just as there is no state more humiliating (for any -but a child) than childishness. Let us learn to be ashamed of our too -imperious care, which deprives them of every chance for action, for -self-reliance, for fighting down their own weaknesses, which snatches -away from them every opportunity to strengthen themselves by overcoming -obstacles. We must learn to see in a little child not only a much-loved -little body, informed by a will more or less pliable to our own, but -a valiant spirit, longing for the exercise of its own powers, powers -which are different from ours, from those of every human being who has -ever existed. - -There is no danger that in combating this subtle vice, we will fall -back into the grosser one of physical tyranny over women, children, or -the poor. That step forward has been taken conclusively. That question -has been settled for all time and has been crystallized in popular -opinion. We may still tyrannize coarsely over the weak, but we are -quite conscious that we are doing something to be ashamed of. We can -therefore, without fear of reactionary setbacks, devote ourselves to -creating a popular consciousness of the sin of moral and intellectual -tyranny. - -Now all this reasoning has been conducted by means of abstract ideas -and big words. It may seem hardly applicable to the relations of an -affectionate parent with his three-year-old child. How, practically, -concretely, at once, to-day, can we begin to avoid paternal despotism -over little children? - -To begin with, by giving them the practical training necessary to -physical independence of life. Anyone who knows a woman who lived -in the South during the old régime must have heard stories of the -pathetic, grotesque helplessness to which the rich white population -was reduced by the presence and personal service of the slaves ... the -grown women who could not button their own shoes, the grown men who -had never in their lives assembled all the articles necessary for a -complete toilet. Dr. Montessori says, “The paralytic who cannot take -off his boots because of a pathological fact, and the prince who dare -not take them off because of a social fact, are in reality reduced to -the same condition.” How many mothers whose willing fingers linger -lovingly over the buttons and strings and hooks and eyes of the little -costume are putting themselves in the pernicious attitude of the slave? -How many other bustling, competent, quick-stepping mothers, dressing -and undressing, washing and feeding and regulating their children, as -though they were little automata, because “it’s so much easier to do -it for them than to bother to teach them how to do it,” are reducing -the little ones to a state of practical paralysis? As if ease were the -aim of a mother in her relations to her child! It would be easier, as -far as that is concerned, to eat the child’s meals for it; and a study -of the “competent” brand of mother almost leads one to suspect that -only the physical impossibility of this substituted activity keeps it -from being put into practice. The too loving mother, the one who is too -competent, the one who is too wedded to the regularity of her household -routine, the impatient mother, the one who is “no teacher and never -can tell anybody how to do things,” all these diverse personalities, -though actuated by quite differing motives, are doing the same thing, -unconsciously, benevolently, overbearingly insisting upon living the -child’s life for him. - -But it is evident that simply keeping our hands off is not enough. To -begin with the process of dressing himself, the first in order of the -day’s routine, a child of three, with no training, turned loose with -the usual outfit of clothes, could never dress himself in the longest -day of the year. And here, with a serious problem to be solved, we are -back beside the buttoning boy of the Children’s Home. The child must -_learn how_ to be independent, as he must learn how to be anything -else that is worth being, and the only excuse for existence of a -parent is the possibility of his furnishing the means for the child to -acquire this information with all speed. Let us take a long look at the -buttoning boy over there in Rome and return to our own three-year-old -for a more systematic survey of his problem, which is none other than -the beginning of his emancipation from the prison of babyishness. Let -him learn the different ways of fastening garments together on the -Montessori frames if you have them, or in any other way your ingenuity -can devise. Old garments of your own, put on a cheap dress form, are -not a bad substitute for that part of the Montessori apparatus, or the -large doll suggested on page 115 may serve. - -Then apply your mind, difficult as that process is for all of us, to -the simplification of the child’s costumes, even if you are led into -such an unheard-of innovation as fastening the little waists and -dresses up the front. Let me wonder, parenthetically, why children’s -clothes should all be fastened at the back? Men manage to protect -themselves from the weather on the opposite principle. - -Then, finally, give him time to learn and to practise the new process; -and time is one of the necessary elements of life most often denied to -little children, who always take vastly longer than we do to complete a -given process. I am myself a devoted adherent of the clock, and cannot -endure the formless irregularity of a daily life without fixed hours, -so that I do not speak without a keen realization of the fact that time -cannot be granted to little children to live their own lives, without -our undergoing considerable inconvenience, no matter how ingeniously we -arrange the matter. We must feel a whole-hearted willingness to forego -a superfluity in life for the sake of safeguarding an essential of -life. When I feel the temptation, into which my impatient temperament -is constantly leading me, to perform some action for a child which he -would better do for himself, because his slowness interferes with my -household schedule, I bring rigorously to mind the Montessori teacher -who did not tuck in the child’s napkin. And I severely scrutinize the -household process, the regularity of which is being upset, to see -if that regularity is really worth a check to the child’s growth in -self-dependence. - -Once in a while it really does seem to me, on mature consideration, -that regularity is worth that sacrifice, but so seldom as to be -astonishing. One of the few instances is the regularity of the three -meals a day. This seems to be an excellent means of inculcating real -social feeling in the child, of making him understand the necessity -for occasional sacrifices of individual desires to benefit the common -weal. One should take care not to neglect or pass over the few genuine -opportunities in the life of a little child, when he may feel that -in common with the rest of the family he is making a sacrifice which -_counts_ for the sake of the common good. - -But most other situations yield very different results when analyzed. -For instance, if a child must dress in a cold room it is better for -an adult to stuff the little arms and legs into the clothes with all -haste, rather than run the risk of chilling the child. But as a rule, -if the conditions are really honestly examined, these two alternatives -are seen not to be the only ones. He is set perhaps to dress in a cold -room because we have a tradition that it is “messy” and “common” to -have dressing and undressing going on anywhere except in a bedroom. The -question I must then ask myself is no longer, “Is there not danger that -the child will take cold if I give him time to dress himself?” but, -“Is the ordered respectability of my warm parlor worth a check to my -child’s normal growth?” - -And it is to some such quite unexpected question that one is constantly -led by the attempt really to analyze the various restrictions we put -upon the child’s freedom to live his own life. These restrictions -multiply in such a perverse ratio with the material prosperity and -conventionality of our lives that it is a truism that the children of -the very poor fare better than ours in the opportunities offered them -for the development of self-reliance, self-control, and independence, -almost the most valuable outfit for the battle of life a human being -can have. - -It is impossible, of course, to consider here all the processes of the -child’s day in as minute detail as this question of his morning toilet. -But the same procedure of “hands off” should be followed, because _help -that is not positively necessary is a hindrance to a growing organism_. -It is well to put strings for your vines to climb up, but it does them -no good to have you try to “help” them by pulling on the tips of the -tendrils. The little child should be allowed time to wash his own face -and hands, to brush his teeth, and to feed himself, although it would -be quicker to continue our Strasbourg goose tradition of stuffing him -ourselves. He should, as soon as possible, learn to put on and take off -his own wraps, hat, and rubbers. He should carry his own playthings, -should learn to open and shut doors, go up and down stairs freely, hang -up his own clothes (hooks placed low must not be forgotten), and look -himself for articles he has misplaced. - -Adults who, for the first time, try this régime with little children -are astonished to find that it is not the patience of the little -child, but their own, which is inadequate. A child (if he is young -enough not to have acquired the invalid’s habit of being waited upon) -will persevere unendingly through a series of grotesquely awkward -attempts, for instance, to climb upon an adult’s chair. The sight of -this laborious attempt to accomplish a perfectly easy feat reduces his -quick-stepping, competent mother to nervous fidgets, requiring all her -self-control to resist. She is almost irresistibly driven to rushing -forward and lifting him up. If she does, she is very apt to see him -slide to the floor and begin all over again. It is not elevation to -the chair which he desires. It is the capacity to attain it himself, -unaided, which is his goal, a goal like all others in his life which -his mother cannot reach for him. - -And if all this sounds too troublesome and complicated, let it be -remembered that the Children’s Home looms close at hand, ominously -ready to devote itself to making conditions exactly right for the -child’s growth, never impatient, with no other aim in life and no -other occupation but to do what is best for the child. If we are to be -allowed to keep our children with us, we must prove worthy the sacred -trust. - -[Illustration: MATERIALS FOR TEACHING ROUGH AND SMOOTH. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -For, practically, the highly successful existence of the Casa dei -Bambini, keeping the children as it does all day, takes for granted -that the average parent cannot or will not make the average home into -a place really suited for the development of small children. It is -visibly apparent that, as far as physical surroundings are concerned, -he is Gulliver struggling with the conditions of Brobdingnag. He eats -his meals from a table as high for him as the mantelpiece would be for -us, he climbs up and down stairs with the painful effort we expend on -the ascent of the Pyramids, he gets into an armchair as we would climb -into a tree, and he can no more alter the position of it than we could -that of the tree. - -As for the conduct of life, he is considered “naughty” if he interferes -with adult occupations, which, going on all about him all the time and -being entirely incomprehensible to him, are very difficult to avoid; -and he is “good” like the “good Indian” according to the degree of his -silent passivity. When we return after a brief absence and inquire of -a little child, “Have you been a good child?” do we not mean simply, -“Have you been as little inconvenient as possible to your elders?” To -most of us who are honest with ourselves it comes as rather a surprise -that this standard of virtue should not be the natural and inevitable -one. - -I leave to the last chapter the question, a most searching and -painful one for me, as to whether the Casa dei Bambini will not -ultimately be the Home for all our children, and here confine myself -to the statement, which no unprejudiced mind can deny, that such an -institution, arranged as it has been with the most single-hearted -desire to further the children’s interests, is now better adapted for -child-life than our average homes, into which children may be welcomed -lovingly, but which are adapted in every detail of their material, -intellectual, and spiritual life for adults only. It is my firm -conviction that, in my own case, a working compromise may be effected, -thanks to my alarmed jealousy of the greater perfection of the -Montessori Children’s Home; but I realize that it required the alarming -sight and study of that institution to make me see that I was forcing -my children to live under a great many unnecessary restrictions. And, -if there is one thing above all others to be kept in mind by a convert -to these new ideas it is that an _unnecessary restriction in a child’s -life is a crime_. The most puritanical soul among us must see that -there are quite enough necessary restrictions for the child, if they -are all recognized and rigorously obeyed, to serve as disciplinary -forces to the most turbulent nature. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THE NATURE OF “DISCIPLINE” - - -With the last affirmation of the preceding chapter I have brought -myself to another bed-rock principle of this new religion of childhood, -one which at first I was unable to understand and hence to accept. -In my very blood there runs that conviction of the necessity for -discipline which colored so profoundly all early New England life. At -the sight of this too-pleasant and too-smiling world of children, some -old Puritan of an ancestor sprang to life in me and cried out sourly, -“But it’s good for children to do what they don’t like to do, and to -keep on with something after they want to stop. They must in later -life. They should begin now.” - -The answer to this objection is one I have had practically to work -out for myself, since the Italian exponents of the system, having -back of them an unbroken line of life-loving and life-trusting Latin -forefathers, found it practically impossible to understand what was -in my mind. There was much talk of “discipline” in their discussion -of the theories of the method; but evidently they did not attach the -same meaning to the word as the one I had been trained to use. This -fact led me to meditate on what I myself really meant by discipline: a -process of definition which, as it always does, clarified my ideas and -proved them in some respects quite different from what I had thought -them. - -Discipline means, of course, “the capacity for self-control.” I had -no sooner formulated this definition than I saw that I had been, in -my practical use of the word, omitting half of it, and that the vital -half. It was not discipline I had been vainly seeking at the Casa dei -Bambini, it was compulsion. - -Now, compulsion is a force very much handier to use in education than -self-control, since it depends on the adult and not on the child, and -practically any adult with a club (physical or moral) can compass it, -if the child in his power is small enough. But the most elementary -experience of life proves that the effects of compulsion last exactly -as long as the physical or moral club can be applied. Evidently its use -can scarcely prepare the child for the searching tests of independent -adult life when no one has any longer even a pseudo-right to club him -into moral action. - -And yet self-control, like all other vital processes of individual -life, is tantalizingly elusive and subtle. My untrained mind, face to -face at last with the real problem, despaired of securing this real -self-control and not the valueless compulsory obedience to external -force or persuasion with which I had been confusing it. I saw that it -is secured in the Children’s Home and betook myself once more to an -examination of their methods. - -Their method for solving this problem is like the one they use in all -other problems of child-life. They use the adult brain to analyze -minutely all the complex processes involved, and then they begin at the -beginning to teach the children all the different actions, one after -another. - -For instance, the capacity for close, consecutive attention to any -undertaking is a very valuable form of self-control and self-discipline -(one which a good many adults have never mastered). The natural -tendency of childhood, as of all untrained humanity, is for -flightiness, for mental vagrancy, for picking up and fitfully dropping -an enterprise. It is obvious that the sternest of external so-called -discipline cannot lay a finger on this particular mental fault, because -all it can command is physical obedience, which ceases when the -compulsion is no longer active. In the Children’s Home, the child is -provided with a task so exactly suited to the instinctive needs of his -growing organism, that his own spontaneous interest in it overcomes his -own equally spontaneous aversion to mental concentration. Later on in -life he must learn to concentrate mentally, whether he feels a strong -spontaneous interest in the subject or not; but it is evident that he -cannot do that, if he has not learned first to control his wandering -wits when the subject does interest him. And that this last is not the -perfectly easy undertaking it seems, is apparent when one considers -all the hopelessly flighty women there are in the world, who could not, -to save their lives, mentally concentrate on anything. The Montessori -apparatus sets a valuable vital force in the child’s own intellectual -make-up to master an undesirable instinct, and naturally the valuable -force grows stronger with every exercise of its power, just as a muscle -does. The little boy who was so much interested in his buttoning-frame -that he stuck to his enterprise from beginning to end without so much -as glancing up at the activities of the other children, showed real -self-control, even though it was not associated with the element of -pain which my grim ancestors led me to think was essential. - -It is true that self-control in the face of pain or indifference is -a necessary element in adult moral and intellectual life, but it now -appears that, like every other factor in life, it must start from -small beginnings and grow slowly. The buttoning boy showed not only -self-control, but the only variety of it which a baby is capable of -manifesting. When I had the notion that I ought (for his own good, of -course) to demand of him self-control in the face of pain, even of -a very small pain, I was asking something which he could not as yet -give, and of which compulsory obedience could only obtain an empty and -misleading appearance, an appearance really harmful to the child’s -best interests since it completely blinded me to the fact that he had -not made the least beginning towards attaining a real self-control. He -must begin slowly to learn self-control, as he must begin slowly to -learn how to walk. I am quite satisfied if he takes a single step at -first, because I know that is the essential. If he can do that, he will -ultimately learn to climb a mountain. If he can overcome the naturally -vagrant impulses of his mind through intellectual interest (for it is -none other) in the completion of his task of buttoning up the cloth on -his frame, he has begun a mental habit the value of which cannot be -overestimated, and which will later, in its full development, make it -possible for him to master calculus without the agonizing, too-tardy -effort at mental self-control which embittered my own struggle with -that subject. - -From time immemorial, the child himself has always instinctively used -in his games and plays this method of learning self-control and mental -concentration, as much as adults would allow him. The admirable, -thoroughgoing concentration of a child on a game of marbles or ball -is proverbial; but while the rest of us, with some unsystematic -exceptions, have looked idly on at this great natural stream of mental -vigor pouring itself out in profusion before our eyes, Dr. Montessori -has stepped in with an ingeniously devised waterwheel and set it to -work. - -The child in the Casa dei Bambini advances from one scientifically -graded stage of mental self-control to the next, from the -buttoning-frames to the geometric insets, from these to their use in -drawing and the control of the pencil, and then on into the mastery -of the alphabet, always with a greater and greater control of the -processes of his mind. - -The control of the processes of his body are learned in the same -analyzed, gradual progression from the easy to the difficult. He -learns in the “lesson of silence” how to do nothing with his body, -an accomplishment which his fidgety elders have never acquired; he -learns in all the sensory exercises the complete control of his five -servants, his senses; and in moving freely about the furniture suited -to his size, in handling things small enough for him to manage, in -transferring objects from one place to another, he learns how to go -deftly through all the ordinary operations of everyday life. - -This physical adroitness has a vitally close relation to discipline -of all sorts. When we say to the average, untrained, muscularly -uncontrolled child of four, “Now do sit still for a while!” we are -making a request about as reasonable as though we cried, “Do stand -on your head!” And then we shake him or reprove him for not obeying -what is for him an impossible command. By so doing we start in his -mind the habit, both of not obeying and of being punished for it; and -as Nature is exuberant in her protective devices, he very soon grows -a fine mental callous over his capacity for remorse at not obeying. -The effort required to accede to our request is entirely too great -for him, even if he wholly understands what we wish, which is often -doubtful. And because he often has been forced to disobey a command -to do something impossible, he falls into the way of disobeying a -command which is within his powers. The Montessori training makes every -impassioned attempt to teach a child exactly how to do a thing before -he is requested to do it. - -We give a child the enormously compendious command, “Don’t be so -careless!” without reflecting that it is about as useful and specific -an exhortation as if one should cry to us, “Do be more virtuous!” Dr. -Montessori is continually admonishing us to use our grown-up brains to -analyze into its component parts the child’s carelessness, so that, -part by part, it can be corrected. Suppose that it has manifested -itself (as it not infrequently does) by a reckless plunge across the -room, carrying a plateful of cookies which have most of them fallen -to the floor by the end of the trip. Almost without exception, what -we all cry impatiently to a child, even to a very little child, under -those circumstances, is “For mercy’s sake, _do_ look at what you’re -doing!” which is, considered at all analytically, exactly what it is -our business as his leaders and guides in the world to do for him. - -A little reflection on the subject makes us realize, in spite of the -sharpness of our reproof to him, that he takes no pleasure in spilling -the cookies and falling over the chairs; that is, that he had no set -purpose to do this, instead of walking correctly across the room -and setting the plate down on the table. The question we should ask -ourselves, is obviously, “Why then, did he do all those troublesome -and careless things?” Obviously because we were requiring him to go -through a complicated process, the separate parts of which he has not -mastered; as though a musician should command us to play the chromatic -scale of D minor, and then blame us for the resultant discord. He -should have taught us a multitude of things before requiring such a -complicated achievement,--how to hold our fingers over the piano-keys, -how to read music, how to play simpler scales. - -The child with the cookie-plate needs, in the first place, a course of -exercises in learning to walk in a straight line directly to the spot -where he means to go, exercises continued until this process becomes -automatic, so that the greatest haste on his part will not send him -reeling about as most children (and a considerable number of their -ill-trained elders) do when they undertake to move from one side of the -room to another. - -How can he learn to do this? Dr. Montessori suggests drawing a -chalk-line on the floor and having the children play the “game” (either -with or without music) of trying to walk along it without stepping off. -I myself, remembering the forbidden joys of my reckless childhood in -walking the top-rail of a fence, have tried the expedient of providing -a less dangerous top-rail laid flat on the ground. Did any healthy -child ever need more than one chance to walk along railway tracks? -The objection in the past to these exercises has been that they were -connected with something dangerous and undesirable. I do not blame -my parents for forbidding me to try to balance myself either on the -top-rail of a fence or on a railway track. Both of these were highly -risky diversions. But it does seem odd that neither they nor I ever -thought of providing, in some safe form, the exercises in equilibrium -so violently craved by all healthy children. A narrow board, or length -of so-called “two-by-four” studding, laid on the ground, furnishes a -diversion as endlessly entertaining for a child of three as the most -dangerously high fence-rail for an older child, and the never-failing -zest with which a little child practises balancing himself on this -narrow “sidewalk” is a proof that the exercise is one for which he -unconsciously felt a need. - -Another trick of equilibrium, which is hard for a little child, is to -lift one foot from the floor and perform any action without falling -over. If he is provided with a loose rope-end, hanging where he can -easily reach it, his parent and guardian can suggest any number of -entertaining things to do while his equilibrium is assured by his grasp -on the rope. My experience has been that one suggestion is enough. The -child’s invention does the rest. Another exercise which is of great -benefit for very little children is to walk backwards, a process which -needs no more gymnastic apparatus than a helping hand from father or -mother, an apparatus which is equally effective in teaching a young -child the fascinating game of crossing one foot over the other without -falling down. - -Does all this physical training of tiny children seem too remote from -the older child who spilled the cookies? He stands at the end of the -road over which the balancing, backward-walking, highly entertained -three-year-old is advancing. - -Although it is not mentioned in any Montessori suggestions I have seen -(possibly because of the difficulty of managing it in a schoolroom), -it occurred to me one day that water is a neglected but very valuable -factor in training a little child to accuracy of muscular movement. -This reflection occurred to me just after I had instinctively led -away a little child from a basin of water in which I had “caught her” -dabbling her hands. Making a desperate effort to put into practice -my new resolution to question myself sharply each time that I denied -a child any activity he seemed to desire, I perceived that in this -case, as so often, I was acting traditionally, without considering the -essential character of the situation. I could not, of course, allow the -child to dabble in that basin of water, there, because she would be -apt to spatter it on the floor and to get her clothes wet. But on that -warm summer day, why could I not set her outdoors on the grass, with a -bit of oilcloth girded about her waist so that she should not spoil her -dress? Her evident interest in the water was an indication of a natural -force which it might be possible to utilize to give her some muscular -training which would entertain her at the same time. When I really came -to think about it, there is nothing inherently wicked in playing in -water. - -For the almost superhuman effort necessary to use reason about a fact -the outlines of which are dulled by familiarity, I was rewarded many -times over by the discovery of a “sensory exercise” which apparently -is of the highest value. The child in question, provided with a pan -of water, and various cups and jelly-molds of different sizes, which -I snatched at random from the kitchen-shelf, was in a state of silent -bliss. She filled the little cups up to the brim, she lifted them with -an anxious care which no exhortation of mine could have induced her to -apply, she drank from them, she poured their contents into each other, -discovering for herself that the smaller ones must be emptied into the -bigger ones and not vice versa, she filled them again with a spoon. At -first she did all this very clumsily, although always with the most -painstaking care, but as the days went on with repetitions of this -game, her dexterity became astonishing, as was her eternal interest in -the monotonous proceeding. - -Now she is not only kept quiet and happy for about an hour a day by -this amusement, and she has not only learned to fill and handle her -little cups and jelly-molds very deftly, but the operation of drinking -out of a water-glass at the table is of a simplicity fairly beneath -her contempt. I smile to see our guests gasp and dodge in dismay as, -with the reckless abandon of her age, she grasps her water-glass with -one hand, not deigning even to look at it, and conveys it to her lips. -But as a matter of fact, no matter how hastily or carelessly she -does this, she almost never spills a drop. The control of utensils -containing liquids has been so thoroughly learned by her muscles in -the long hours of happy play with her little cups that it is perfectly -automatic. She no more spills water from her glass than I fall down on -the floor when I cross a room, even though I may be quite absent-minded -about that undertaking. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -MORE ABOUT DISCIPLINE, WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO OBEDIENCE - - -I must stop at this point and devote a paragraph or two to laying the -ghost of another Puritan ancestor who demands, “But where does the -discipline come in here, if it is all automatic and unconscious? Why -sneak exactitude of muscular action into the child’s life by the back -door, so to speak? Would it not be better for her moral nature to -command her outright not to spill the water from her glass at table, -and force her to use her will-power by punishing her if she does?” - -There are several answers to this searching question, which is by no -means so simple and direct as it sounds. The most obvious one is the -retort brutal, i.e., that a great many generations have experimented -with that simple method of training children, with the result that -family life has been considerably embittered and the children very -poorly trained. In other words, that practical experience has shown -it to be a very bad method indeed and in use only because we know no -better one. - -One of the reasons why it is bad is because it confuses two radically -different activities in the child’s life, including both under one far -too-sweeping command. The child’s ability to handle a glass of water -is an entirely different function from its willingness to obey orders. -To require of its nascent capacities at the same instant a new muscular -skill and the moral effort necessary to obey a command is to invite -almost certain failure. Worse than this, and in fact as bad as anything -can be, the result of this impossibly compendious command is to bring -about a hopeless confusion in the child’s mind which means unnecessary -nervous tension and friction and the beginning of an utterly deplorable -mental habit of nervous tension and irritated resistance in the child’s -mind, whenever a command is given. That this instinct of irritated -resistance is not a natural one is proved by the happily obedient older -children in the Casa dei Bambini in Rome. Furthermore, anyone who will, -under ordinary circumstances, try the simple experiment of asking -a little child (too young to have acquired this bad mental habit) -to perform some operation which he has thoroughly mastered, will be -convinced that obedience in itself involves no pain to a child. - -As to the second demand of my Puritan ancestor, which runs, “And force -her to use her will-power by punishment,” the same flat denial must -be given that proposition. Experience proves that you can prevent a -child from performing some single special action by means of external -punishment, but that stimulating the proper use of the will-power is -something entirely different. Apparently the will-power is more apt -to be perverted into grotesque and unprofitable shapes by the use of -punishment than to be encouraged into upright, useful, and vigorous -growth. - -And here it is well to question our own hearts deeply to make sure that -we really wish, honestly, without mental reservations, to stimulate the -will-power of our children--their will-power, be it remembered, not our -own. Is there, in the motives which actuate our attempts at securing -obedience from children, a trace of the animal-trainer’s instinct? For, -though it is true that children are little animals, and that they can -be successfully trained by the method of the animal-trainer, it is not -to be forgotten that they are trained by those methods only to feats -of exactly the same moral and intellectual caliber as those performed -by trick dogs and cats. They are forced to struggle blindly, and -wholly without aid, towards whatever human achievements they may later -accomplish, with the added disadvantage of the mental habit either of -sullen dissembled revolt or crushed mental servility, according to -their temperaments. - -The end and aim of the horse-breaker’s effort is to create an animal -who will obey literally, with no volition of his own, any command of -any human being. The conscientious parent who faces squarely this -ultimate logical conclusion of the animal-trainer’s system, must see -that his own aim, being entirely opposed to that, must be attained by -very different means; and that, since his final goal is to produce -a being wholly and wisely self-governing, the sooner the child can -be induced to begin the exercise of the faculty of self-government, -the more seasoned in experience it will be when vital things begin to -depend on it. - -It is highly probable that in the heart of the modern parent of the -best type, if there is still some of the animal-trainer’s instinct, he -is quite and honestly unconscious of it and would be ashamed of it if -he recognized it. I think most of us can say sincerely that we have no -conscious wish for anything but the child’s best welfare. But in saying -this, we admit at once that our problem is vastly more subtle and -complicated than the horse-breaker’s, and that we are in need of every -ray of light from any source possible. - -The particular, vivifying truth which we must imprint on our minds -in this connection is that spontaneity of action is the absolute -prerequisite for any moral or intellectual advance on the part of any -human being. Nor is this, though so constantly insisted upon by Dr. -Montessori, any new invention of hers. Dimly felt, it has regulated -more or less the best action of the best preachers, the best teachers -and lawgivers since the beginning of the world. Pestalozzi formulated -it in the hard saying, all the more poignant because it came from a man -who had devoted himself with such passionate affection to his pupils, -“I have found that no man in God’s wide earth is able to help any other -man. Help must come from the bosom alone.” Froebel, in all his general -remarks on education, states this principle clearly. Finally, it has -been crystallized in the homely adage of old wives, “Every child’s got -to do its own growing.” - -We all admit the truth of this theory. What is so startling about Dr. -Montessori’s attitude towards it, is that she really acts upon it! -More than that, she expects us to act on it, all the time, in all the -multiform crises of our lives as parents, in this intricate problem of -discipline and the training of the will-power as well as in the simpler -form of physically refraining from interfering with the child’s efforts -to feed and dress himself. - -And yet it is natural enough that we should find at first sight such -general philosophic statements rather vague and remote, and not at -all sufficiently reassuring as we stand face to face with the problem -of securing obedience from a lively child of three. We may have seen -how we overlooked the obvious reason why a child who _cannot_ obey a -command will not; and we may be quite convinced that the first step in -securing both self-control and obedience from a child is to put the -necessary means in his power; and yet we may be still frankly at a loss -and deeply apprehensive about what seems the hopeless undertaking of -directly securing obedience even after the child has learned how to -obey. All that Dr. Montessori has done for us so far is to call our -attention to the fact, which we did not in the least perceive before, -that a child is no more born into the world with a full-fledged -capacity to obey orders, than to do a sum in arithmetic. But though we -agree that we must first teach him his numbers before expecting him to -add and subtract, how, we ask ourselves anxiously, can we be in the -least sure that he will be willing to use his numbers to do sums with, -that he will be willing to utilize his careful preparatory training -when it comes to the point of really obeying orders. - -At this juncture I can recommend from successful personal experience -a courageous abandonment of our traditional attitude of deep distrust -towards life, of our medieval conviction that desirable traits can -only be hewed painfully out across the grain of human nature. The -old monstrous idea which underlay all schooling was that the act of -educating himself was fundamentally abhorrent to a child and that he -could be forced to do it only by external violence. This was an idea, -held by more generations of school-teachers and parents than is at -all pleasant to consider, when one reflects that it would have been -swept out upon the dump-heap of discarded superstitions by one single, -unprejudiced survey of one normal child under normal conditions. - -Dr. Montessori, carrying to its full extent a theory which has been -slowly gaining ground in the minds of all modern enlightened teachers, -has been the first to have the courage to act without reservation on -the strength of her observation that the child prefers learning to -any other occupation, since the child is the true representative of -our race which does advance, even with such painful slowness, away -from ignorance towards knowledge. Now, in addition she tells us just -as forcibly, that they prefer right, orderly, disciplined behavior to -the unregulated disobedience which we slanderously insist is their -natural taste. As a result of her scientific and unbiased observation -of child-life she informs us that our usual lack of success in handling -the problems of obedience comes because, while we do not expect a -child at two or three or even four to have mastered completely even -the elements of any other of his activities, we do expect him to have -mastered all the complex muscular, nervous, mental, and moral elements -involved in the act of obedience to a command from outside his own -individuality. - -She points out that obedience is evidently a deep-rooted instinct -in human nature, since society is founded on obedience. Indeed, on -the whole, history seems to show that the average human being has -altogether too much native instinct to obey anyone who will shout out -a command; and that the advance from one bad form of government to -another only slightly better, is so slow because the mass of grown men -are too much given to obeying almost any positive order issued to them. -Going back to our surprised recognition of the child as an inheritor of -human nature in its entirety, we must admit that obedience is almost -certainly an instinct latent in children. - -The obvious theoretic deduction from this reasoning is, that we need -neither persuade nor force a child to obey, but only clear-sightedly -remove the various moral and physical obstructions which lie in the -way of his obedience, with the confident expectation that his latent -instinct will develop spontaneously in the new and favorable conditions. - -When we plant a bean in the ground we do not feel that we need to try -to force it to grow; indeed, we know very well that we can do nothing -whatever about that since it is governed entirely by the presence -or absence in the seed of the mysterious element of life; nor do we -feel any apprehension about the capacity of that smooth, small seed, -ultimately to develop into a vine which will climb up the pole we -have set for it, will blossom, and bear fruit. We know that, barring -accidents (which it is our business as gardeners to prevent), it cannot -do anything else, because that is the nature of beans, and we know all -about the nature of beans from a long acquaintance with them. - -We would laugh at an ignorant, city-bred person gardening for the -first time, who, the instant the two broad cotyledons showed above the -ground, began tying strings to them to induce them to climb his pole. -Our advice to him would be the obvious counsel, “Leave them alone until -they grow their tendrils. You not only can’t do any good by trying to -induce those first primitive leaves to climb, but you may hurt your -plant so that it will never develop normally.” - -The question seems to be, whether we will have the courage and good -sense to take similar sound advice from a more experienced and a wiser -child-gardener. Dr. Montessori not only expounds to us theoretically -this doctrine that the child, properly trained, will spontaneously obey -reasonable orders suited to his age with a prompt willingness which -grows with his growth, but she shows us in the garden of her schools, -bean-poles wreathed triumphantly with vines to the very top. Or, to -drop a perhaps too-elaborated metaphor, she shows us children of three -or four who willingly obey suggestions suited to their capacities, -developing rapidly and surely into children of six and seven whose -obedience in all things is a natural and delightful function of their -lives. She not only says to us, “This theory will work in actual -practice,” but, “It _has_ worked. Look at the result!” - -Of course the crux of the matter lies in that phrase, “proper -training.” It means years of patient, intelligent, faithful effort -on the part of the guardian, to clear away from before the child the -different obstacles to the free natural growth of this, as of all other -desirable instincts of human nature. To give our children this “proper -training” it is not enough to have intellectually grasped the theory -of the Montessori method. With each individual child we have a fresh -problem of its application to him. Our mother-wits must be sharpened -and in constant use. Dr. Montessori has only compiled a book of -recipes, which will not feed our families, unless we exert ourselves, -and unless we provide the necessary ingredients of patience, -intelligence, good judgment, and devotion. - -The prize which seems possible to attain by such efforts makes them, -however, worthy of all the time and thought we may possibly put upon -them. Apparently, judging by the results obtained in the Casa dei -Bambini among Italian children, and by Miss George in her school for -American children, there is no more need for the occasional storms of -temper or outbreaks of exasperated egotism which are so familiar to all -of us who care for children, than there is for the occasional “fits -of indigestion,” “feverishness,” or “teething-sickness” the almost -universal absence of which in the lives of our scientifically-reared -children so astonishes the older generation. - -For the notable success of Miss George’s Tarrytown school disposes -once and for all of the theory that “it may work for Italians, but not -with our naturally self-indulgent, spoiled American children.” Fresh -from the Casa dei Bambini in Rome, I visited Miss George’s Children’s -Home and, except for the language, would have thought myself again -on the Via Giusti. The same happy, unforced interest in the work, -the same Montessori atmosphere of spontaneous life, the same utter -unconsciousness of visitors, the same astonishing industry. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: COUNTING BOXES. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -When theoretically by talk and discussion with experts on the subject -and practically by the sight of the astonishing results shown in the -enlightenment and self-mastery of the older children who had been -trained in the system, I was led towards the conviction that children -really have not that irresistible tendency towards naughtiness which my -Puritan blood led me unconsciously to assume, but that their natural -tendency is on the whole to prefer to do what is best for them, I -felt as though someone had tried to prove to me that the world before -my eyes was emancipating itself from the action of some supposedly -inexorable natural law. - -Naturally, being an Anglo-Saxon, an inhabitant of a cold climate, and -the descendant of those troublesome Puritan forefathers, who have -interfered so much with the composition of this book, I could not, -all in a breath, in this dizzying manner lose that firm conviction -of Original Sin which, though no longer insisted upon openly in the -teachings of the church, which I no longer attend as assiduously as my -parents, still is, I discovered, a very vital element in my conception -of life. - -No, the doctrine of Original Sin is in the very marrow of my New -England bones, but, as a lover of my kind, I rejoice to be convinced -of the smallness of its proportion in relation to other elements of -human nature, and I bear witness gladly that I never saw or heard of -a single case of wilful naughtiness among all the children in the -Casa dei Bambini in Rome. And though I still cling unreasonably to -my superstition that there is, at least in some American children, -an irreducible minimum of the quality which our country people -picturesquely call “The Old Harry,” I am convinced that there is far, -far less of it than I supposed, and I am overcome with retrospective -remorse for all the children I have misjudged in the course of my life. - -To put it statistically, I would estimate that out of every thousand -cases of “naughtiness” among little children, nine hundred and -ninety-nine are due to something else than a “bad” impulse in the -child’s heart. Old-wife wisdom has already reduced by one-half the -percentage of infantile wickedness, in its fireside proverb, “Give a -young one that’s acting bad something to eat and put him to bed. Half -the time he’s tired or starved and don’t know what ails him.” - -It now seems likely that the other half of the time he is either hungry -for intellectual food, weary with the artificial stimulation of too -much mingling with adult life, or exasperated by perfectly unnecessary -insistence on a code of rules which has really nothing to do with the -question of right or wrong conduct. When it comes to choosing between -really right and really wrong conduct, apparently the majority of the -child’s natural instincts are for the really right, as is shown by his -real preference for the orderly, educating activity of the Children’s -Home over disorderly “naughtiness.” Our business should be to see to it -that he is given the choice. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF A UNIVERSAL ADOPTION OF THE MONTESSORI IDEAS - - -Now, of course, it is infinitely easier in the first place to cry -out to a child, “Oh, don’t be so careless!” than to consider thus -with painful care all the elements lacking in his training which -make him heedless, and throughout years of conscientious effort to -exercise the ingenuity necessary to supply those lacking elements. -But serious-minded parents do not and should not expect to find life -a flowery bed of ease, and it is my conviction that most of us will -welcome with heartfelt joy any possible solution of our desperately -pressing problems, even if it involves the process of oiling and -setting in motion the little-used machinery of our brains. - -I am opposed in this optimistic conviction by that small segment of the -circle of my acquaintances composed of the doctors whom I happen to -know personally. They take a gloomy view of the matter and tell me that -their experience with human nature leads them to fear that the rules -of moral and intellectual hygiene of childhood, of this new system, -excellent though they are, will be observed with as little faithfulness -as the equally wise rules of physical hygiene for adults which the -doctors have been endeavoring vainly to have us adopt. They inform -me that they have learned that, if obedience to the laws of hygiene -requires continuous effort, day after day, people will not obey them, -even though by so doing they would avoid the pains and maladies which -they so dread. “People will take pills,” physicians report, “but they -will not take exercise. If your new system told them of some one or -two supreme actions which would benefit their children, quite a number -of parents would strain every nerve to accomplish the necessary feats. -But what you are telling them is only another form of what we cry so -vainly, namely that they themselves must observe nature and follow her -laws, and that no action of their doctors, wise though they may be, can -vicariously perform this function for them. You will see that your Dr. -Montessori’s exhortations will have as little effect as those of any -other physician.” - -I confess that at first I was somewhat cast down by these pessimistic -prophecies, for even a casual glance over any group of ordinary -acquaintances shows only too much ground for such conclusions. But -a more prolonged scrutiny of just such a casually selected group of -acquaintances, and a little more searching inquiry into the matter has -brought out facts which lead to more encouraging ideas. - -In the first place, the doctors are scarcely correct when they assume -that they have always been the repository of a wisdom which we laity -have obstinately refused to take over from them. Comparatively -speaking, it is only yesterday that the doctors themselves outgrew the -idea that pills were the divinely appointed cures for all ills. So -recent is this revolution in ideas that there are still left among us -in eddies, out of the main stream, elderly doctors who lay very little -of the modern fanatical stress on diet, and burn very little incense -before the modern altar of fresh air and exercise. It seems early in -the day to conclude that the majority of mankind will not take good -advice if it is offered them, a sardonic conclusion disproved by the -athletic clubs all over the country, the sleeping-porches burgeoning -out from large and small houses, the millions of barefooted children in -rompers, the regiments of tennis-playing adolescents and golf-playing -elders, the myriads of diet-studying housewives, the gladly accepted -army of trained nurses. We may not do as well as we might, but we -certainly have not turned deaf ears to all the exhortations of reason -and enlightenment. - -Furthermore, beside the fact that doctors have been preaching “hygiene -against drugs” to us only a short time, it is to be borne in mind that, -as a class, they do not add to their many noble and glorious qualities -of mind and heart a very ardent proselytizing fervor. It seems to be -against the “temperament” of the profession. If you go to a doctor’s -office, and consult him professionally he will, it is true, tell you -nowadays not to take pills, but to take plenty of exercise and sleep, -to eat moderately, avoid worry, and drink plenty of pure water; but -you do not ever run across him preaching these doctrines from a -barrel-head on the street-corner, to all who will hear. The traditional -dignity of his profession forbids such Salvation Army methods. The -doctors of a town are apt, prudently, to boil the water used in their -own households and to advise this course of action to any who seek -their counsel, rather than to band together in an aggressive, united -company and make themselves disagreeably conspicuous by clamoring -insistently at the primaries and polls for better water for the town. -It is perhaps not quite fair to accuse us laity of obstinacy in -refusing advice which has been offered with such gentlemanly reserve. - -Then, there is the obvious fact that doctors, like lawyers, see -professionally only the ailing or malcontents of the human family, -and they suffer from a tendency common to us all, to generalize from -the results of their own observation. Our own observation of our -own community may quite honestly lead us to the opposite of their -conclusions, namely that it is well worth while to make every effort -for the diffusion of theories which tend to improve daily life, since, -on the whole, people seem to have picked up very quickly indeed the -reasonable doctrine of the prevention of illness by means of healthy -lives. If they have done this, and are, to all appearances, trying -hard to learn more about the process, it is reasonable to hope that -they will catch at a similar reasonable mental and moral hygiene for -their children, and that they will learn to leave off the unnecessary -mental and moral restrictions, the unwise interference with the -child’s growth and undue insistence on conformity to adult ideas of -regularity, just as they have learned how to leave off the innumerable -layers of starched petticoats, the stiff scratchy pantalets, and -the close, smothering sunbonnets in which our loving and devoted -great-grandmothers required our grandmothers to grow up. - -Lastly, there is a vital element in the situation which is perhaps -not sufficiently considered by people anxious to avoid the charge of -sentimentality. This element is the strength of parental affection, -perhaps the strongest and most enduring passion which falls to the -lot of ordinary human beings. Only a Napoleon can carry ambition to -the intensity of a passion. Great, overmastering love between man -and woman is not so common as our romantic tradition would have us -believe. In the world of religion, saints are few and far between. -Most of us manage to live without being consumed by the reforming -fever of those rare souls who suffer under injustice to others as -though it were practised on themselves. But nearly every house which -contains children, shelters also two human beings the hard crust of -whose natural egotism and moral sloth has been at least cracked by the -shattering force of this primeval passion for their young, two human -beings, who, no matter how low their position in the scale of human -ethical development, have in them to some extent that divine capacity -for willing self-sacrifice which comes, under other conditions, only -to the rarest and most spiritual-minded members of the race. It is -not sentimentality but a simple statement of fact to say that there -is in parents who take care of their own children (as most American -parents do) a natural fund of energy, patience, and willingness to -undergo self-discipline, which cannot be counted upon in any other -numerous class of people. The Montessori system, with its fresh, vivid -presentation of axiomatic truths, with a fervent hope of a practical -application of them to the everyday life of every child, addresses -itself to these qualities in parents; and, for the sound development -of its fundamental idea of self-education and self-government, trusts -not only to the wise conclaves of professional pedagogues, but to the -co-operation of the fathers and mothers of the world. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -IS THERE ANY REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MONTESSORI SYSTEM AND THE - KINDERGARTEN? - - -No one realizes more acutely than I that the composition of this -chapter presupposes an amount of courage on my part which it is perhaps -hardly exaggeration to call foolhardiness. That I am really venturing -upon a battleground is evident to me from the note of rather fierce -anticipatory disapproval which I hear in the voice of everyone who -asks me the question which heads this chapter. It always accented, -“_Is_ there any real difference between the Montessori system and the -kindergarten?” with the evident design of forcing a negative answer. - -Oddly enough, the same reluctance to grant the possibility of anything -new in the Italian method characterizes the attitude of those who -intensely dislike the kindergartens, as well as that of its devoted -adherents. People who consider the kindergarten “all sentimental, -enervating twaddle” ask the question with a truculent tone which makes -their query mean, “This new system is just the same sort of nonsense, -isn’t it now?”; while those who feel that the kindergarten is one of -the vital, purifying, and uplifting forces in modern society evidently -use the question as a means of stating, “It can’t be anything -different from the best kindergarten ideas, for they are the best -possible.” - -I have seen too much beautiful kindergarten work and have too sincere -an affection for the sweet and pure character of Froebel to have -much community of feeling with the rather brutal negations of the -first class of inquirers. If they can see nothing in kindergartens -but the sentimentality which is undoubtedly there, but which cannot -possibly, even in the most exaggerated manifestations of it, vitiate -all the finely uplifting elements in those institutions, it is of no -use to expect from them an understanding of a system which, like the -Froebelian, rests ultimately upon a religious faith in the strength of -the instinct for perfection in the human race. - -It is therefore largely for the sake of people like myself, with a -natural sympathy for the kindergarten, that I am setting out upon the -difficult undertaking of stating what in my mind are the differences -between a Froebelian and a Montessori school for infants. - -I must begin by saying that there are a great many resemblances, as -is inevitable in the case of two methods which work upon the same -material--children from three to six. And of course it is hardly -necessary formally to admit that the ultimate aim of the two educators -is alike, because the aim which is common to them--an ardent desire to -do the best thing possible for the children without regard for the -convenience of the adults who teach them--is the sign manual throughout -all the ages, from Plato and Quintilian down, which distinguishes the -educator from the mere school-teacher. - -There are a good many differences in the didactic apparatus and use of -it, some of which are too technical to be treated fully here, such as -the fact that Froebel, moved by his own extreme interest in crystals -and their forms, provides a number of exercises for teaching children -the analysis of geometrical forms, whereas Dr. Montessori thinks best -not to undertake this with children so young. Kindergarten children -are not taught reading and writing, and Montessori children are. -Kindergarten children learn more about the relations of wholes to parts -in their “number work,” while in the Casa dei Bambini there is more -attention paid to numbers in their series. - -There are of course many other differences in technic and apparatus, -such as might be expected in two systems founded by educators separated -from each other by the passage of sixty years and by a difference in -race as well as by training and environment. This is especially true in -regard to the greater emphasis laid by Dr. Montessori on the careful, -minute observation of the children before and during any attempt to -instruct them. Trained as she has been in the severely unrelenting -rule for exactitude of the positive sciences, in which intelligent -observation is elevated to the position of the cardinal virtue -necessary to intellectual salvation, her instinct, strengthened since -then by much experience, was to give herself plenty of time always -to examine the subject of her experimentation. Just as a scientific -horticulturist observes minutely the habits of a plant before he tries -a new fertilizer on it, and after he has made the experiment goes on -observing the plant with even more passionately absorbed attention, -so Dr. Montessori trains her teachers to take time, all they need, to -observe the children before, during, and after any given exercise. This -is, of course, the natural instinct of Froebel, of every born teacher, -but the routine of the average school or kindergarten gives the teacher -only too few minutes for it, not to speak of the long hours necessary. - -On the other hand, even in the details of the technic, there is much -similarity between the two systems. Some of the kindergarten blocks are -used in Montessori “sensory exercises.” In both institutions the ideal, -seldom attained as yet, is for the systematic introduction of gardening -and the care of animals. In both the children play games and dance -to music; some regular kindergarten games are used in the Casa dei -Bambini; in both schools the first aim is to make the children happy; -in neither are they reproved or punished. Both systems bear in every -detail the imprint of extreme love and reverence for childhood. And yet -the moral atmosphere of a kindergarten is as different from that of a -Casa dei Bambini as possible, and the real truth of the matter is that -one is actually and fundamentally opposed to the other. - -To explain this, a few words of comment on Froebel, his life, and -the subsequent fortunes of his ideas may be useful. These facts are -so well known, owing to the universal respect and affection for this -great benefactor of childhood, that the merest mention of them will -suffice. The dates of his birth and death are significant, 1782-1852, -as is a brief bringing to mind of the intensely German Protestant -piety of his surroundings. He died sixty years ago, and a great deal -of educational water has flowed under school bridges since then. He -died before anyone dreamed of modern scientific laboratories, such -as those in which the Italian educator received her sound, practical -training, a training which not only put at her disposition an amount of -accurate information about the subject of her investigation which would -have dazzled Froebel, but formed her in the fixed habit of inductive -reasoning which has made possible the brilliant achievements of modern -positive sciences, and which was as little common in Froebel’s time as -the data on which it works. That he felt instinctively the needs for -this solid foundation is shown by his craving for instruction in the -natural sciences, his absorption of all the scanty information within -his reach, his subsequent deep meditation upon this information, and -his attempts to generalize from it. - -Another factor in Froebel’s life which scarcely exists nowadays was -the tradition of physical violence and oppression towards children. -That this has gradually disappeared from the ordinary civilized family, -is partly due to the general trend away from physical oppression of all -sorts, and partly to Froebel’s own softening influence, for which we -can none of us feel too fervent a gratitude. He was forced to devote -considerable of his energy to combating this tendency, which was not a -factor at all in the problems which confronted Dr. Montessori. - -Some time after his death his ideas began to spread abroad not only -in Europe (the kindergartens of which I know nothing about, except -that they are very successful and numerous), but also in the United -States, about whose numerous and successful kindergartens we all know a -great deal. The new system was taken up by teachers who were intensely -American, and hence strongly characterized by the American quality of -force of individuality. It is a universally accepted description of -American women (sometimes intended as a compliment, sometimes as quite -the reverse) that, whatever else they are, they are less negative, more -forceful, more direct, endowed with more positive personalities than -the women of other countries. These women, full of energy, quivering -with the resolution to put into full practice all the ideas of the -German educator whose system they espoused, “organized a campaign for -kindergartens” which, with characteristic thoroughness, determination, -and devotion, they have carried through to high success. - -They, and the educators among men who became interested in the -Froebelian ideas, have been by no means willing to consider all -advance impossible because the founder of the system is no longer -with them. They have been progressively and intelligently unwilling -to let 1852 mark the culmination of kindergarten improvement, and -they have changed, and patched, and added to, and taken away from the -original method as their best judgment and the increasing scientific -data about children enabled them. This process, it goes without -saying, has not taken place without a certain amount of friction. -Naturally everyone’s “best judgment” scarcely coincided with that of -everyone else. There have been honest differences of opinion about the -interpretation of scientific data. True to its nature as an essentially -religious institution, the kindergarten has undergone schisms, been -rent with heresies, has been divided into orthodox and heterodox, -into liberals and conservatives, although the whole body of the work -has gone constantly forward, keeping pace with the increasing modern -preoccupation with childhood. - -Indeed it seems to me that one may say without being considered -unsympathetic that it has now certain other aspects of a popular, -prosperous religious sect, among which is a feeling of instinctive -jealousy of similar regenerating influences which have their origin -outside the walls of the original orthodox church. - -Undoubtedly they have some excuse in the absurdly exaggerated current -reports and rumors of the miracles accomplished by the Montessori -apparatus; but it seems to outsiders that what we have a right to -expect from the heads of the organized, established kindergarten -movement is an open-minded, unbiased, and extremely minute and thorough -investigation into the new ideas, rather than an inspection of popular -reports and a resultant condemnation. It is because I am as much -concerned as I am astonished at this attitude on their part that I am -venturing upon the following slight and unprofessional discussion of -the differences between the typical kindergarten and the typical Casa -dei Bambini. - -To begin with, kindergarteners are quite right when they cry out that -there is nothing new in the idea of self-education, and that Froebel -stated as plainly as Montessori does that the aim of all education is -to waken voluntary action in the child. For that matter, what educator -worthy of the name has not felt this? The point seems to be, not that -Froebel states this vital principle any less clearly, but so much less -forcibly than the Italian educator. Not foreseeing the masterful women, -with highly developed personalities, who were to be the apostles of his -ideas in America, and not being surrounded by the insistence on the -value of each individuality which marks our modern moral atmosphere, -it did not occur to him, apparently, that there was any special -danger in this direction. For, of course, our modern high estimate of -the value of individuality results not only in a vague though growing -realization of the importance of safeguarding the nascent personalities -of children, but in a plenitude of strongly marked individualities -among the adults who teach children, and in a fixed habit of using the -strength of this personality as a tool to attain desired ends. - -The difference in this regard between the two educators may perhaps be -stated fancifully in the following way: Froebel gives his teachers, -among many other maxims to hang up where they may be constantly in -view, a statement running somewhat in this fashion: “All growth must -come from a voluntary action of the child himself.” Dr. Montessori not -only puts this maxim first and foremost, and exhorts her teachers to -bear it incessantly in mind during the consideration of any and all -other maxims, but she may be supposed to wish it printed thus: “All -growth must come from a VOLUNTARY action of the child HIMSELF.” - -The first thing she requires of a directress in her school is a -complete avoidance of the center of the stage, a self-annihilation, -the very desirability (not to mention the possibility) of which has -never occurred to the kindergarten teacher whose normal position is -in the middle of a ring of children with every eye on her, with every -sensitive, budding personality receiving the strongest possible -impressions from her own adult individuality. Without the least -hesitation or doubt, she has always considered that her part is to make -that individuality as perfect and lovable as possible, so that the -impression the children get from it may be desirable. The idea that -she is to keep herself strictly in the background for fear of unduly -influencing some childish soul which has not yet found itself, is an -idea totally unheard of. - -I find in a catalogue of kindergarten material this sentence in -praise of some new device. “It obviates the need of supervision on -the part of the teacher _as far as is consistent with conscientious -child-training_.” Now the Montessori ideal is a device which shall -be so entirely self-corrective that absolutely no interference by -the teacher is necessary as long as the child is occupied with it. -I find in that sentence the keynote of the difference between the -two systems. In the kindergarten the emphasis is laid, consciously, -or unconsciously, but very practically always, on the fact that the -teacher teaches. In the Casa dei Bambini the emphasis is all on the -fact that the child learns. - -In the beginning of her study the kindergarten teacher is instructed, -it is true, as a philosophic consideration, that Pestalozzi held and -Froebel accepted the dictum that, just as the cultivator creates -nothing in his trees and plants, so the educator creates nothing in the -children under his care. This is duly set down in her note-book, but -the apparatus given her to work with, the technic taught her, what she -sees of the work of other teachers, the whole tendency of her training -goes to accentuate what is already racially strong in her temperament, -a fixed conviction of her own personal and individual responsibility -for what happens about her. She feels keenly (in the case of nervous -constitutions, crushingly) the weight of this responsibility, really -awful when it is felt about children. She has the quick, energetic, -American instinct to _do_ something herself, at once to bring about a -desired condition. She is the swimmer who does not trust heartily and -wholly to the water to keep him up, but who stiffens his muscles and -exhausts himself in the attempt by his own efforts to float. Indeed, -that she should be required above all things to do nothing, not to -interfere, is almost intellectually inconceivable to her. - -This, of course, is a generalization as inaccurate as all -generalizations are. There are some kindergarten teachers with great -natural gifts of spiritual divination, strengthened by the experiences -of their beautiful lives, who feel the inner trust in life which -is so consoling and uplifting to the Montessori teacher. But the -average American kindergarten teacher, like all the rest of us average -Americans, needs the calming and quieting lesson taught by the great -Italian educator’s reverent awe for the spontaneous, ever-upward, -irresistible thrust of the miraculous principle of growth. - -In spite of the horticultural name of her school the ordinary -kindergarten teacher has never learned the whole-hearted, patient faith -in the long, slow processes of nature which characterizes the true -gardener. She is not penetrated by the realization of the vastness -of the forces of the human soul, she is not subdued and consoled by -a calm certainty of the rightness of natural development. She is far -gayer with her children than the Montessori teacher, but she is really -less happy with them because, in her heart of hearts, she trusts them -less. She feels a restless sense of responsibility for each action of -each child. It is doubtless this difference in mental attitude which -accounts for the physical difference of aspect between our pretty, -smiling, ever-active, always beckoning, nervously conscientious -kindergarten teacher, always on exhibition, and the calm, unhurried -tranquillity of the Montessori directress, always unobtrusively in the -background. - -The latter is but moving about from one little river of life to -another, lifting a sluice gate here for a sluggish nature, constructing -a dam there to help a too impetuous nature to concentrate its forces, -and much of the time occupied in quietly observing, quite at her -leisure, the direction of the channels being constructed by the -different streams. The kindergarten teacher tries to do this, but she -seems obsessed with the idea, unconscious for the most part, that it -is, after all, her duty to manage somehow to increase the flow of the -little rivers by pouring into them some of her own superabundant -vital force. In her commendable desire to give herself and her whole -life to her chosen work, she conceives that she is lazy if she ever -allows herself a moment of absolute leisure, and unoccupied, impersonal -observation of the growth of the various organisms in her garden. She -must be always helping them grow! Why else is she there? she demands -with a wrinkled brow of nervous determination to do her duty, and with -the most honest, hurt surprise at any criticism of her work. - -It is possible that this tendency in American kindergartens is not only -a result of the American temperament, but is inherent in Froebel’s -original conception of the kindergarten as the place where the child -gets his real social training, as opposed to the home where he gets -his individual training. Standing midway between Fichte with his hard -dictum that the child belongs wholly to the State and to society, and -Pestalozzi’s conviction that he belongs wholly to the family, Froebel -thought to make a working compromise by dividing up the bone of -contention, by leaving the child in the family most of the time, but -giving him definite social training at definite hours every day. - -Now there is bound to be, in such an effort, some of the same danger -involved in a conception of religious life which ordains that it -shall be lived chiefly between half-past ten and noon on every Sunday -morning. It may very well happen that a child does not feel social -some morning between nine and eleven, but would prefer to pursue -some laudable individual enterprise. It may be said that the slight -moral coercion involved in insisting that he join in one of the group -games or songs of the kindergarten is only good discipline, but the -fact remains that coercion has been employed, even though coated with -sweet and coaxing persuasion, and the picture of itself conceived by -the kindergarten as a place of the spontaneous flowering of the social -instinct among children has in it some slight pretense. In the Casa dei -Bambini, on the other hand, the children learn the rules and conditions -of social life as we must all learn them, and in the only way we all -learn them, and that is by _living socially_. - -The kindergarten teacher, set the task of seeing that a given number -of children engage in social enterprises practically all the time -during a given number of hours every day, can hardly be blamed if she -is convinced that she must act upon the children nearly every moment, -since she is required to round them up incessantly into the social -corral. The long hours of the Montessori school and the freedom of -the children, living their own everyday lives as though they were (as -indeed they are) in their own home, make a vital difference here. The -children, in conducting their individual lives in company with others, -are reproducing the actual conditions which govern social life in the -adult world. They learn to defer to each other, to obey rules, even to -rise to the moral height of making rules, to sink temporarily their -own interests in the common weal, not because it is “nice” to do this, -not because an adored, infallible, lovely teacher supports the doctrine -by her unquestioned authority, not because they are praised and petted -when they do, but (and is not this the real grim foundation of laws for -social organization?) because they find they cannot live together at -all without rules which all respect and obey. - -In other words, when there is some real occasion for formulating or -obeying a law which facilitates social life, they formulate it and obey -it from an inward conviction, based on genuine circumstances of their -own lives, that they must do so, or life would not be tolerable for any -of them; and when there is no genuine occasion for their making this -really great sacrifice for the common weal, they are left, as we all -desire to be left, to the pursuit of their own lives. No artificial -occasion for this sacrifice is manufactured by the routine of the -school--an artificial occasion which is apt to be resented by the -stronger spirits among children even as young as those of kindergarten -age. They feel, as we all do, that there is nothing intrinsically -sacred or valuable about the compromises necessary to attain peaceable -social life, and that they should not be demanded of us except when -necessary. Crudely stated, Froebel’s purpose seems to have been that -the child should, in two or three hours at a given time every day, do -his social living and have it over with. And although this statement -is both unsympathetic and incomplete, there is in it the germ of a -well-founded criticism of the method which many of us have vaguely -felt, although we have not been able to formulate it before studying -the principles of a system which seems to avoid this fault. - -A conversation I had in Rome with an Italian friend, not in sympathy -with the Montessori ideas, illustrates another phase of the difference -between the average kindergarten and the Casa dei Bambini. My friend is -a quick, energetic, positive woman who “manages” her two children with -a competent ease which seems the most conclusive proof to her that her -methods need no improvement. “Oh, no, the Case dei Bambini are quite -failures,” she told me. “The children themselves don’t like them.” I -recalled the room full of blissful babies which I had come to know so -well, and looked, I daresay, some of the amused incredulity I felt, for -she went on hastily, “Well, _some_ children may. Mine never did. I had -to put both the boy and the girl back into a kindergarten. My little -Ida summed up the whole matter. She said, ‘Isn’t it queer how they -treat you at a Casa dei Bambini! They ask me, “Now which would you like -to do, Ida, this, or this?” It makes me feel so queer. I want somebody -to _tell_ me what to do!’” - -My friend went on to generalize, quite sure of her ground, “That’s the -sweet and natural child instinct--to depend on adults for guidance. -That’s how children _are_, and all the Dr. Montessoris in the world -can’t change them.” - -The difference between that point of view and Dr. Montessori’s is the -fundamental difference between the belief in aristocracy, and the value -of authority for its own sake, which still lingers among conservatives -even in our day, and the whole-hearted belief in democracy which is -growing more and more pronounced among most of our thinkers. - -Ida is being trained under her mother’s masterful eye to carry on -docilely what an English writer has called “the dogmatic method with -its demand for mechanical obedience and its pursuit of external -results.” She is acquiring rapidly the habit of standing still until -somebody tells her what to do, and she has already acquired an -unquestioning acquiescence in the illimitable authority of somebody -else, anyone who will speak positively enough to regulate her life in -all its details. In other words, a finely consistent little slave is -being manufactured out of Ida, and if in later years she should develop -more of her mother’s forcefulness, it will waste a great deal of its -energy in a wild, unregulated revolt against the chains of habit with -which she finds herself loaded, and in the end will probably wreak -itself on crushing the individuality out of her children in their turn. - -Sweet little four-year-old Ida, freed for a moment from the twilight -cell of her passive obedience, and blinking pitifully in the free -daylight of the Casa dei Bambini, is a figure which has lingered long -in my memory and has been one of the factors inducing me to undertake -the perhaps too ambitious enterprise of writing this book. - -In still another way the Montessori insistence on spontaneity of the -children’s action safeguards them, it seems to me, against one of the -greatest dangers of kindergarten life, and obviates one of the justest -criticisms of the American development of Froebel’s method, namely -overstimulation and mental fatigue. When I first thoroughly grasped -this fundamental difference, I was reminded of the saying of a wise old -doctor who, when I was an intense, violently active girl of seventeen, -had given me some sound advice about how to lift the little children -with whom I happened to be playing: “Don’t take hold of their hands to -swing them around!” he cried to me. “You can’t tell when the strain -may be too great for their little bones and tendons. You may do them -a serious hurt. Have them take hold of your hands! And when they’re -tired, they’ll let go.” - -[Illustration: INSETS AROUND WHICH THE CHILD DRAWS, AND THEN FILLS IN -THE OUTLINE WITH COLORED CRAYONS. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -It now seems to me that in the kindergarten the teachers are the ones -who take hold of the children’s hands, and in the Casa dei Bambini -it is the other way about. What Dr. Montessori is always crying to -her teachers is just the exhortation of my old doctor. What she is -endeavoring to contrive is a system which allows the children to -“let go” when they themselves, each at a different time, feel the -strain of effort. The kindergarten teacher is making all possible -conscientious efforts to train herself to an impossible achievement, -namely to know (what of course she never can know with certainty) when -each child loses his spontaneous interest in his exercises or game. She -is as genuinely convinced as the Montessori directress that she must -“let go” at that moment, but she is not trained so to take hold of the -child that he himself makes that all-important decision. - -It is true that the best kindergarteners learn from years of experience -(which involves making mistakes on a good many children) about when, -in general, to let go; but not the most inspired teacher can tell, as -the child himself does, when the strain is first felt in the immature, -undeveloped brain. And it is this margin of possibility of mistake -on the part of the best kindergarten teachers which results only too -frequently, with our nervous, too responsive American children, in the -flushed faces and unnaturally bright eyes of the little ones who return -to us after their happy, happy morning in the kindergarten, unable to -eat their luncheons, unable to take their afternoon naps, quivering -between laughter and tears, and finding very dull the quiet peace of -the home life. - -This observation finds any amount of confirmatory evidence in the -astonishingly great diversity in mental application among children -when really left to their own devices. There is no telling how long or -how short a time any given play or game will hold their attention, -and both kindergarteners and Montessori teachers agree that it is of -value only so long as it really does genuinely hold their attention. -Some children are interested only so long as they must struggle against -obstacles, and once the enterprise runs smoothly, have no further use -for it. With others, the pleasure seems to increase a hundredfold when -they are once sure of their own ability. - -For it is by no means true that the kindergarten teacher is always apt -to continue a given game or exercise too long. It is only too long for -some of the children. There are apt to be others whom she deprives, -by her discontinuation of the game, of an invigorating exercise which -they crave with all their might, and which they would continue, if -left free to follow their own inclination, ten times longer than she -would dare to think of asking them to do. The pertinacity of children -in some exercise which happens exactly to suit their needs is one of -the inevitable surprises to people observing them carefully for the -first time. Since my attention has been called to it, I have observed -this crazy perseverance on unexpected occasions in all children acting -freely. Not long ago a child of mine conceived the idea of climbing up -on an easy-chair, tilting herself over the arm, sliding down into the -seat on her head, and so off in a sprawling heap on the floor. I began -to count the number of times she went through this extremely violent, -fatiguing, and (as far as I could see) uninteresting exercise, and -was fairly astounded by her obstinacy in sticking to it. She had done -it thirty-four times with unflagging zest, shouting and laughing -to herself, and was apparently going on indefinitely when, to my -involuntary relief, she was called away to supper. - -In Rome I remember watching a little boy going through the exercises -with the wooden cylinders of different sizes which fit into -corresponding holes (page 70). He worked away with a busy, serene, -absorbed industry, running his forefinger around the cylinders and -then around the holes, until he had them all fitted in. Then with no -haste, but with no hesitation, he emptied them all out and began over -again. He did this so many times that I felt an impatient fatigue at -the sight of the laborious little creature, and turned my attention -elsewhere. I had counted up to the fourteenth repetition of his feat -before I stopped watching him, and when I glanced back again, a quarter -of an hour later, he was still at it. All this, of course, without -a particle of that “minimum amount of supervision consistent with -conscientious child-training.” He was his own supervisor, thanks to -the self-corrective nature of the apparatus he was using. If he put a -cylinder in the wrong hole he discovered it himself and was forced to -think out for himself what the trouble was. - -Dr. Montessori says (and I can easily believe her from my own -experience) that nothing is harder for even the most earnest and -gifted teachers to learn than that their duty is not to solve all the -difficulties in the way of the children, or even to smooth these out -as much as possible, but on the contrary expressly to see to it that -each child is kept constantly supplied with difficulties and obstacles -suitable to his strength. - -A kindergarten teacher tries faithfully to teach her children so that -they will not make errors in their undertakings. She holds herself -virtually responsible for this. With a Puritan conscientiousness she -blames herself if they do make mistakes, if they do not understand, -by grasping her explanation, all the inwardness of the process under -consideration, and she repeats her explanations with unending patience -until she thinks they do. The Montessori teacher, on the other hand, -confines herself to pointing out to the child what the enterprise -before him is. She does not, it is true, drop down before him the -material for the Long Stair and leave him to guess what is to be -done with it. She herself constructs the edifice which is the goal -desired. She makes sure that he has a clear concept of what the task -is, and then she mixes up the blocks and leaves him to work out his own -salvation by the aid of the self-corrective material. - -Dr. Montessori has a great many amusing stories to tell of her -first struggles with her teachers to make them realize her point of -view. Some of them became offended, and resolved, since they were -not allowed to help the children, to do nothing at all for them, a -resolution which resulted naturally in a state of things worse than -the first. It was very hard for them to learn that it was their part -to set the machinery of an exercise in motion and then let the child -continue it himself. I quite appreciate the difficulty of learning the -distinction between directing the children’s activity and teaching them -each new step of every process. My own impulse made me realize the -truth of Dr. Montessori’s laughing picture of the teacher’s instinctive -rush to the aid of some child puzzling over the geometric insets, and -I knew, from having gone through many such profuse, voluble, vague, -confusing explanations myself, that what they always said was, “No, no, -dear; you’re trying to put the round one in the square hole. See, it -has no corners. Look for a hole that hasn’t any corners, etc., etc.” -It was not until I had sat by a child, restraining myself by a violent -effort of self-control from “correcting” his errors, and had seen -the calm, steady, untiring hopeful perseverance of his application, -untroubled and unconfused by adult “aid,” that I was fully convinced -that my impulse was to meddle, not to aid. And I admit that I have many -backslidings still. - -Half playfully and half earnestly, I am continually quoting to myself -the curious quatrain of the Earl of Lytton, a verse which I think may -serve as a whimsical motto for all of us energetic American mothers and -kindergarteners who may be trying to learn more self-restraint in our -relations with little children: - - “Since all that I can do for thee - Is to do nothing, this my prayer must be, - That thou mayst never guess nor ever see - The all-endured, this nothing-done costs me.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -MORAL TRAINING - - -A perusal of the methods of the Montessori schools and of the -philosophy underlying them may lead the reader to question if under -this new system the child is regarded as a creature with muscular and -intellectual activities only, and without a soul. While the sternest -sort of moral training is given to the parent or teacher who attempts -to use the Montessori system, apparently very little is addressed -directly to the child. - -Nothing could more horrify the founder of the system than such an idea. -No modern thinker could possibly be more penetrated with reverence for -the higher life of the spirit than she, or could bear its needs more -constantly in mind. - -Critics of the method who claim that it makes no direct appeal to the -child’s moral nature, and tends to make of him a little egotist bent -on self-development only, have misapprehended the spirit of the whole -system. - -One answer to such a criticism is that conscious moral existence, the -voluntary following of spiritual law, being by far the rarest, highest, -and most difficult achievement in human life, is the one which -develops latest, requires the longest and most careful preparation and -the most mature powers of the individual. It is not only unreasonable -to expect in a little child much of this conscious struggle toward the -good, but it is utterly futile to attempt to force it prematurely into -existence. It cannot be done, any more than a six-months baby can be -forced to an intellectual undertaking of even the smallest dimension. - -As a matter of fact, a normal child under six is mostly a little -egotist bent on self-development, and to develop himself is the best -thing he can do, both for himself and others, just as the natural -business of a healthy child under a year of age is to extract all the -physical profit possible out of the food, rest, care, and exercise -given him. And yet even here, the line between the varieties of -growth--physical, intellectual, and moral--is by no means hard and -fast. The six-months baby, although living an almost exclusively -physical life, in struggling to co-ordinate the muscles of his two arms -so that he can seize a rattle with both hands, is battling for the -mastery of his brain-centers, just as the three-year-old, who leads a -life composed almost entirely of physical and intellectual interests, -still, in the instinct which leads him to pity and water a thirsty -plant, is struggling away from that exclusive imprisonment in his own -interests and needs which is the Old Enemy of us all. The fact that -this altruistic interest is not an overmastering passion which moves -him to continuous responsible care for the plant, and the other fact -that, even while he is giving it a drink, he has very likely forgotten -his original purpose in the fascinations of the antics of water poured -out of a sprinkling-pot, should not in the least modify our recognition -of the sincerely moral character of his first impulse. - -Now, sincerity in moral impulse is a prerequisite to healthy moral -life, the importance of which cannot be overstated by the most swelling -devices of rhetoric. It is an essential in moral life as air is in -physical life; in other words moral life of any kind is entirely -impossible without it. Hypocrisy, conscious or unconscious, is a far -worse enemy than ignorance, since it poisons the very springs of -spiritual life, and yet few things are harder to avoid than unconscious -hypocrisy. A realization of this truth is perhaps the explanation of a -recent tendency in America for fairly intelligent, fairly conscientious -parents utterly to despair of seeing any light on this problem, and -to attempt to solve it by running away from it, to throw up the whole -business in dismay at its difficulty, to attempt no moral training at -all because so much that is given is bad, and to “let the children go, -until they are old enough to choose for themselves.” - -It is possible that this method, chosen in desperation, bad though it -obviously is, is better than the older one of attempting to explain to -little children the mysteries of the ordering of the universe before -which our own mature spirits pause in bewildered uncertainty. The -children of six who conceive of God as a policeman with a long white -beard, oddly enough placed in the sky, lying on the clouds, and looking -down through a peephole to spy upon the actions of little girls and -boys, have undoubtedly been cruelly wronged by the creation of this -grotesque and ignoble figure in their little brains, a figure which, -so permanent are the impressions of childhood, will undoubtedly, in -years to come, unconsciously render much more difficult a reverent -and spiritual attitude towards the Ultimate Cause. But because this -attempt at spiritual instruction is as bad as it can be, it does -not follow that the moral nature of the little child does not need -training fitted to its capacities, limited though these undoubtedly -are in early childhood. There is no more reason for leaving a child to -grow up morally unaided by a life definitely designed to develop his -moral nature, than for leaving him to grow up physically unaided by -good food, to expect that he will select this instinctively by his own -unaided browsings in the pantry among the different dishes prepared for -the varying needs of his elders. - -The usual method by which bountiful Nature, striving to make up for -our deficiencies, provides for this, is by the action of children upon -each other. This factor is, of course, notably present in the Casa dei -Bambini in the all-day life in common of twenty children. In families -it is especially to be seen in the care and self-sacrifice which older -children are obliged to show towards younger ones. But in our usual -small prosperous American families, this element of enforced moral -effort is often wanting. Either there are but one or two children, or -if more, the younger ones are cared for by a nurse, or by the mother -sufficiently free from pressing material care to give considerable -time to the baby of the family. And on the whole it must be admitted -that Nature’s expedient is at best a rough-and-ready one. Though the -older children may miss an opportunity for spiritual discipline, it is -manifestly better for the baby to be tended by an adult. - -But there are other organisms besides babies which are weaker than -children, and the care for plants and animals seems to be the natural -door through which the little child may first go forth to his lifelong -battle with his own egotism. It is always to be borne in mind that -the Case dei Bambini now actually existing are by no means ideal -embodiments of Dr. Montessori’s ideas (see page 227). She has not had -a perfectly free hand with any one of them and herself says constantly -that many phases of her central principle have never been developed -in practice. Hence the absence of any special morally educative -element in the present Casa dei Bambini does not in the least indicate -that Dr. Montessori has deliberately omitted it, any more than the -perhaps too dryly practical character of life in the original Casa -dei Bambini means anything but that the principle was being applied -to very poor children who were in need, first of all, of practical -help. For instance, music and art were left out of the life there, -simply because, at that time, there seemed no way of introducing them. -It is hard for us to realize that the whole movement is so extremely -recent that there has not been time to overcome many merely material -obstacles. In the same way, although circumstances have prevented Dr. -Montessori from developing practically the Casa dei Bambini as far in -the direction of the care of plants and animals as she would like, she -is very strongly in favor of making this an integral and important part -of the daily life of little children. - -In this she is again, as in so many of the features of her system, only -using the weight of her scientific reputation to force upon our serious -and respectful attention means of education for little children which -have all along lain close at hand, which have been mentioned by other -educators (Froebel has, of course, his elder boys undertake gardening), -but of which, as far as very young children go, our recognition has -been fitful and imperfect. She is the modern doctor who proclaims with -all the awe-compelling paraphernalia of the pathological laboratory -back of him, that it is not medicine, but fresh air which is the cure -for tuberculosis. Most parents already make some effort to provide pets -(if they are not too much trouble for the rest of the family) with a -vague, instinctive idea that they are somehow “good for children,” -but with no conscious notion of how this “good” is transferred or how -to facilitate the process; and child-gardens are not only a feature -of some very advanced and modern schools and kindergartens, but are -provided once in a while by a family, although nearly always, as in -Froebel’s system, for older children. But as those institutions are -now conducted in the average family economy, the little child gets -about as casual and irregular an opportunity to benefit by them as the -consumptive of twenty years ago by the occasional whiffs of fresh air -which the protecting care of his nurses could not prevent from reaching -him. The four-year-old, as he and his pets are usually treated, _does -not feel real responsibility_ for his kitten or his potted plant and, -missing that, he misses most of the good he might extract from his -relations with his little sisters of the vegetable and animal world. - -Our part, therefore, in this connection, is to catch up the hint which -the great Italian teacher has let fall and use our own Yankee ingenuity -in developing it, always bearing religiously in mind the fundamental -principle of self-education which must underlie any attempt of ours to -adapt her ideas to our conditions. For, of course, there is nothing -new in the idea of associating children with animals and plants--an -idea common to nearly all educators since the first child played with -a puppy. What is new is our more conscious, sharpened, more definite -idea, awakened by Dr. Montessori’s penetrating analysis, of just -how these natural elements of child-life can be used to stimulate a -righteous sense of responsibility. Our tolerant indifference towards -the children’s dogs and cats and guinea-pigs, our fatigued complaint -that it is more bother than it is worth to prepare and oversee the -handling of garden-plots for the four- and five-year-olds, would be -transformed into the most genuine and ardent interest in these matters, -if we were penetrated with the realization that their purposeful use -is the key to open painlessly and naturally to our children the great -kingdom of self-abnegation. There is not, as is apt to be the case -with dolls, a more or less acknowledged element of artificiality, even -though it be the sweet “pretend” mother-love for a baby doll. The -children who really care for plants and animals are in a sane world -of reality, as much as we are in caring for children. Their services -are of real value to another real life. The four-year-old youngster -who rushes as soon as he is awake to water a plant he had forgotten -the day before, is acting on as genuine and purifying an impulse of -remorse and desire to make amends as any we feel for a duty neglected -in adult life. The motives which underlie that most valuable moral -asset, responsibility, have been awakened, exercised, strengthened far -more vitally than by any number of those Sunday morning “serious talks” -in which we may try fumblingly and futilely from the outside to touch -the child’s barely nascent moral consciousness. The puppy who sprawls -destructively about the house, and the cat who is always under our feet -when we are in a hurry, should command respectful treatment from us, -since they are rehearsing quaintly with the child a first rough sketch -of the drama of his moral life. The more gentleness, thoughtfulness, -care, and forbearance the little child learns to show to this creature, -weaker than himself, dependent on him, the less difficult he will find -the exercise of those virtues in other circumstances. He is forming -spontaneously, urged thereto by a natural good impulse of his heart, -a moral habit as valuable to him and to those who are to live with -him, as the intellectual habits of precision formed by the use of the -geometric insets. - -Of course, he will in the first place form this habit of unvarying -gentleness towards plants and animals, only as he forms so many other -habits, in simian imitation of the actions of those about him. He must -absorb from example, as well as precept, the idea that plants and -animals, being dependent on us, have a moral right to our unfailing -care--a conception which is otherwise not suggested to him until he is -several years older and has back of him the habit of several years of -indifference toward this duty of the strong. - -And so here is our hard-working Montessori parent embarked upon the -career of animal-rearing, as well as child-training, with the added -difficulty that he must care for the animals _through_ the children, -and resist stoutly the almost invincible temptation to take over -this, like all other activities which belong by right to the child, -for the short-cut reason that it is less trouble. If this impulse of -the parent be followed, the mere furry presence will be of no avail -to the child, except casually. The kitten must be the little girl’s -kitten if she is really to begin the long preparation which will lead -her to the steady and resolute self-abnegations of maternity, the -preparation which we hope will make her generation better mothers than -we undisciplined and groping creatures are. - -As for plant-life, the Antæus-like character of humanity is too well -known to need comment. We are all healthier and saner and happier -if we have not entirely severed our connection with the earth, and -it is surprising that, recognizing this element as consciously as -we do, we have made so comparatively little systematic and regular -use of it in the family to benefit our little children. It is not -because it is very hard to manage. What has been lacking has been some -definite, understandable motive to make us act in this way, beyond -the sentimental notion that it is pretty to have flowers and children -together. No one before has told us quite so plainly and forcibly that -this observation of plants and imaginative sympathy with their needs -is the easiest and most natural way for little minds to get a first -general notion of the world’s economy, the struggle between helpful and -hurtful forces, and of the duty of not remaining a passive onlooker at -this strife, but of entering it instinctively, heartily throwing all -one’s powers on the side of the good and useful. - -I know a child not yet quite three, who, by the maddeningly persistent -interrogations characteristic of his age, has succeeded in extracting -from a pair of gardening elders an explanation of the difference -between weeds and flowers, and who has been so struck by this -information that he has, entirely of his own volition, enlisted himself -in the army of natural-born reformers. With the personal note of very -little children, who find it so impossible to think in terms at all -abstract, he has constructed in his baby mind an exciting drama in the -garden, unfolding itself before his eyes; a drama in which he acts, by -virtue of his comparatively huge size and giant strength, the generous -rôle of _deus ex machina_, constantly rescuing beauty beset by her -foes. He throws himself upon a weed, uproots it, and casts it away with -the righteously indignant exclamation, “Horrid old weed! Stop eating -the flowers’ dinner!” - -I do not think that it can be truthfully said that there are no moral -elements in his life. He is a baby Sir Galahad, with roses for his -maidens in distress. He has felt and exercised and strengthened the -same impulse that drove Judge Lindsey to his battle for the children -of Denver against the powers of graft. He has recognized spontaneously -his duty to aid the good and useful against their enemies, the -responsibility into which he was born when he opened his eyes upon the -world of mingled good and evil. - -All this is not a fanciful literary flight of the imagination. It is -not sentimentality. It is calling things by their real names. Because -the little child’s capacity for a genuine moral impulse is small and -has, like all his other capacities, little continuity, is no reason -why we should not think clearly about it and recognize it for what it -is--the key to the future. Because he “makes a play” of his good action -and is not priggishly aware of his virtue is all the more reason for us -to be thankful, for that is a proof of its unforced existence in his -spirit. Just as the child “makes a play” out of his geometric insets, -and is not pedantically aware that he is acquiring knowledge, so, to -take an instance from the Casa dei Bambini, the little girls who set -the tables and bring in the soup are only vastly interested in the -fun of “playing waitress.” It is their elders who perceive that they -are unconsciously and painlessly acquiring the habit of willing and -instinctive service to others, which will aid them in many a future -conscious and painful struggle against their own natural selfishness -and inertia. - -This use of the sincerely common life in the Children’s Home to promote -sincerely social feeling among the children has been mentioned in the -preceding chapter. It is one of the most vitally important of the -elements in the Montessori schools. The genuine, unforced acceptance -by the children of the need for sacrifices by the individual for the -good of all, is something which can only be brought about by genuinely -social life with their equals, such as they have in the Children’s Home -and not elsewhere. We must do the best we can in the family-life by -seeing that the child shares as much as possible and as sincerely as -possible in the life of the household. But at home he is inevitably -living with his inferiors, plants, animals, and babies; or his -superiors, older children and adults; whereas in the Children’s Home -he is living as he will during the rest of his life, mostly with his -equals. And it is in the spontaneous adjustments and compromises of -this continuous life with his equals that he learns most naturally, -most soundly, and most thoroughly, the rules governing social life. - -As for moral life, it seems to me that we need neither make a vain -attempt to subscribe to a too-rosy belief in the unmixed goodness -of human nature, and blind ourselves to the saddening fact that the -battle against one’s egotism is bound to be painful, nor, on the other -hand, go back to the grim creed of our forefathers, that the sooner -children are thrust into the thick of this unending war the better, -since they must enter it sooner or later. The truth seems to lie in -its usual position, between two extremes, and to be that children -should be strengthened by proper moral food, care, and exercises suited -to their strength, and allowed to grow slowly into adult endurance -before they are forced to face adult moral problems; and that we may -protect them from too great demands on their small fund of capacity for -self-sacrifice by allowing them and even encouraging them to wreathe -their imaginative “plays” about the self-sacrificing action, provided, -of course, that we keep our heads clear to make sure that the “plays” -do not interfere with the action. - -It is well to make a plain statement to the child of five, that he is -requested to wipe the silver-ware because it will be of service to -his mother (if he is lucky enough to have a mother who ever does so -obviously necessary and useful a thing as to wash the dishes herself), -but it is not necessary to insist that this conception of service shall -uncompromisingly occupy his mind during the whole process. It does no -harm if, after this statement, it is suggested that the knives and -forks and spoons are shipwrecked people in dire need of rescue, and -that it would be fun to snatch them from their watery predicament and -restore them safely to their expectant families in the silver-drawer. -By so doing we are not really confusing the issue, or “fooling” the -child into a good action, if clear thinking on the part of adults -accompany the process. We are but suiting the burden to the childish -shoulders, but inducing the child-feet to take a single step, which is -all that any of us can take at one time, in the path leading to the -service of others. - - * * * * * - -Most of this chapter has been drawn from Montessori ideas by inference -only, by the development of hints, and it is probable that other -mothers, meditating on the same problems, may see other ways of -applying the principle of self-education and spontaneous activity -to this field of moral life. It is apparent that the first element -necessary, after a firm grasp on the fundamental idea that our children -must do their own moral as well as physical growing, and after a -vivid realization that the smallest amount of real moral life is -better than much simulated and unreal feeling, is clear thinking on -our part, a definite notion of what we really mean by moral life, a -definition which will not be bounded and limited by the repetition of -committed-to-memory prayers. This does not mean that simple nightly -aspirations to be a good child the next day may not have a most -beneficial effect on even a very young child and may satisfy the first -stirrings to life of the religious instinct, as much as the constant -daily kindnesses to plants and animals satisfy the ethical instinct. -This latter, however, at his age, is apt to be vastly more developed -and more important than the religious instinct. - -Indeed the religious instinct, which apparently never develops in some -natures, although so strong in others, is in all cases slow to show -itself and, like other slowly germinating seeds, should not be pushed -and prodded to hasten it, but should be left untouched until it shows -signs of life. Our part is to prepare, cultivate, and enrich the nature -in which it is to grow. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -DR. MONTESSORI’S LIFE AND THE ORIGIN OF THE CASA DEI BAMBINI - - -Dr. Montessori and the average American parent are as different in -heredity, training, and environment as two civilized beings can very -well be. Every condition surrounding the average American child is -as materially different as possible from those about the children in -the original Casa dei Bambini. Hence the usual sound rule that the -individuality and personal history of the scientist do not concern the -student of his work does not hold in this case. The conditions in Rome -where Dr. Montessori has done her work, differ so entirely from those -of ordinary American life, in the conduct of which we hope to profit by -her experiments, that it is only fair to Americans interested in her -work, to give them some notion of the varying influences which have -shaped the career of this woman of genius. - -This is so especially in her case, because, as a nation, we are -more ignorant of modern Italian life than of that of any great -European nation. Modern Italy, wrestling with all the problems -of modern industrial and city life grafted upon an age-old -civilization, endeavoring to enlighten itself, to take the best -from twentieth-century progress without losing its own individual -virtues, this is a country as unknown to us as the regions of the -moon. And yet to understand Dr. Montessori’s work and the vicissitudes -of her undertakings, we must have at least a summary knowledge that -the Italian world of to-day is in a curious ferment of antiquated -prejudices and highly progressive thought. - -To us, as a rule, Rome is “The Eternal City” of our school-Latin days, -whereas, in reality, it is, for all practical purposes as a city, much -more recent than New York--about as old, let us say, as Detroit. But -Detroit planted its vigorously growing seedling in the open ground and -not in a cracked pot of small dimensions. Hence the problems of the -two modern cities are dissimilar. I heard it suggested by a man of -authority in the Italian government that a great mistake had been made -when the modern capital of Italy had been dumped down upon the heap of -historic ruins which remained of ancient Rome. It had been bad for the -ruins and very hard on the modern capital. If a site had been selected -just outside the walls of old Rome, a nineteenth-century metropolis -could have sprung up with the effortless haste with which our own -Middle Western plains have produced cities. One thing is certain, Dr. -Montessori’s Case dei Bambini would not have taken their present form -under other conditions, and this is what concerns us here. - -But before the origin of the Case dei Bambini is taken up, a brief -biography of their creator will help us to understand her development. -Her early life, before her choice of a profession, need not interest -us beyond the fact that she is the only child of devoted parents, -not materially well-to-do. Now, as a result of a too-rapid social -transformation among the Italians, the “middle class” population forms -a much smaller proportion of the inhabitants of Italy than in other -modern nations. One result of this condition is that the brilliant -daughter of parents not well-to-do, finds it much harder to pass into a -class of associates and to find an intellectual background which suits -her nature, than a similarly intellectual and original American girl. -Even now in Italy such a girl is forced to fight an unceasing battle -against social prejudice and intellectual inertia. It can be imagined -that when Dr. Montessori was the beautiful, gifted girl-student of -whom older Romans speak with enthusiasm or horror, according to the -centuries in which they morally live, her will-power and capacity for -concentration must have been finely tempered in order not to break in -the long struggle. - -Judging by the talk one hears in Rome about the fine, youthful fervor -of Dr. Montessori’s early struggle against conditions hampering her -mental and spiritual progress, she is a surviving pioneer of social -frontier prejudice, who has emerged from the battle with pioneer -conditions endowed with the hickory-like toughness of intellectual -fiber of will and of character which is the reward of sturdy pioneers. -Certain it is that her battles with prejudices of all sorts have -hardened her intellectual muscles and trained her mental eye in the -school of absolute moral self-dependence, that moral self-dependence -which is the aim and end of her method of education and which will be, -as rapidly as it can be realized, the solvent for many of our tragic -and apparently insoluble modern problems. - -It is hard for an American of this date to realize the bomb-shell -it must have been to an Italian family a generation ago when its -only daughter decided to study medicine. So rapidly have conditions -surrounding women changed that there is no parallel possible to be made -which could bring home to us fully the tremendous will-power necessary -for an Italian woman of that time and class to stick to her resolution. -The fangs of that particular prejudice have been so well-nigh -universally drawn that it is safe to say that an American family -would see its only daughter embark on the career of animal-tamer, -steeple-jack, or worker in an iron foundry, with less trepidation than -must have shadowed the early days of Dr. Montessori’s medical studies. -One’s imagination can paint the picture from the fact that she was -the first woman to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine, from the -University of Rome, an achievement which was probably rendered none -the easier by the fact that she was both singularly beautiful and -singularly ardent. - -After graduation she became attached, as assistant doctor, to the -Psychiatric Clinic at Rome. At that time, one of the temporary -expedients of self-modernizing Italy was to treat the idiot and -feeble-minded children in connection with the really insane, a -rough-and-ready classification which will serve vividly to illustrate -the desperate condition of Italy of that date. The young medical -graduate had taken up children’s diseases as the “specialty” which no -self-respecting modern doctor can be without, and naturally in her -visits to the insane asylums (where the subjects of her Clinic lived), -her attention was attracted to the deficient children so fortuitously -lodged under the same roof. - -I go into the details of the oblique manner in which she embarked -upon the prodigious undertaking of education without any conscious -knowledge of the port toward which she was directing her course, in -order to bring out clearly the fact that she approached the field of -pedagogy from an entirely new direction, with absolutely new aims and -with a wholly different mental equipment from those of the technically -pedagogical, philosophic, or social-reforming persons who have labored -so conscientiously in that field for so many generations. - -This young doctor, then, trained by hard knocks to do her own thinking -and make her own decisions, found that her absorbed study of abnormal -and deficient children led her straight along the path taken by the -nerves from their unregulated external activities to the brain-centers -which rule them so fitfully. The question was evidently of getting -at the brain-centers. Now the name of the process of getting at -brain-centers is one not usually encountered in the life of the -surgeon. It is education. - -The doctor at work on these problems was all the time in active -practice as a physician, an influence in her life which is not to be -forgotten in summing up the elements which have formed her character. -She was performing operations in the hospitals, taking charge of grave -diseases in her private practice, exposing herself to infection of all -sorts in the infectious wards of the hospitals, liable to be called up -at any hour of the night to attend a case anywhere in the purlieus of -Rome. It was a soldier tried and tested in actual warfare in another -part of the battle for the betterment of humanity, who finally took -up the question of the training of the young. She parted company with -many of her fellow-students of deficient children, and faced squarely -the results of her reasoning. Not for her the position aloof, the -observation of phenomena from the detached standpoint of the distant -specialist. If nervous diseases of children, leading to deficient -intellectual powers, could be best attacked through education, the -obvious step was to become an educator. - -She gave up her active practice as a physician which had continued -steadily throughout all her other activities, and accepted the post -of Director of the State Orthophrenic School (what we would call an -Institute for the Feeble-Minded), and, throwing herself into the work, -heart and soul, with all the ardor of her race and her own temperament, -she utilized her finely-tempered brain and indomitable will, in -the hand-to-hand struggle for the actual amelioration of existing -conditions. For years she taught the children in the Asylum under her -care, devoting herself to them throughout every one of their waking -hours, pouring into the poor, cracked vases of their minds the full, -rich flood of her own powerful intellect. All day she worked with her -children, loved to idolatry by them, exhausting herself over their -problems like the simplest, most unthinking, most unworldly, and devout -sister of charity; but at night she was the scientist again, arranging, -classifying, clarifying the results of the day’s observation, examining -with minute attention the work of all those who had studied her -problems before her, applying and elaborating every hint of theirs, -every clue discovered in her own experiments. - -Those were good years, years before the world had heard of her, years -of undisturbed absorption in her work. - -Then, one day, as such things come, after long, uncertain efforts, a -miracle happened. A supposedly deficient child, trained by her methods, -passed the examinations of a public school with more ease, with higher -marks than normal children prepared in the old way. The miracle -happened again and again and then so often that it was no longer a -miracle, but a fact to be foretold and counted on with certainty. - -Then the woman with the eager heart and trained mind drew a long breath -and, determining to make this first success only the cornerstone of a -new temple, turned to a larger field of action, the field to which her -every unconscious step had been leading her, the education, no longer -only of the deficient, but of all the normal young of the human race. - -It was in 1900 that Dr. Montessori left the Scuola Ortofrenica, and -began to prepare herself consciously and definitely for the task -before her. For seven years she followed a course of self-imposed -study, meditation, observation, and intense thought. She began by -registering as a student of philosophy in the University of Rome and -turned her attention to experimental psychology with especial reference -to child-psychology. The habit of her scientific training disposed her -naturally as an accompaniment to her own research to examine thoroughly -the existing and recognized authorities in her new field. She began to -visit the primary schools and to look about her at the orthodox and -old-established institutions of the educational world with the fresh -vision only possible to a mind trained by scientific research to abhor -preconceived ideas and to come to a conclusion only after weighing -actual evidence. - -No more diverting picture can be imagined than the one presented -by this keen-eyed, clear-headed scientist surveying, with an -astonishment which must have been almost dramatically apparent, the -rows of immobile little children nailed to their stationary seats -and forced to give over their natural birth-right of activity to a -well-meaning, gesticulating, explaining, always fatigued, and always -talking teacher. It was evident at a glance that she could not find -there what she had hoped to find, that first prerequisite of the modern -scientist, a prolonged scrutiny of the natural habits of the subject of -investigation. The entomologist seeking to solve some of the farmer’s -problems, spends years with a microscope, studying the habits of the -potato and of the potato-bug before he tries to invent a way to help -the one and circumvent the other. But Dr. Montessori found, so to -speak, that all the potatoes she tried to investigate were being grown -in a cellar. They grew, somehow, because the upward thrust of life is -invincible, but their pale shoots gave no evidence of the possibility -of the sturdy stems, which a chance specimen or two escaped by a stroke -of luck from the cellar, proved to be possible for the whole species. - -At the same time that she was making these amazed and disconcerted -visits to the primary schools, she was devouring all the books which -have been written on her subject. My own acquaintance with works on -pedagogy is limited, but I observe that people who do know them do -not seem surprised that this thoroughly trained modern doctor, with -years of practical teaching back of her, should have found little aid -in them. Two highly valuable authorities she did find, significantly -enough doctors like herself, one who lived at the time of the French -Revolution and one perhaps fifty years later. She tells us in her book -what their ideas were and how strongly they modified her own; but as we -are here chiefly concerned with the net result of her thought, it would -not be profitable to go exhaustively into the investigation of her -sources. It is enough to say that most of us would never in our lives -have heard of those two doctors if she had not studied them. - -We have now followed the course of Dr. Montessori’s life until it -brings us back to that chaotic, ancient-modern Rome, mentioned a few -paragraphs above, struggling with all sorts of modern problems of city -life. The housing of the very poor is a question troublesome enough, -even to Detroit or Indianapolis with their bright, new municipal -machinery. In Rome the problem is complicated by the medieval standards -of the poor themselves as to their own comfort; by the existence of -many old rookeries where they may roost in unspeakable conditions -of filth and promiscuity; and by the lack of a widespread popular -enlightenment as to the progress of the best modern communities. But, -though Italian public opinion as a whole seems to be in a somewhat -dazed condition over the velocity of changes in the social structure, -there is no country in the world which has more acute, powerful, or -original intelligences and consciences trained on our modern problems. -All the while that Dr. Montessori had been trying to understand the -discrepancy between the rapid advance of idiot children under her -system and the slow advance of normal children under old-fashioned -methods, another Italian, an influential, intelligent, and patriotic -Roman, Signor Edoardo Talamo, was studying the problem of bettering at -once, practically, the housing of the very poor. - -He had decided what to do and had done it, when the line of his -activity and that of Dr. Montessori’s met in one of those apparently -fortuitous combinations of elements destined to form a compound which -is exactly the medicine needed for some unhealthy part of the social -tissue. The plan of Signor Talamo’s model tenements was so wise and so -admirably executed that, except for one factor, they really deserved -their name. This factor was the existence of a large number of little -children under the usual school age, who were left alone all day -while their mothers, driven by the grinding necessity which is the -rule in the Italian lower working classes, went out to help earn the -family living. These little ones wandered about the clean halls and -stairways, defacing everything they could reach and constantly getting -into mischief, the desolating ingenuity of which can be imagined by -any mother of small children. It was evident that the money taken to -repair the damage done by them would be better employed in preventing -them from doing it in the first place. Signor Talamo conceived the -simple plan of setting apart a big room in every one of his tenement -houses where the children could be kept together. This, of course, -meant that some grown person must be there to look after them. - -Now Rome is, at least from the standpoint of a New Yorker or a -Chicagoan, a small city, where “everyone who is anyone knows everyone -else.” Although the sphere of Signor Talamo’s activity was as far -as possible from that of the pioneer woman doctor specializing in -children’s brain-centers, he knew of her existence and naturally enough -asked her to undertake the organization and the management of the -different groups of children in his tenement houses, collected, as far -as he was concerned, for the purpose of keeping them from scratching -the walls and fouling the stairways. - -On her part Dr. Montessori took a rapid mental survey of these numerous -groups of normal children at exactly the age when she thought them most -susceptible to the right sort of education, and saw in them, as if sent -by a merciful Providence, the experimental laboratories which she so -much needed to carry on her work and which she had definitely found -that primary schools could never become. - -The fusion of two elements which are destined to combine is not a long -process once they are brought together. How completely Dr. Montessori -was prepared for the opportunity thus given her can be calculated by -the fact that the first Casa dei Bambini was opened on the 6th of -January, 1907, and that now, only five years after, there arrive in -Rome, from every quarter of the globe, bewildered but imperious demands -for enlightenment on the new idea. - -For it was at once apparent that the fundamental principle of -self-education, which had been growing larger and larger in Dr. -Montessori’s mind, was as brilliantly successful in actual practice -as it was plausible in abstract thought. Evidently entire freedom for -the children was not only better for the purposes of the scientific -investigator, but infinitely the best thing for the children. All -those meditations about the real nature of childhood, over which she -had been brooding in the long years of her study, proved themselves, -once put to the test, as axiomatic in reality as they had seemed. Her -theories held water. The children justified all her visions of their -capacity for perfectibility and very soon went far beyond anything even -she had conceived of their ability to teach and to govern themselves. -For instance, she had not the least idea, when she began, of teaching -children under six how to write. She held, as most other educators -did, that on the whole it was too difficult an undertaking for such -little ones. It was her own peculiar characteristic, or rather the -characteristic of her scientific training, of extreme openness to -conviction which induced her, after practical experience, to begin her -famous experiments with the method for writing. - -The story of this startling revelation of unsuspected forces in human -youth and of the almost instant pounce upon it by the world, distracted -by a helpless sense of the futility and clumsiness of present methods -of education, is too well known to need a long recapitulation. The -first Casa dei Bambini was established in January, 1907, without -attracting the least attention from the public. About a year after -another one was opened. This time, owing to the marked success of -the first, the affair was more of a ceremony, and Dr. Montessori -delivered there that eloquent inaugural address which is reprinted in -the American translation of her book. By April of 1908, only a little -over a year after the first small beginning, the institution of the -Casa dei Bambini was discovered by the public, keen on the scent of -anything that promised relief from the almost intolerable lack of -harmony between modern education and modern needs. Pilgrims of all -nationalities and classes found their way through the filthy streets of -that wretched quarter, and the barely established institution, still -incomplete in many ways, with many details untouched, with many others -provided for only in a makeshift manner, was set under the microscopic -scrutiny of innumerable sharp eyes. - -The result, as far as we are concerned, we all know: the rumors, vague -at first, which blew across our lives, then more definite talk of -something really new, then the characteristically American promptness -of response in our magazines and the almost equally prompt appearance -of an English translation of Dr. Montessori’s book. - -And, so far, that is all we have from her, and for the present it is -all we can have, without taking some action ourselves to help her. -It is a strange situation, intensely modern, which could only have -occurred in this age of instantly tattling cables and telegrams. It -is, of course, a great exaggeration to say that all educated parents -and teachers in America are interested in the Montessori system, but -the proportion who really seem to be, is astonishing in the extreme -when one considers the very recent date of the beginning of the whole -movement. Over there in Rome, in a tenement house, a woman doctor -begins observations in an experimental laboratory of children, and in -five years’ time, which is nothing to a real scientist, her laboratory -doors are stormed by inquirers from Australia, from Norway, from -Mexico, and, most of all, from the United States. Teachers of district -schools in the Carolinas write their cousins touring in Europe to be -sure to go to Rome to see the Montessori schools. Mothers from Oregon -and Maine write, addressing their letters, “Montessori, Rome,” and -make demands for enlightenment, urgent, pressing, peremptory, and -shamelessly peremptory, since they conceive of a possibility that their -children, their own children, the most important human beings in the -world, may be missing something valuable. From innumerable towns and -cities, teachers, ambitious to be in the front of their profession, -are taking their hoarded savings from the bank and starting to Rome -with the naïve conviction that their own thirst for information is -sufficient guarantee that someone will instantly be forthcoming to -provide it for them. - -[Illustration: WORD BUILDING WITH CUT-OUT ALPHABET. - Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir] - -When they reach Rome, most of them quite unable to express themselves -in Italian or even in French, what do they find, all these tourists -and letters of inquiry, and adventuring school-mistresses? They find -a dead wall. They have an unformulated idea that they are probably -going to a highly organized institution of some sort, like our huge -“model schools” attached to our normal colleges, through the classrooms -of which an unending file of observers is allowed to pass. And they -have no idea whatever of the inevitability _with which Italians speak -Italian_. - -They find--if they are relentlessly persistent enough to pierce -through the protection her friends try to throw about her--only Dr. -Montessori herself, a private individual, phenomenally busy with very -important work, who does not speak or understand a word of English, -who has neither money, time, or strength enough single-handed to cope -with the flood of inquiries and inquirers about her ideas. In order -to devote herself entirely to the great undertaking of transmuting -her divinations of the truth into a definite, logical, and scientific -system, she has withdrawn herself more and more from public life. She -has resigned from her chair of anthropology in the University of Rome, -and last year sent a substitute to do her work in another academic -position not connected with her present research--and this although -she is far from being a woman of independent means. She has sacrificed -everything in her private life in order to have, for the development of -her educational ideas, that time and freedom so constantly infringed -upon by the well-meaning urgency of our demands for instruction from -her. - -She lives now in the most intense retirement, never taking a vacation -from her passionate absorption in her work, not even giving herself -time for the exercise necessary for health, surrounded and aided by a -little group of five devoted disciples, young Italian women who live -with her, who call her “mother,” and who exist in and for her and her -ideas, as ardently and whole-heartedly as nuns about an adored Mother -Superior. Together they are giving up their lives to the development -of a complete educational system based on the fundamental idea of -self-education which gave such brilliant results in the Casa dei -Bambini with children from three to six. For the past year, helped -spiritually by these disciples and materially by influential Italian -friends, Dr. Montessori has been experimenting with the application of -her ideas to children from six to nine, and I think it is no violation -of her confidence to report that these experiments have been as -astonishingly successful as her work with younger children. - -It is to this woman burning with eagerness to do her work, absorbed -in the exhausting problems of intellectual creation, that students -from all over the world are turning for instruction in a phase of her -achievement which now lies behind her. The woman in the genius is -touched and heartened by the sudden homage of the world, but it is the -spirit of the investigating scientist which most often inhabits that -powerful, bulky, yet lightly poised body and looks out from those dark, -prophetic eyes; and from the point of view of the scientist, the world -asks too much when it demands from her that she give herself up to -normal teaching. For it must be apparent from the sketch of her present -position that she would need to give up her very life were she to -accede to all the requests for training teachers in her primary method, -since she is simply a private individual, has no connection with the -official educational system of her country, is at the head of no normal -school, gives no courses of lectures, and has no model schools of her -own to which to invite visitors. It is hard to believe her sad yet -unembittered statement that there is now in Rome not one primary school -which is entirely under her care, which she authorizes in all its -detail, which is really a “Montessori School.” There are, it is true, -some which she started and which are still conducted according to her -ideas in the majority of details, but not one where she is the leading -spirit. - -There are a variety of reasons, natural enough when one has once -taken in the situation, which account for this state of things, so -bewildering and disconcerting to those who have come from so far to -learn at headquarters about the new ideas. The Italian Government, -straining to carry the heavy burdens of a modern State, feels -itself unable to undertake a radical and necessarily very costly -reorganization of its schools, the teachers very naturally fear -revolutionary changes which would render useless their hard-won -diplomas, and carry on against the new system a secret campaign which -has been so far successful. Hence it happens that investigators coming -from across seas have the not unfamiliar experience of finding the -prophet by no means head of the official religion of his own country. - -In the other camp, fighting just as bitterly, are the Montessori -adherents, full of enthusiasm for her philosophy, devoting all -the forces at their command (and they include many of the highest -intellectual and social forces) to the success of the cause which they -believe to be of the utmost importance to the future of the race. It -can be seen that the situation is not orderly, calm, or in any way -adapted to dispassionate investigation. - -And yet people who have come from California and British Columbia -and Buenos Ayres to seek for information, naturally do not wish to -go back to their distant homes without making a violent effort to -investigate. What they usually try to do is to force from someone in -authority a card of admission either to the Montessori school held -in the Franciscan Nunnery on the Via Giusti, or to another conducted -by Signora Galli among the children of an extremely poor quarter of -Rome, or, innocent and unaware, in all good faith go to visit the -institutions in the model tenements, still called Case dei Bambini. -But Dr. Montessori’s relations with those schools ceased in 1911 as a -result of an unfortunate disagreement between Signor Talamo and herself -in which, so far as an outsider can judge, she was not to blame; and -those infant schools are now thought by impartial judges to be far -from good expositions of her methods, and in many cases are actual -travesties of it. Furthermore, Dr. Montessori has now no connection -with Signora Galli’s schools. This leaves accessible to her care and -guided by her counsels only the school held in the Franciscan nunnery, -which is directed by Signorina Ballerini, one of Dr. Montessori’s own -disciples, as the nearest approach to a school under her own control -in Rome. This is, in many ways, an admirable example of the wonderful -result of the Montessori ideas and is a revelation to all who visit it. -But even here, though the good nuns make every effort to give a free -hand to Signorina Ballerini, it can be imagined that the ecclesiastical -atmosphere, which in its very essence is composed of unquestioning -obedience to authority, is not the most congenial one for the growth -of a system which uses every means possible to do away with dogma of -any sort, and to foster self-dependence and first-hand ideas of things. -More than this, if this school admitted freely all those who wish to -visit it, there would be more visitors than children on many a day. - -It is not hard to sympathize with the searchers for information who -come from the ends of the earth, who stand aghast at this futile ending -of their long journey. And yet it would be the height of folly for the -world to call away from her all-important work an investigator from -whom we hope so much in the future. How can we expect her, against all -manner of material odds, to organize a normal school in a country with -a government indifferent, if not hostile to her ideas, to gather funds, -to rent rooms, to arrange hours, hire janitors, and lay out courses! - -But the proselytizer who lives in every ardent believer makes her as -unreconciled to the state of things as we are. She is regretfully aware -of the opportunity to spread the new gospel which is being lost with -every day of silence, distressed at the thought of sending the pilgrims -away empty-handed, and above all naturally distracted with anxiety lest -impure, misunderstanding caricatures of her system spread abroad in -the world as the only answer to the demand for information about it. -Busy as she is with the most absorbing investigations, Dr. Montessori -is willing to meet the world halfway. If those who ask her to teach -them will do the tangible, comparatively simple work of establishing an -Institute of Experimental Pedagogy in Rome, the Dottoressa, for all -her concentration on her further research, will be more than willing to -give enough of her time for making the school as wonderful, beautiful, -and inspiring as only a Montessori school can be. - -Our part should be to endeavor to learn from her what we can without -disturbing too much that freedom of life which is as essential to her -as to the children in her schools, to give generously to an Institute -of Experimental Pedagogy, and then freely allow her own inspiration to -shape its course. Surely the terms are not hard ones, and it is to be -hoped that the United States, with the genuine, if somewhat haphazard, -willingness to further the cause of education, which is perhaps our -most creditable national characteristic, will accept the offered -opportunity and divert a little of the money now being spent in America -on scientific investigation of every sort to this investigation so -vital for the coming generation. The need is urgent, the sum required -is not large, the opportunity is one in a century, and the end to be -gained valuable beyond the possibility of exaggeration, for, as Dr. -Montessori quotes at the end of the preface of her book, “Whoso strives -for the regeneration of education strives for the regeneration of the -human race.” - - NOTE.--Since this chapter was printed, I have heard the good news - that satisfactory arrangements have been made by the Montessori - American Committee with Dr. Montessori for a training class to be - held in Rome for American teachers. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -SOME LAST REMARKS - - -That there is little prospect of an immediate adoption in the United -States of Montessori ideas of flexibility and unhampered individual -growth is apparent to anyone who knows even slightly the hierarchic -rigidity of our system of education with its inexorable advance along -fixed fore-ordained lines, from the kindergarten through the primary -school, on through the high school to the Chinese ordeal of the college -entrance examination, an event which casts its shadow far down the line -of school-grades, embittering the intellectual activities and darkening -the life of teachers and pupils (even pupils who have not the faintest -chance of going to college) for years before the awful moment arrives. - -All really good teachers have always been, as much as they were -allowed to be, some variety of what is called in this book “Montessori -teacher.” But as the State and private systems of education have -swollen to more and more unmanageable proportions, and have settled -into more and more exact and cog-like relations with each other, -teachers have found themselves required to “turn out a more uniform -product,” a process which is in its very essence utterly abhorrent to -anyone with the soul of an educator. - -Our State system of education has come to such an exalted degree of -uniformity that a child in a third grade in Southern California can -be transported to a third grade in Maine, and find himself in company -with children being ground out in precisely the same educational -hopper he has left. His temperament, capacity, tastes, surroundings, -probable future and aspirations may be what you will, he will find all -the children about his age of all temperaments, tastes, capacities, -probable futures and aspirations practically everywhere in the United -States, being “educated” exactly as he was, in his original graded -school, wherever it was. School superintendents hold conferences of -self-congratulation over this “standardizing” of American education, -and some teachers are so hypnotized by this mental attitude on the -part of their official superiors, that they come to take pride in -the Procrustean quality of their schoolroom where all statures are -equalized, and to labor conscientiously to drive thirty or more -children slowly and steadily, like a flock of little sheep, with no -stragglers and no advance-guard allowed, along the straight road -to the next division, where another shepherdess, with the same -training, takes them in hand. There is a significant anecdote current -in school-circles, of an educator rising to address an educational -convention which had been discussing special treatment for mentally -slow and deficient children, and solemnly making only this pregnant -exclamation, “We have special systems for the deficient child, and the -slow child and the stupid child ... but _God help the bright child_!” - -Now it is only fair to state that this mechanical exactitude of program -and of organization has been in the past of incalculable service in -bringing educational order out of the chaos which was the inevitable -result of the astoundingly rapid growth in population of our country. -Our educational system is a monument to the energy, perseverance, and -organizing genius of the various educational authorities, city, county, -and state superintendents and so on, who have created it. But like all -other complicated machines it needs to be controlled by master-minds -who do not forget its ultimate purpose in the fascination of its -smoothly-running wheels. That there is plenty of the right spirit -fermenting among educators is evident. For, even along with the mighty -development of this educational machine, has gone a steadily increasing -protest on the part of the best teachers and superintendents, against -its quite possible misuse. - -Few people become teachers for the sake of the money to be made in that -business; it is a profession which rapidly becomes almost intolerable -to anyone who has not a natural taste for it; and, as a consequence -of these two factors, it is perhaps, of all the professions, the one -which has the largest proportion of members with a natural aptitude -for their lifework. With the instinctive right-feeling of human beings -engaged in the work for which they were born, a considerable proportion -of teachers have protested against the tacit demand upon them by the -machine organization of education, to make the children under their -care, all alike. They have felt keenly the essential necessity of -inculcating initiative and self-dependence in their pupils, and in many -cases have been aided and abetted in these heterodox ideas by more or -less sympathetic principals and superintendents; but the ugly, hard -fact remains, not a whit diminished for all their efforts, that the -teacher whose children are not able to “pass” given examinations on -given subjects, at the end of a given time, is under suspicion; and -the principal whose school is full of such teachers is very apt to -give way to a successor, chosen by a board of business-men with a cult -for efficiency. To advise teachers under such conditions to “adopt -Montessori ideas” is to add the grimmest mockery to the difficulties -of their position. All that can be hoped for, at present, in that -direction, is that the strong emphasis placed by the Montessori method -on the necessity for individual freedom of mental activity and growth, -may prove a valuable reinforcement to those American educators who are -already struggling along towards that goal. - -This general state of things in the formal education of our country is -one of the many reasons why this book is addressed to mothers and not -to teachers. The natural development of Montessori ideas, the natural -results of the introduction of “Children’s Homes” into the United -States, without this already existing fixed educational organization -convinced of its own perfection, would be entirely in accord with the -general, vague, unconscious socialistic drift of our time. Little by -little, various enterprises which used to be private and individual, -are being carried on by some central, expert organization. This is -especially true as regards the life of women. One by one, all the old -“home industries” are being taken away from us. Our laundry-work, -bread-making, sewing, house-furnishing, and the like, are all done -in impersonal industrial centers far from the home. The education of -children over six has already followed this general direction and is -less and less in the hands of the children’s mothers. And now here is -the Casa dei Bambini, ready to take the younger children out of our -yearning arms, and sternly forbidding us to protest, as our mothers -were forbidden to protest when we, as girls, went away to college, or -when trained nurses came in to take the care of their sick children -away from them, because the best interests of the coming generation -demand this sacrifice. - -But as things stand now, we mothers have a little breathing-space in -which to accustom ourselves gradually to this inevitable change in our -world. At some time in the future, society will certainly recognize -this close harmony of the successful Casa dei Bambini with the rest of -the tendencies of our times, and then there will be a need to address -a detailed technical book on Montessori ideas to teachers, for the -training of little children will be in their hands, as is already the -training of older children. - -And then will be completed the process which has been going on so long, -of forcing all women into labor suitable to their varying temperaments. -The last one of the so-called “natural,” “domestic” occupations will be -taken away from us, and very shame at our enforced idleness will drive -us to follow men into doing, each the work for which we are really -fitted. Those of us who are born teachers and mothers (for the two -words ought to mean about the same thing) will train ourselves expertly -to care for the children of the world, collected for many hours a day -in school-homes of various sorts. Those of us who have not this natural -capacity for wise and beneficent association with the young (and many -who love children dearly are not gifted with wisdom in their treatment) -will do other parts of the necessary work of the world. - -But that time is still in the future. At present our teachers can -no more adopt the utter freedom and the reverence for individual -differences, which constitute the essence of the “Montessori method,” -than a cog in a great machine can, of its own volition, begin to turn -backwards. And here is the opportunity for us, the mothers, perhaps -among the last of the race who will be allowed the inestimable delight -and joy of caring for our own little children, a delight and joy of -which society, sooner or later, will consider us unworthy on account of -our inexpertness, our carelessness, our absorption in other things, our -lack of wise preparation, our lack of abstract good judgment. - -Our part, during this period of transition, is to seize upon -regenerating influences coming from any source, and shape them -with care into instruments which will help us in the great task of -training little children, a complicated and awful responsibility, our -pathetically inadequate training for which is offset somewhat by our -passionate desire to do our best. - -We can collaborate in our small way with the scientific founder of -the Montessori method, and can help her to go on with her system -(discovered before its completion) by assimilating profoundly her -master-idea, and applying it in directions which she has not yet had -time finally and carefully to explore, such as its application to the -dramatic and æsthetic instincts of children. - -Above all, we can apply it to ourselves, to our own tense and troubled -lives. We can absorb some of Dr. Montessori’s reverence for vital -processes. Indeed, possibly nothing could more benefit our children -than a whole-hearted conversion on our part to her great and calm trust -in life itself. - - - - -INDEX - - - Adult analysis of children’s problems, 143, 147, 154. - - Animal training different from child training, 155. - - Apparatus: - Big stair, 72, 100. - Broad stair, 100. - Buttoning-frames, 13, 15, 55, 134. - Color spools, 73. - Explanation of, 99 ff. - Geometric insets, flat, 76. - Geometric insets, solid, 70. - How to use, 67 ff., 91, 92, 99. - Long stair, 100, 192. - The Tower, 71, 100. - - Age of children in Montessori schools, 8. - - Apathetic child, the, 41 ff. - - Arithmetic, beginnings of, 16, 100. - - - “Bad child,” the, treatment of, 32. - - Big stair, the. See Apparatus. - - Buttoning-frames. See Apparatus. - - - Democracy, basis of Montessori system, 118, 187. - - Discipline, 31, 141 ff. - - - Exercises, gymnastic, 146, 148; - for legs, 112; - for balance, 113, 115, 149. - - Exercises, sensory: - Baric, 65, 101. - Blindfolded, 17. - Color games, 74. - Color matching, 73. - Hearth-side seed-game, 110. - In dimension, 16. - In folding up, 107 ff. - Instinctive desire for, 52-54. - Not entire occupation of children, 68. - Simplicity of, 54. - In smelling, 64. - Tactile, 59, 60, 100, 115. - In tasting, 64. - By use of water, 150, 151. - By use of weights, 65, 101. - - - Family life, how affected by Montessori system, 121. - - Freedom, 31, 103, 118, 119, 123, 131. - - - Gardens, value of, in child-training, 201, 204. - - Geometric insets. See Apparatus. - - - Individuality, respect for, of Montessori system, 40, 93. - - Interest, a prerequisite to education, 30, 94 ff., 190. - - - Kindergarten compared with Montessori system, 20, 173, 179; - as to self-annihilation of teacher, 180; - as to absence of supervision, 180; - as to social life of children, 184; - as to overstimulation, 188, 189. - - - Lesson of silence, 43 ff. - - Long stair. See Apparatus. - - - Mental concentration, 143, 145. - - Music, 19. - - - New pupils, 37 ff. - - Number of pupils in Montessori school, 8. - - - Obedience, 155, 159, 161. - - Observation of children, necessity for, 92. - - Overstimulation, 188, 189. - - - Patience of children, 137, 138, 190. - - Plants, care of, for children, 202, 204. - - - Reading, 89. - - Responsibility, inculcation of, 34, 35, 69, 70, 136, 201. - - - School day, length of, 37. - - School-equipment, 8, 59. - - Self-control of children, 142, 144, 145. - - Self-dependence of children, 23, 102, 110, 133, 137, 156, 186. - - Slowness of children, 21, 135. - - Social life of children, 184, 206, 207. - - Supervision, absence of, 10, 102, 103, 180, 191, 193. - - - Theoretic basis of Montessori system, vi, 49, 56, 103, 120, 123,--see - also under Democracy, Freedom, Interest, Individuality, - Responsibility, Self-dependence. - - Touch, sense of, 57, 58; - exercises for,--see Exercises, Sensory. - - Tower, the. See Apparatus. - - - Writing, training for, beginnings of, 59; - theory underlying, 79 ff.; - alphabet, 82; - spontaneous writing, 84; - time required to learn, 87. - - - - -DOROTHY CANFIELD’S THE SQUIRREL-CAGE - -Illustrated by J. A. WILLIAMS. 4th printing. $1.35 net. - -This is, first of all, an unusually personal and real story of American -family life. - - “One has no hesitation in classing ‘The Squirrel-Cage’ with the - best American fiction of this or any season. Regarded merely as a - realistic story of social ambitions in a typical Ohio town, it has - all the elements of diversity, feeling, style, characterization and - plot to captivate almost any member of that large and growing public - which knows vital fiction from brummagem. The author has a moving - story to tell, and with a calm, sure art she tells it by stirring - our sympathies for the singularly appealing heroine. The characters - are all alive, well contrasted, wonderfully grouped.”--_Chicago - Record-Herald._ - - “She brings her chief indictment against the restless ambition of - the American business man, and the purposeless and empty life of the - American wife.... The story of a young girl’s powerlessness to resist - the steady pressure of convention.”--_Bookman._ - - “A remarkable story of American life to-day, worth reading and worth - pondering.... Her book is, first of all, a story, and a good one - throughout.”--_New York Tribune._ - - -BEULAH MARIE DIX’S THE FIGHTING BLADE - - By the author of “The Making of Christopher Ferringham,” “Allison’s - Lad,” etc. With frontispiece by GEORGE VARIAN. 3rd printing. $1.30 - net. - -The “fighting blade” is a quiet, boyish German soldier serving -Cromwell, who, though a deadly duelist, is at bottom heroic and -self-sacrificing. 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It is -to be remembered that all these statements about the necessity for -interest in the child’s mind refer only to _educative_ processes. -Occasions may arise when it is desirable that a child shall do -something which does not interest him--for instance, sit still in a -railway train until the end of the journey. But no one need think that -he will ever acquire a taste for this occupation through being forced -to it. - -[C] Postage on net books is 8% additional. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs: =bold=. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Montessori Mother, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MONTESSORI MOTHER *** - -***** This file should be named 61045-0.txt or 61045-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/0/4/61045/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Montessori Mother - -Author: Dorothy Canfield Fisher - -Release Date: December 29, 2019 [EBook #61045] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MONTESSORI MOTHER *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_0" id="Page_0"></a></span></p> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><i>Maria Montessori</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>A<br /> -MONTESSORI<br /> -MOTHER</h1> - -<p>BY<br /> - -<span class="large">DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER</span><br /> - -Author of “The Squirrel-Cage”</p> - -<p><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_titlelogo.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p>NEW YORK<br /> -<span class="large">HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY</span><br /> -1913</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="center"> -<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1912</span>,<br /> -<br /> -BY<br /> -<br /> -HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY<br /> -<br /> -Published October, 1912<br /> -<br /> -THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS<br /> -RAHWAY, N. J.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p class="center"> -<i>DEDICATED<br /> -BY PERMISSION<br /> -TO<br /> -<span class="large">MARIA MONTESSORI</span></i></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">PREFACE</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">On</span> my return recently from a somewhat prolonged -stay in Rome, I observed that my family and circle -of friends were in a very different state of mind from -that usually found by the home-coming traveler. I -was not depressed by the usual conscientious effort -to appear interested in what I had seen; not once did -I encounter the wavering eye and flagging attention -which are such invariable accompaniments to anecdotes -of European travel, nor the usual elated rebound -into topics of local interest after a tribute to -the miles I had traveled, in some such generalizing -phrase of finality as, “Well, I suppose you enjoyed -Europe as much as ever.”</p> - -<p>If I had ever suffered from the enforced repression -within my own soul of my various European experiences -I was more than indemnified by the reception -which awaited this last return to my native land. -For I found myself set upon and required to give -an account of what I had seen, not only by my -family and friends, but by callers, by acquaintances -in the streets, by friends of acquaintances, by letters -from people I knew, and many from those whose -names were unfamiliar.</p> - -<p>The questions they all asked were of a striking -similarity, and I grew weary in repeating the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> -answers, answers which, from the nature of the subject, -could be neither categorical nor brief. How -many evenings have I talked from the appearance of -the coffee-cups till a very late bedtime, in answer to -the demand, “Now, you’ve been to Rome; you’ve seen -the Montessori schools. You saw a great deal of Dr. -Montessori herself and were in close personal relations -with her. Tell us all about it. Is it really so -wonderful? Or is it just a fad? Is it true that the -children are allowed do exactly as they please? -I should think it would spoil them beyond endurance. -Do they really learn to read and write so young? -And isn’t it very bad for them to stimulate them so -unnaturally? And....” this was a never-failing -cry, “what is there in it for our children, situated -as we are?”</p> - -<p>Staggered by the amount of explanation necessary -to give the shortest answers that would be intelligible -to these searching, but, on the whole, quite misdirected -questions, I tried to put off my interrogators -with the excellent magazine articles which have appeared -on the subject, and with the translation of -Dr. Montessori’s book. There were various objections -to being relegated to these sources of information. -Some of my inquisitors had been too doubtful -of the value of the perhaps over-heralded new ideas -to take the trouble to read the book with the close -and serious attention necessary to make anything out -of its careful and scientific presentation of its theories. -Others, quite honestly, in the breathless whirl of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> -American business, professional and social life, were -too busy to read such a long work. Some had read -it and emerged from it rather dazed by the technical -terms employed, with the dim idea that something -remarkable was going on in Italy of which our public -education ought to take advantage, but without the -smallest definite idea of a possible change in their -treatment of their own youngsters. All had many -practical questions to put, based on the difference -between American and Italian life, questions which, -by chance, had not been answered in the magazine -articles.</p> - -<p>I heard, moreover, in varying degree, from all the -different temperaments, the common note of skepticism -about the results obtained. Everyone hung on -my first-hand testimony as an impartial eye-witness. -“You are a parent like us. Will it really work?” -they inquired with such persistent unanimity that the -existence of a still unsatisfied craving for information -seemed unquestionable. If so many people in -my small personal circle, differing in no way from -any ordinary group of educated Americans, were so -actively, almost aggressively interested in hearing -my personal account of the actual working of the new -system, it seemed highly probable that other people’s -personal circles would be interested. The inevitable -result of this reasoning has been the composition of -this small volume, which can claim for partial expiation -of its existence that it has no great pretensions -to anything but timeliness.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span>I have put into it, not only an exposition, as practical -as I can make it, of the technic of the method -as far as it lies within the powers of any one of us -fathers and mothers to apply it, but in addition I have -set down all the new ideas, hopes, and visions which -have sprung up in my mind as a result of my close -contact with the new system and with the genius who -is its founder. For ideas, hopes, and visions are as -important elements in a comprehension of this new -philosophy as an accurate knowledge of the use of -the “geometric insets,” and my talks with Dr. Montessori -lead me to think that she feels them to be -much more essential. Contact with the new ideas is -not doing for us what it ought, if it does not act as -a powerful stimulant to the whole body of our thought -about life. It should make us think, and think hard, -not only about how to teach our children the alphabet -more easily, but about such fundamental matters -as what we actually mean by moral life; whether we -really honestly wish the spiritually best for our children, -or only the materially best; why we are really -in the world at all. In many ways, this “Montessori -System” is a new religion which we are called -upon to help bring into the world, and we cannot aid -in so great an undertaking without considerable -spiritual as well as intellectual travail.</p> - -<p>The only way for us to improve our children’s -lives by the application of these new ideas is by meditating -on them until we have absorbed their very -essence and then by making what varying applications<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> -of them are necessary in the differing condition -of our lives. I have set down, without apology, my -own Americanized meditations on Dr. Montessori’s -Italian text, simply because I chance to be one of -the first American mothers to come into close contact -with her and her work, and as such may be of value to -my fellows. I have, however, honestly labeled and -pigeon-holed these meditations on the general philosophy -of the system, and set them in separate chapters -so that it should not be difficult for the most casual -reader to select what he wishes to read, without being -forced into social, philosophical, or ethical considerations. -I confess that I shall be greatly disappointed -if he takes too exclusive advantage of this -opportunity, for I quite agree with the Italian founder -of the system that its philosophical and ethical elements -are those which have in them most promise for a -new future for us all.</p> - -<p>Finally, in spite of all my excuses for the undertaking, -I seem to myself, now that I am fairly embarked -upon it, very presumptuous in speaking at -all upon such high and grave matters, fit only for -the sure and enlightened handling of the specialist. -But this is a subject differing from biology, physiological -psychology, and philosophy (although the -foundations of the system are laid deep in those sciences), -inasmuch as its usefulness to the race depends -upon its comprehension by the greatest possible number -of ordinary human beings. I hearten myself by -remembering that if it is not to remain an interesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span> -and futile theory, it must be, in its broad outlines at -least, understood and practised by just such people -as I am. We must all collaborate. And here is the -place to say that I consider this book a very tentative -performance; and that I will be very grateful for -suggestions from any of my readers which will help -to make a second edition more useful and complete.</p> - -<p>This volume of impressions, therefore, lays no -claim to erudition. It is not written by a biologist -for other biologists, by a philosopher for an audience -of college professors, or by a professional pedagogue -to enlighten school-superintendents. An ordinary -American parent, desiring above all else the best -possible chance for her children, addresses this message -to the innumerable legion of her companions in -that desire.</p> - -<p>Grateful acknowledgment is made to Miss M. I. -Batchelder and Miss Mary G. Gillmore, both of -the Horace Mann School, for helpful suggestions; -to Miss Anne E. George, who also read the manuscript; -to Dr. Maria Montessori’s book “The Montessori -Method” (Frederick A. Stokes Company, New -York); and to the House of Childhood, Inc., 200 -Fifth Avenue, New York, for the use of illustrations. -Dr. Montessori’s didactic apparatus is manufactured -and distributed by the House of Childhood, Inc.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2></div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - - -<tr><td class="tdr"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td> </td><td class="tdr"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td> </td><td><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">I.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Some Introductory Remarks About Parents</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_1"> 1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">II.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Day in a Casa dei Bambini</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_7"> 7</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">III.</td><td> <span class="smcap">More About What Happens in a Casa dei -Bambini</span> </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_29"> 29</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">IV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Something About the Apparatus and About -the Theory Underlying It</span> </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_48"> 48</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">V.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Description of the Rest of the Apparatus and -the Method for Writing and Reading</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_67"> 67</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">VI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Some General Remarks About the Montessori -Apparatus in the American Home</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_91"> 91</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">VII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Possibility of American Adaptations of, -or Additions to, the Montessori Apparatus</span> </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_105"> 105</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">VIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Some Remarks on the Philosophy of the -System</span> </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_117"> 117</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">IX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Application of This Philosophy to American -Home Life</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_127"> 127</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">X.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Some Considerations on the Nature of “Discipline”</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_141"> 141</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">XI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">More About Discipline, with Special Regard to -Obedience</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_153"> 153</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">XII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Difficulties in the Way of a Universal Adoption -of the Montessori Ideas</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_165"> 165</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">XIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Is There Any Real Difference Between the -Montessori System and the Kindergarten?</span> </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_171"> 171</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">XIV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Moral Training</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_195"> 195</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">XV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Dr. Montessori’s Life and the Origin of the -Casa dei Bambini</span> </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_210"> 210</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr" valign="top">XVI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Some Last Remarks</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_232"> 232</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td> </td><td><span class="smcap">Index</span></td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_239"> 239</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">ILLUSTRATIONS</h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - - -<tr><td>Maria Montessori</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_0"> <i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>The schoolroom in the convent of the Franciscan -nuns in the Via Giusti</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> page <a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>The meal hour </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>The morning clean-up </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Waiter carrying soup </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Exercises in practical life</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Building “the Tower” </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Buttoning-frames to develop co-ordinated movements -of the fingers and prepare the children for exercises -of practical life </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Solid geometrical insets </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>The broad stair </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>The long stair</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Insets which the child learns to place both by sight -and touch </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_78"> 78</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Tracing sandpaper letters</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Tracing geometrical design </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_86"> 86</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Training the “stereognostic sense”—combining -motor and tactual images </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Color boxes comprising spools of eight colors and -eight shades of each color </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Materials for teaching rough and smooth</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Counting boxes</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Insets around which the child draws, and then fills -in the outline with colored crayons </td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_188"> 188</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td>Word building with cut-out alphabet</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"> “ <a href="#Page_224"> 224</a></td></tr> -</table> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="chapter"> - -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span> - - - -<p class="ph1">A MONTESSORI MOTHER</p> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I<br /> - -<small>SOME INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ABOUT PARENTS</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap2">AN observation often made by philosophic observers -of our social organization is that the -tremendous importance of primary teachers is ridiculously -underestimated. The success or failure -of the teachers of little children may not perhaps -determine the amount of information acquired later -in its educative career by each generation, but no one -can deny that it determines to a considerable extent -the character of the next generation, and character -determines practically everything worth considering -in the world of men. Yet the mind of the average -community admits this but haltingly. The teachers of -small children are paid more than they were, but still -far less than the importance of their work deserves, -and they are still regarded by the unenlightened majority -as insignificant compared to those who impart -information to older children and adolescents, a class -of pupils which, in the nature of things, is vastly more -able to protect its own individuality from the character -of the teacher.</p> - -<p>But is there a thoughtful parent living who has not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -quailed at the haphazard way in which Fate has -pitchforked him into a profession greatly more important -and enormously more difficult? For it is not -quite fair to us to say that we chose the profession of -parent with our eyes open when we repeated the words -of the marriage service. It cannot be denied that -every pair of fiancs know that probably they will -have children, but this knowledge has about the same -degree of first-hand vividness in their minds that the -knowledge of ultimate certain death has in the mind -of the average healthy young person: there is as -little conscious preparation for the coming event in -the one case as in the other. No, we have some right -on our side, under the prevailing conditions of education -about the facts of life, in claiming that we are -tossed headlong by a force stronger than ourselves -into a profession and a terrifying responsibility which -many of us would never have had the presumption -to undertake in cold blood. We might conceivably -have undertaken to build railway bridges, even though -the lives of multitudes depended on them; we might -have become lawyers and settled people’s material affairs -for them or even, as doctors, settled the matter -of their physical life or death; but to be responsible to -God, to society, and to the soul in question for the -health, happiness, moral growth, and usefulness of a -human soul, what reflective parent among the whole -army of us has not had moments of heartsick terror -at the realization of what he has been set to do?</p> - -<p>I say “moments” advisedly, for it must be admitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -that most of us manage to forget pretty continually -the alarming possibilities of our situation. -In this we are imitating the curious actual indifference -to peril which, from time immemorial, has been observed -among those who are exposed to any danger -which is very long continued. The incapacity of -human nature to feel any strong emotion for a considerable -length of time, even one connected with the -supposedly sacrosanct instinct for self-preservation, -is to be observed in the well-worn examples of people -living on the sides of volcanoes, and of workers -among machinery, who will not take the most elementary -precautions against accidents if the precautions -consume much time or thought. Consequently -it is not surprising that, as a whole, parents -are not only not stricken to the earth by the responsibilities -of their situation, but as a class are singularly -blind to their duties, and oddly difficult to move -to any serious, continued consideration of the task -before them. This attitude bears a close relation to -the axiom which has only to be stated to win instant -recognition from any self-analyzing human being, -“We would rather lie down and die than <i>think</i>!” -We cannot, as a rule, be forced to think really, seriously, -connectedly, logically about the form of our -government, about our social organization, about how -we spend our lives, even about the sort of clothes we -wear or the food we eat,—questions affecting our comfort -so cruelly that they would make us reflect if anything -could. But we ourselves are the only ones to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -suffer from our refusal to use our minds fully and -freely on such subjects. It is intolerable that our -callous indifference and incurable triviality should -wreak themselves upon the helpless children committed -to our care. The least we can do, if we will not -do our own thinking, is to accept, with all gratitude, -the thinking that someone else has done for us.</p> - -<p>For there is one loop-hole of escape in our modern -world from this self-imprisonment in shiftless ways -of mental life, and that is the creation and wide diffusion -of the scientific spirit. There is apparently in -human nature, along with this invincible repugnance -to use reason on matters closely connected with our -daily life, a considerable pleasure in ratiocination if -it is exercised on subjects sufficiently removed from -our personal sphere. The man who will eat hot mince-pie -and rarebit at two in the morning and cry out -upon the Fates as responsible for the inevitable -sequence of suffering, may be, often is, in his chemical -laboratory, or his surgical practice, or his biological -research, an investigator of the strictest integrity -of reasoning.</p> - -<p>Reflection on this curious trait of human nature may -bring some restoration of self-respect to parents in -the face of the apparently astounding fact that most -of the great educators have been by no means parents -of large families, and a large proportion of them -have been childless. This but follows the usual eccentric -route taken by discoveries leading to the -amelioration of conditions surrounding man. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -not an inhabitant of a malarial district, driven to -desperation by the state of things, who discovered the -crime of the mosquito. That discovery was made by -men working in laboratories not in the least incommoded -by malaria. Hundreds of generations of devoted -mothers, ready and willing to give the last -drop of their blood for their children’s welfare, never -discovered that unscalded milk-bottles are like prussic -acid to babies. Childless workers in white laboratory -aprons, standing over test-tubes, have revolutionized -the physical hygiene of infancy and brought down the -death-rate of babies beyond anything ever dreamed -of by our parents.</p> - -<p>But let it be remembered as comfort, exhortation, -and warning to us that the greatest army of laboratory -workers ever financed by a twentieth-century -millionaire, would have been of no avail if the parents -of the babies of the world had not taken to scalding -the milk-bottles. Let us insist upon the recognition -of our merit, such as it is. We will not, apparently -we cannot, do the hard, consecutive, logical, investigating -thinking which is the only thing necessary in -many cases to better the conditions of our daily life; -but we are not entirely impervious to reason, inasmuch -as the world has seen us in this instance following, -with the most praiseworthy docility, the -teachings of those who have thought for us. The -milk-bottles in by far the majority of American homes -are really being scalded to-day; and “cholera -morbus,” “second summers,” “teething fevers,” and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -the like are becoming as out-of-date as “fever ’n’ -ague,” “galloping consumption,” and the like.</p> - -<p>The lessened death-rate among babies is not only -the most heartening spectacle for lovers of babies, -but for hopers and believers in the general advancement -of the race. This miraculous revolution in the -care of infants under a year of age has taken place -in less than a human generation. The grandparents -of our children are still with us to pooh-pooh our -sterilizings, and to look on with bewilderment while -we treat our babies as intelligently as stock-breeders -treat their animals. Let us take heart of grace. If -scientific methods of physical hygiene in the care of -children can be thus quickly inculcated, it is certainly -worth while to storm the age-old redoubts sheltering -the no less hoary abuses of their intellectual -and spiritual treatment.</p> - -<p>A scientist of another race, taking advantage of -the works of all the other investigators along the -same line (works which nothing could have induced -us to study), laboring in a laboratory of her own invention, -has been doing our hard, consecutive, logical, -investigating thinking for us. Let us have the grace -to take advantage of her discoveries, many of which -have been stumbled upon from time to time in a haphazard, -unformulated way by the instinctive wisdom -of experience, but the synthesis of which into a coherent, -usable system, with a consistent philosophical -foundation, has been left to a childless scientific investigator.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II<br /> - -<small>A DAY IN A CASA DEI BAMBINI</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">I HAD not seen a Montessori school when I first -read through Dr. Montessori’s book. I laid it -down with the mental comments, “All very well to -write about! But, of course, it can’t work anything -like that in actual practice. Everyone knows that a -child’s party of only five or six children of that age -(from two and a half to six) is seldom carried -through without some sort of quarrel, even though -an equal number of mothers are present, devoting -themselves to giving the tots exactly whatever they -want. It stands to reason that twenty or thirty children -of that tender age, shut up together all day long -and day after day, must, if they are normal children, -have a great many healthy normal battles with each -other!”</p> - -<p>After putting myself in a dispassionate and judicial -frame of mind by laying down these fixed preconceptions, -I went to visit the Casa dei Bambini in the -Franciscan Nunnery on the Via Giusti.</p> - -<p>I half turn away in anticipatory discouragement -from the task of attempting, for the benefit of American -readers, any description of what I saw there. -They will not believe it. I know they will not, because -I myself, before I saw it with my own eyes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -would have discounted largely the most moderate -statements on the subject. But even though stay-at-home -people in other centuries may have salted liberally -the tall stories of old-time travelers, they certainly -had a taste for hearing them; and so possibly -my plain account of what I saw that day may be read, -even though it be to the accompaniment of incredulous -exclamations.</p> - -<p>My first glimpse was of a gathering of about -twenty-five children, so young that several of them -looked like real babies to me. I found afterwards -that the youngest was just under three, and the oldest -just over six. They were scattered about over a -large, high-ceilinged, airy room, furnished with tiny, -lightly-framed tables and chairs which, however, by -no means filled the floor. There were big tracts of -open space, where some of the children knelt or sat on -light rugs. One was lying down on his back, kicking -his feet in the air. A low, cheerful hum of conversation -filled the air.</p> - -<p>As my companion and I came into the room I noticed -first that there was not that stiffening into self-consciousness -which is the inevitable concomitant of -“visitors” in our own schoolrooms. Most of the children, -absorbed in various queer-looking tasks, did not -even glance up as we entered. Others, apparently resting -in the intervals between games, looked over across -the room at us, smiled welcomingly as I would at a -visitor entering my house, and a little group near us -ran up with outstretched hands, saying with a pleasant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -accent of good-breeding, “Good-morning! -Good-morning!” They then instantly went off about -their own affairs, which were evidently of absorbing -interest, for after that, except for an occasional -friendly look or smile, or a momentary halt by my -side to show me something, none of the little scholars -paid the least attention to me.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_008fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">The School Room in the Convent of the Franciscan Nuns in the Via Giusti.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - - -<p>Now I myself, like all the American matrons of my -circle of acquaintances, am laboring conscientiously -to teach my children “good manners,” but I decided, -on the instant, nothing would induce me to collect -twenty children of our town and have a Montessori -teacher enter the room to be greeted by them. The -contrast would be too painful. These were mostly -children of very poor, ignorant, and utterly untrained -parents, and ours are children of people who -flatter themselves that they are the opposite of all -that; but I shuddered to think of the long silent, -discourteous stare which is the only recognition of -the presence of a visitor in our schools. And yet I -felt at once that I was attaching too much importance -to a detail, the merest trifle, the slightest, -most superficial indication of the life beneath. We -Anglo-Saxons notice too acutely, I thought, these surface -differences of manner.</p> - -<p>But, on the other hand, I was forced to consider -that I knew from bitter experience that children of -that age are still near enough babyhood to be absolutely -primeval in their sincerity, and that it is practically -impossible to make them, with any certainty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -of the result, go through a form of courtesy which -they do not feel genuinely. Also I observed that no -one had pushed the children towards us, as I push -mine, toward a chance visitor, with the command -accompanied by an inward prayer for obedience, “Go -and shake hands with Mrs. Blank.”</p> - -<p>In fact, I noticed it for the first time, there seemed -no one there to push the children or to refrain from -doing it. That collection of little tots, most of them -too busy over their mysterious occupations even to -talk, seemed, as far as a casual glance over the room -went, entirely without supervision. Finally, from a -corner, where she had been sitting (on the floor apparently) -beside a child, there rose up a plainly-dressed -woman, the expression of whose quiet face -made almost as great an impression on me as the -children’s greetings had. I had always joined with -heartfelt sympathy in the old cry of “Heaven help -the poor teachers!” and in our town, where we all -know and like the teachers personally, their exhausted -condition of almost utter nervous collapse by the -end of the teaching year is a painful element in our -community life. But I felt no impulse to sympathize -with this woman with untroubled eyes who, perceiving -us for the first time, came over to shake hands with -us. Instead, I felt a curious pang of envy, such as -once or twice in my sentimental and stormy girlhood -I felt at the sight of the peaceful face of a nun. -I am now quite past the possibility of envying the -life of a nun, but I must admit that it suddenly occurred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -to me, as I looked at that quiet, smiling Italian -woman, that somehow my own life, for all its full -happiness, must lack some element of orderliness, of -discipline, of spiritual economy which alone could -have put that look of calm certainty on her face. -It was not the passive, changeless peace that one sees -in the eyes of some nuns, but a sort of rich, full-blooded -confidence in life.</p> - -<p>She lingered beside us some moments, chatting with -my companion, who was an old friend of hers, and -who introduced her as Signorina Ballerini. I noticed -that she happened to stand all the time with her -back to the children, feeling apparently none of -that lion-tamer’s instinct to keep an hypnotic eye -on the little animals which is so marked in our instructors. -I can remember distinctly that there was -for us school-children actually a different feel to the -air and a strange look on the familiar school-furniture -during those infrequent intervals when the teacher -was called for an instant from the room and left us, -as in a suddenly rarefied atmosphere, giddy with the -removal of the pressure of her eye; but when this -teacher turned about casually to face the room again, -these children did not seem to notice either that she -had stopped looking at them or that she was now -doing it again.</p> - -<p>We used to know, as by a sixth sense, exactly -where, at any moment, the teacher was, and a sudden -movement on her part would have made us all start -as violently and as instinctively as little chicks at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -the sudden shadow of a hawk ... and this, although -we were often very fond indeed of our teachers. -Remembering this, I noticed with surprise that -often, when one of these little ones lifted his face -from his work to ask the teacher a question, he had -been so unconscious of her presence during his concentration -on his enterprise that he did not know -in the least where to look, and sent his eager eyes roving -over the big room in a search for her, which ended -in such a sudden flash of joy at discovering her that -I felt again a pang of envy for this woman who had so -many more loving children than I have.</p> - -<p>What could be these “games” which so absorbed -these children, far too young for any possibility of -pretense on their part? Moving with the unhampered, -unobserved ease which is the rule in a -Montessori schoolroom, I began walking about, looking -more closely at what the children were holding, -and I could have laughed at the simplicity of -many of the means which accomplished the apparent -miracle of self-imposed order and discipline before -me ... if I had not been ready to cry -at my own stupidity for not thinking of them myself. -One little boy about three and a half years -old had been intent on some operation ever since we -had entered the room, and even now as I drew near -his little table and chair, he only glanced up for an -instant’s smile without stopping the action of his -fingers. I leaned over him, hoping that the device -which so held his attention was not too complicated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -for my inexperienced, unpedagogical mind to take in. -He was holding a light wooden frame about eighteen -inches square, on which were stretched two pieces of -cotton cloth, meeting down the middle like the joining -of a garment. On one of these edges was a row of -buttonholes and on the other a row of large bone -buttons. The child was absorbed in buttoning and -unbuttoning those two pieces of cloth.</p> - -<p>He was new at the game, that was to be seen by the -clumsy, misdirected motions of his baby fingers, but -the process of his improvement was so apparent as, -his eyes shining with interest, he buttoned and unbuttoned -steadily, slowly, without an instant’s interruption, -that I watched him, almost as fascinated as -he. A child near us, apparently playing with blocks, -upset them with a loud noise, but my buttoning boy, -wrapped in his magic cloak of concentration, did not -so much as raise his eyes. I myself could not look -away, and as I gazed I thought of the many times a -little child of mine had tried to learn the secret of the -innumerable fastenings which hold her clothes together -and how I, with the kindest impulse in the -world, had stopped her fumbling little fingers saying, -“No, dear, Mother can do that so much better. Let -Mother do it.” It occurred to me now that the situation -was very much as if, in the midst of a fascinating -game of billiards, a professional player had -snatched the cue from my husband’s hands, saying, -“You just stand and watch me do this. I can do it -much better than you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>The child before me stopped his work a moment -and looked down at his little cotton waist. There -was a row of buttons there, smaller but of the same -family as those on the frame. As he gazed down, -absorbed, at them, I could see a great idea dawn in -his face. I leaned forward. He attacked the middle -button, using with startling exactitude of imitation -the same motion he had learned on his frame. -But this button was not so large or so well placed. -He had to bend his head over, his fingers were -cramped, he made several movements backward. But -then suddenly the first half of his undertaking was -accomplished. The button was on one side, the buttonhole -on the other. I held my breath. He set to -work again. The cloth slipped from his boneless -little fingers, the button twisted itself awry, I fairly -ached with the idiotic habit of years of interference to -snatch it and do it for him. And then I saw that he -was slowly forcing it into place. When the bone -disk finally shone out, round and whole, on the far -side of the buttonhole, the child drew a long breath -and looked up at me with so ecstatic a face of triumph -that I could have shouted, “Hurrah!” Then, -without paying any more attention to me, he rose, -sauntered over to a corner of the room where a thick -piece of felt covered the floor, and lay down on his -back, his hands clasped under his head, gazing with -tranquil, reposeful vacuity at the ceiling. He was -resting himself after accomplishing a great step forward. -I did not fail to notice that, except for my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -entirely fortuitous observation of his performance, -nobody had seen his absorption any more than they -now saw his apparent idleness.</p> - -<p>I tucked all these observations away in a corner of -my mind for future reflection, and moved on to the -nearest child, a little girl, perhaps a year older than -the boy, who was absorbed as eagerly as he over a -similar light wooden frame, covered with two pieces -of cloth. But these were fastened together with pieces -of ribbon which the child was tying and untying. -There was no fumbling here. As rapidly, as deftly, -with as careless a light-hearted ease as a pianist running -over his scales, she was making a series of the -flattest, most regular bow-knots, much better, I knew -in my heart, than I could accomplish at anything like -that speed. Although she had advanced beyond the -stage of intent struggle with her material, her interest -and pleasure in her own skill was manifest. She -looked up at me, and then smiled proudly down at -her flying fingers.</p> - -<p>Beyond her another little boy, with a leather-covered -frame, was laboriously inserting shoe-buttons -into their buttonholes with the aid of an ordinary -button-hook. As I looked at him, he left off, and -stooping over his shoes, tried to apply the same system -to their buttons. That was too much for him. -After a prolonged struggle he gave it up for the -time, returning, however, to the buttons on his frame -with entirely undiminished ardor.</p> - -<p>Next to him sat a little girl, with a pile of small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -pieces of money before her on her tiny table. She -was engaged in sorting these into different piles according -to their size, and, though I stood by her -some time, laughing at the passion of accuracy which -fired her, she was so absorbed that she did not even -notice my presence. As I turned away I almost -stumbled over a couple of children sitting on the floor, -engaged in some game with a variety of blocks which -looked new to me. They were ten squared rods of -equal thickness, of which the shortest looked to be a -tenth the length of the longest, and the others of -regularly diminishing lengths between these two extremes. -These were painted in alternate stripes of -red and blue, these stripes being the same width as -the shortest rod. The children were putting these -together in consecutive order so as to make a sort of -series, and although they were evidently much too -young to count, they were aiding themselves by touching -with their fingers each of the painted stripes, -and verifying in this way the length of the rod. I -could not follow this process, although it was plainly -something arithmetical, and turned to ask the teacher -about it.</p> - -<p>I saw her across the room engaged in tying a bandage -about a child’s eyes. Wondering if this were some -new, scientific form of punishment, I stepped to that -part of the room and watched the subsequent proceedings. -The child, his lips curved in an expectant smile, -even laughing a little in pleasant excitement, turned -his blindfolded face to a pile of small pieces of cloth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -before him. Several children, walking past, stopped -and hung over the edge of his desk with lively interest. -The boy drew out from the pile a piece of velvet. -He felt of this intently, running the sensitive tips of -his fingers lightly over the nap, and cocking his head -on one side in deep thought. The child-spectators -gazed at him with sympathetic attention. When he -gave the right name, they all smiled and nodded -their heads in satisfaction. He drew out another -piece from the big pile, coarse cotton cloth this time, -which he instantly recognized; then a square of satin -over which his little finger-tips wandered with evident -sensuous pleasure. His successful naming of this was -too much for his envious little spectators. They -turned and fled toward the teacher and when I reached -her, she was the center of a little group of children, -all clamoring to be blindfolded.</p> - -<p>“How they do love that exercise!” she said, looking -after them with shining eyes ... I could have -sworn, with mother’s eyes!</p> - -<p>“Are you too busy and hurried,” I asked, “to explain -to me the game those children are playing with -the red and blue rods?”</p> - -<p>She answered with some surprise, “Oh, no, I’m -not busy and hurried at all!” (quite as though we -were not all living in the twentieth century) and went -on, “The children can come and find me if they need -me.”</p> - -<p>So I had my first lesson in the theory of self-education -and self-dependence underlying the Montessori<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -apparatus, to the accompaniment of occasional -requests for aid, or demands for sympathy over -an achievement, made in clear, baby treble. That -theory will be taken up later in this book, as this -chapter is intended only to be a plain narration of a -few of the sights encountered by an ordinary observer -in a morning in a Montessori school.</p> - -<p>After a time I noticed that four little girls were -sitting at a neatly-ordered small table, spread with -a white cloth, apparently eating their luncheons. -The teacher, in answer to my inquiring glance at -them, explained that it was their turn to be the -waitresses that day, for the children’s lunch, and so -they ate their own meal first.</p> - -<p>She was called away just then, and I sat looking at -the roomful of busy children, listening to the pleasant -murmur of their chats together, watching them -move freely about as they liked, noting their absorbed, -happy concentration on their tasks. Already -some of the sense of the miraculous which had -been so vivid in my mind during my first survey of -the school was dulled, or rather, explained away. -Now that I had seen some of the details composing the -picture, the whole seemed more natural. It was not -surprising, for instance, that the little girl sorting the -pieces of money should not instead be pulling another -child’s hair, or wandering in aimless and potentially -naughty idleness about the room. It was not necessary -either to force or exhort her to be a quiet and -untroublesome citizen of that little republic. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -would no more leave her fascinating occupation to -go and “be naughty” than a professor of chemistry -would leave an absorbing experiment in his laboratory -to go and rob a candy-store. In both cases it -would be leaving the best sort of a “good time” for -a much less enjoyable undertaking.</p> - -<p>In the midst of these reflections (my first glimmer -of understanding of what it was all about), a lively -march on the piano was struck up. Not a word was -spoken by the teacher, indeed I had not yet heard her -voice raised a single time to make a collective remark -to the whole body of children, but at once, acting -on the impulse which moves us all to run down the -street towards the sound of a brass band, most of the -children stopped their work and ran towards the open -floor-space near the piano. Some of the older ones, -of five, formed a single-file line, which was rapidly -recruited by the monkey-like imitativeness of the little -ones, into a long file. The music was martial, the -older children held their heads high and stamped -loudly as they marched about, keeping time very accurately -to the strongly marked rhythm of the tune. -The little tots did their baby best to copy their big -brothers and sisters, some of them merely laughing -and stamping up and down without any reference to -the time, others evidently noticing a difference between -their actions and those of the older ones, and -trying to move their feet more regularly.</p> - -<p>No one had suggested that they leave their work-tables -to play in this way (indeed a few too absorbed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -to heed the call of the music still hung intently over -their former occupations), no one suggested that -they step in time to the music, no one corrected them -when they did not. The music suddenly changed from -a swinging marching air to a low, rhythmical croon. -The older children instantly stopped stamping and began -trotting noiselessly about on their tiptoes, imitated -again as slavishly as possible by the admiring -smaller ones. The uncertain control of their equilibrium -by these littler ones, made them stagger about, as -they practised this new exercise, like the little -bacchantes, intoxicated with rhythm, which their -glowing faces of delight seemed to proclaim them.</p> - -<p>I was penetrated with that poignant, almost tearful -sympathy in their intense enjoyment which children’s -pleasure awakens in every adult who has to -do with them. “Ah, what a <i>good</i> time they are -having!” I cried to myself, and then reflected that -they had been having some sort of very good time -ever since I had come into the room. And yet even -my unpractised eye could see a difference between this -good time and the kindergarten, charming as that is -to watch. No prettily-dressed, energetic, thoroughgoing -young lady had beckoned the children away -from their self-chosen occupations. There was no set -circle here with the lovely teacher in the middle, and -every child’s eyes fastened constantly on her nearly -always delightful but also overpoweringly developed -adult personality. There was no set “game” being -played, the discontinuation of which depended on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -teacher’s more or less accurate guess at when the -children were becoming tired. Indeed, as I reflected -on this, I noticed that, although the bigger ones were -continuing their musical march with undiminished -pleasure, the younger ones had already exhausted -the small amount of consecutive interest their infant -organisms are capable of, and, without spoiling the -fun for the others, indeed without being observed, -had suddenly stopped dancing and prancing as suddenly -as they began and, with the kitten-like fitfulness -of their age, were wandering away in groups of -two and three out to the great, open courtyard.</p> - -<p>I suppose they went on playing quieter games -there, but I did not follow them, so absorbed was I in -watching the four little girls who had now at last -finished their very leisurely meal and were preparing -the tables for the other children. They were about -four and a half and five years old, an age at which -I would have thought children as capable of solving a -problem in calculus as of undertaking, without supervision, -to set tables for twenty other babies. They -went at their undertaking with no haste, indeed with -a slowness which my racial impatience found absolutely -excruciating. They paused constantly for prolonged -consultations, and to verify and correct themselves -as they laid the knife, fork, spoon, plate, and -napkin at each place. Interested as I was, and beginning, -as I did, to understand a little of the ideas -of the school, I still was so under the domination of -my lifetime of over-emphasis on the importance of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -immediate result of an action, that I felt the same -impulse I had restrained with difficulty beside the -buttoning boy—to snatch the things from their incompetent -little hands and whisk them into place on -the tables.</p> - -<p>But then I noticed that the clock showed only a -little after eleven, and that evidently the routine of -the school was planned expressly so that there would -be no need for haste.</p> - -<p>The phrase struck my mental ear curiously, and -arrested my attention. I reflected on that condition -with the astonished awe of a modern, meeting it almost -for the first time. “No need for haste”—it -was like being transported into the timeless ease of -eternity.</p> - -<p>And then I fell to asking myself why there was -always so much need for haste in my own life and in -that of my children? Was it, after all, so necessary? -What were we hurrying so to accomplish? I remembered -my scorn of the parties of Cook’s tourists, clattering -into the Sistine Chapel for a momentary glance -at the achievement of a lifetime of genius, painted -on the ceiling, and then galloping out again for a -hop-skip-and-jump race down through the Stanze of -Raphael. It occurred to me, disquietingly, that possibly, -instead of really training my children, I might -be dragging them headlong on a Cook’s tour through -life. It also occurred to me that if the Montessori -ideas were taken up in my family, the children would -not be the only ones to profit by them.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_022fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Meal Hour.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>When I emerged from this brown study, the little -girls had finished their task and there stood before -me tables set for twenty little people, set neatly and -regularly, without an item missing. The children, -called in from their play in the courtyard, came -marching along (they do take collective action when -collective interests genuinely demand it) and sat down -without suggestions, each, I suppose, at the place he -had occupied while working at those same tiny tables. -I held my breath to see the four little waitresses enter -the room, each carrying a big tureen full of hot soup. -I would not have trusted a child of that age to carry -a glass of water across a room. The little girls advanced -slowly, their eyes fixed on the contents of -their tureens, their attention so concentrated on their -all-important enterprise that they seemed entirely oblivious -of the outer world. A fly lighted on the nose -of one of these solemnly absorbed babies. She twisted -the tip of that feature, making the most grotesque -grimaces in her effort to dislodge the tickling intruder, -but not until she had reached a table and set -down her sacred tureen in safety, did she raise her -hand to her face. I revised on the instant all my -fixed convictions about the innate heedlessness and -lack of self-control of early childhood; especially as -she turned at once to her task of ladling out the -soup into the plates of the children at her table, a -feat which she accomplished as deftly as any adult -could have done.</p> - -<p>The napkins were unfolded, the older children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -tucked them under their chins and began to eat their -soup. The younger ones imitated them more or less -handily, though with some the process meant quite -a struggle with the napkin. One little boy, only one -in all that company, could not manage his. After -wrestling with it, he brought it to the teacher, who -had dropped down on a chair near mine. So sure was -I of what her action inevitably would be, that I fairly -felt my own hands automatically follow hers in the -familiar motions of tucking a napkin under a child’s -round chin.</p> - -<p>I cannot devise any way to set down on paper -with sufficient emphasis the fact that she did not tuck -that napkin in. She held it up in her hands, showed -the child how to take hold of a larger part of the -corner than he had been grasping, and, illustrating -on herself, gave him an object-lesson. Then she gave -it back to him. He had caught the idea evidently, -but his undisciplined little fingers, out of sight there, -under his chin, would not follow the direction of his -brain, though that was evidently, from the grave intentness -of his baby face, working at top speed. -With a sigh, that irresistible sigh of the little child, -he took out the crumpled bit of linen and looked at it -sadly. I clasped my hands together tightly to keep -them from flying at him and accomplishing the operation -in a twinkling. Why, the poor child’s soup was -getting cold!</p> - -<p>Again I wish to reiterate the statement that the -teacher did not tuck that napkin in. She took it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -once more and went through very slowly all the -necessary movements. The child’s big, black eyes -fastened on her in a passion of attention, and I noticed -that his little empty hands followed automatically -the slow, distinctly separated, analyzed -movements of the teacher’s hands. When she gave -the napkin back to him, he seized it with an air of -resolution which would have done honor to Napoleon, -grasping it firmly and holding his wandering baby-wits -together with the aid of a determined frown. -He pulled his collar away from his neck with one -hand and, still frowning determinedly, thrust a large -segment of the napkin down with the other, spreading -out the remainder on his chest, with a long sigh of -utter satisfaction, which went to my heart. As he -trotted back to his place, I noticed that the incident -had been observed by several of the children near -us, on whose smiling faces, as they looked at their -triumphant little comrade, I could see the reflection -of my own gratified sympathy. One of them reached -out and patted the napkin as its proud wearer passed.</p> - -<p>But I had not been all the morning in that children’s -home, perfect, though not made with a mother’s -hands, without having my mother’s jealousy sharply -aroused. A number of things had been stirring up -protests in my mind. I was alarmed at the sight of -all these babies, happy, wisely occupied, perfectly -good, and learning unconsciously the best sort of -lessons, and yet in an atmosphere differing so entirely -from all my preconceived ideas of a home. All<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -this might be all very well for Italian mothers so poor -that they were obliged to leave their children in order -to go out and help earn the family living; or for English -mothers, who expect as a matter of course that -their little children shall spend most of their time with -nurse-maids and governesses. But I could not spare -my children, I told myself. I asked nothing better -than to have them with me every moment they were -awake. What was to be done about this ominously -excellent institution which seemed to treat the children -more wisely than I, for all my efforts? I felt an -uneasy, apprehensive hostility towards these methods, -contrasting so entirely with mine, for mine were, I -assured myself hotly, based on the most absolute, -supreme mother’s love for the child.</p> - -<p>I now turned to the teacher and said protestingly, -“That would have been a very little thing to do for -a child.”</p> - -<p>She laughed. “I’m not his nurse-maid. I’m his -teacher,” she replied.</p> - -<p>“That’s all very well, but his soup <i>will</i> be cold, you -know, and he will be late to his luncheon!”</p> - -<p>She did not deny this, but she did not seem as struck -as I was by the importance of the fact. She answered -whimsically, “Ah, one must remember not to obtrude -one’s adult materialism into the idealistic world of -children. He is so happy over his victory over -himself that he wouldn’t notice if his soup were -iced.”</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_026fptop.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Morning Clean-up.</span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_026fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Waiter Carrying Soup.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - - -<p>“But warm soup is a good thing, a very good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -thing,” I insisted, “and you have literally robbed -him of his. More than that, I seem to see that all -this insistence on self-dependence for children must -interfere with a great many desirable regularities of -family life.”</p> - -<p>She looked at me indulgently. “Yes, warm soup -is a good thing, but is it such a very important thing? -According to our adult standards it is more palatable, -but it’s really about as good food if eaten cold, isn’t -it? And, anyhow, he eats it cold only this once. -You’d snatch him away from his plate of warm soup -without scruple if you thought he was sitting in a -draught and would take cold. Isn’t his moral health -as important as his physical?”</p> - -<p>“But it might be very inconvenient for someone -else, in an ordinary home, to wait so interminably for -him to learn to wait on himself.”</p> - -<p>Her answer was a home-thrust. “If it’s too much -trouble to give him the best conditions at home, -wouldn’t he be better sent to a Casa dei Bambini, -which has no other aim than to have things just right -for his development?”</p> - -<p>This silenced me for a time. I turned away, but -was recalled by her remarking, “Besides, I’ve put him -more in the way of getting his soup hot from now on, -than you would, by tucking in his napkin and sending -him back at once. To-day’s plateful would have -been warm; but how about to-morrow and the day -after, and so on, unless you, or some other grown-up -happened to be at hand to wait on him. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -on my part, what could I do, if all twenty-five of the -children were helpless?”</p> - -<p>I seized on this opportunity to voice some of the -mother’s jealousy which underlay all my extreme admiration -and astonishment at the sights of the morning, -“If you didn’t keep such an octopus clutch on -the children, separating them all day in this way from -their own families, if they were sent home to eat their -luncheons, why, there would be mothers enough to go -around. <i>They</i> would be only too glad to tuck the -little napkins in!”</p> - -<p>The teacher looked at me, level-browed, and said, -with a dry, enigmatic accent which made me reflect -uneasily, long afterwards, on her words, “They certainly -would. Do you really think that would be an -improvement?”</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III<br /> - -<small>MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN A CASA DEI BAMBINI</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">OF course one day’s observations do not give even -a bird’s-eye view of all the operations of a -Montessori school, and this chapter is intended to -supplement somewhat the very incomplete survey of -the last and to touch at least, in passing, upon some -of the other important activities in which the children -are engaged. If this description seems lacking in continuity -and uniformity, it represents all the more -faithfully the impressions of an observer of a Casa -dei Bambini. For there one sees no trace of the -slightly Prussian uniformity of action to which we -are accustomed in even the freest of our primary -schools and kindergartens. You need not expect at -ten o’clock to hear the “ten-o’clock class in reading,” -for possibly on that day no child will happen to feel -like reading. You need not think that the teacher -will call up the star pupil to have him write for you. -He may be lying on the floor absorbed in an arithmetical -game and a Montessori teacher would as soon -blow up her schoolroom with dynamite as interfere -with the natural direction, taken for the moment by -the self-educating instincts of her children.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>In planning a visit to a Casa dei Bambini, you can -be sure of only one thing, not, however, an inconsiderable -thing, and that is that all the children will -be happily absorbed in some profitable undertaking. -It never fails. There are no “blue Mondays.” Rain -or shine outdoors, inside the big room there always -blows across the heart of the visitor a fine, tonic -breath of free, and hence, never listless life. On days -in winter when the sirocco blows, the debilitating -wind from Africa, which reduces the whole population -of Rome to inert and melancholy passivity, the children -in the Casa are perhaps not quite so briskly -energetic as usual in their self-imposed task of teaching -and governing themselves, but they are by far the -most briskly energetic Romans in the city.</p> - -<p>It is all so interesting to them, they cannot stop to -be bored or naughty. Just as one of our keen, -hungry-minded Yankee school-teachers, turned loose -for the first time in an historic European city, throws -herself with such fervor into the exploration of all -its fascinating and informing sights that she is astonished -to hear later that it was one of the hottest -and most trying summers ever known, so these equally -hungry-minded, healthy children fling themselves upon -the fascinating and informing wonders of the world -about them with such ardor that they are always -astonished when the long, happy day is done.</p> - -<p>The freedom accorded them is absolute, the only -rule being that they must not hurt or annoy others, -a rule which, after the first brief chaos at the beginning,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -when the school is being organized, is always -respected with religious care by these little citizens; -although to call a Montessori school a “little republic” -and the children “little citizens,” gives much too -formal an idea of the free-and-easy, happily unforced -and natural relations of the children with each other. -The phrase Casa dei Bambini is being translated -everywhere nowadays by English-speaking people as -“The House of Childhood,” whereas its real meaning, -both linguistic and spiritual, is, “The Children’s -Home.”</p> - -<p>That is what it is, a real home for <i>children</i>, where -everything is arranged for their best interests, where -the furniture is the right size for them, where there -are no adult occupations going on to be interrupted -and hindered by the mere presence of the children, -where there are no rules made solely to facilitate life -for grown-ups, where children, without incurring the -reproach (expressed or tacit) of disturbing their -elders, can freely and joyously, and if they please, -noisily, develop themselves by action from morning to -night. With the removal by this simple means of most -of the occasions for friction in the life of little children, -it is amazing to see how few, how negligibly -few occasions there are for naughtiness. The great -question of discipline which so absorbs us all, solves -itself, melts into thin air, becomes non-existent. Each -child gives himself the severest sort of self-discipline -by his interest in his various undertakings. He -learns self-control as a by-product of his healthy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -absorption in some fascinating pursuit, or as a result -of his instinctive imitation of older children.</p> - -<p>For instance, no adult was obliged to shout commandingly -to the little-girl waitress not to drop her -soup-tureen to brush the fly from her nose. She was -so filled with the pride of her responsible position -that she obeyed the same inner impulse towards self-control -which induces adult self-sacrifice. On the -other hand, the buttoning boy did not refrain by a -similar, violent effort of his will from snatching the -blocks from the arithmetical children. It simply -never occurred to him, so happily absorbed was he -in his own task.</p> - -<p>I asked, of course, the question which obsesses -every new observer in a Children’s Home, “But what -do you do, with all this fine theory of absolute freedom, -when a child <i>is</i> naughty? Sometimes, even if -not often, you surely must encounter the kicking, -screaming, snatching, hair-pulling ‘bad’ child!” I -was told then that the health of such a child is -looked into at once, such perverted violence being -almost certainly the result of deranged physical condition. -If nothing pathological can be discovered, -he is treated as a morally sick child, given a little -table by himself, from which he can look on at the -cheerful, ordered play of the schoolroom, allowed any -and all toys he desires, petted, soothed, indulged, -pitied, but (of course this is the vital point) severely -let alone by the other children, who are told that he -is “sick” and so cannot play with them until he gets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -well. This quiet isolation, with its object-lesson of -good-natured play among the other children, has a -hypnotically calming effect, the child’s “naughtiness” -for very lack of food to feed upon, or resistance -to blow its flames, disappears and dies away.</p> - -<p>This, I say, was the explanation given me at first, -but later, when I came to know more intimately the -little group of Montessori enthusiasts in Rome, I -learned more about the matter. One of my Montessori -friends told me laughingly, “We found that nobody -would believe us at all when we told the simple truth, -when we said that we never, literally never, do encounter -that hypothetical, ferociously naughty, small -child. They look at us with such an obvious incredulity -that, for the honor of the system, we had to -devise some expedient. So we ransacked our memories -for one or two temporary examples of ‘badness’ -which we met at first before the system was well -organized, and remembered how we had dealt with -them. Now, when people ask us what we do when the -children begin to scratch and kick each other, instead -of insisting that children as young as ours, when -properly interested, never do these things, we tell -them the old story of our device of years ago.”</p> - -<p>I have said that the real translation for Casa dei -Bambini is The Children’s Home, and I feel like insisting -upon this rendering, which gives us so much -more idea of the character of the institution. At -least, from now on, in this book, that English phrase -will be used from time to time to designate a Montessori<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -school. It is, for instance, their very own home -not only in the sense that it is a place arranged specially -for their comfort and convenience, but furthermore -a place for which they feel that steadying sense -of responsibility which is one of the greatest moral -advantages of a home over a boarding-house, a moral -advantage of home life which children in ordinary -circumstances are rarely allowed to share with their -elders. They are boarders (though gratuitous ones) -with their father and mother, and, as a natural consequence, -they have the remote, detached, unsympathetic -aloofness from the problem of running the -house which is characteristic of the race of boarders.</p> - -<p>In the Casa dei Bambini this is quite different. Because -it is their home and not a school, the hours are -very long, practically all the day being spent there. -The children have the responsibility not only for their -own persons, but for the care of their Home. They -arrive early in the morning and betake themselves at -once to the small washstands with pitchers and bowls -of just the size convenient for them to handle. Here -they make as complete a morning toilet as anyone -could wish, washing their faces, necks, hands, and -ears (and behind the ears!), brushing their teeth, -making manful efforts to comb their hair, cleaning -their finger-nails with scrupulous care, and helping -each other with fraternal sympathy. It is astonishing -(for anyone who had the illusion that she knew -child-nature) to note the contrast between the vivid -purposeful attention they bestow on all these processes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -when they are allowed to do them for themselves, -and the bored, indifferent impatience we all -know so well when it is our adult hands which are -doing all the work. The big ones (of five and six) -help the little ones, who, eager to be “big ones” -in their turn, struggle to learn as quickly as possible -how to do things for themselves.</p> - -<p>After the morning toilet of the children is finished, -it is the turn of the schoolroom. The fresh-faced, -shining-eyed children scatter about the big room, -with tiny brushes and dust-pans and little brooms. -They attack the corners where dust lurks, they dust -off all the furniture with soft cloths, they water the -plants, they pick up any litter which may have accumulated, -they learn the habit of really examining -a room to see if it is in order or not. One natural -result of this daily training in close observation of a -room is a much greater care in the use of it during -the day, a result the importance of which can be -certified by any mother who has to “pick up” after -a family of small children.</p> - -<p>After the room is fresh and clean, the “order of -exercises” is very flexible, varying according to circumstances, -the weather, the desire of the children. -They may perhaps sing a hymn together before dispersing -to their different self-chosen exercises with -the apparatus. Sometimes the teacher gives them -some exercises in manners, showing them how to rise -gracefully and quietly from their little chairs, how to -say good-morning; how to give and receive politely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -some object; how to carry things safely across the -room, etc., etc. Sometimes they all sit about the -teacher and have a talk with her, an exercise in ordinary -well-bred conversation which is sadly needed by -our American children, who are seldom, at least as -young as this, trained to express themselves in any -but trivial requests, or, as in the kindergarten, in repeating -stories. The teacher questions the children -about the happenings of their lives, about anything -of more general interest which they may have observed, -or on any topic which excites a general interest -which they may have observed. Of course, because she -is a Montessori teacher she does as little of this talking -as possible herself, confining herself to brief remarks -which may draw out the children. Such conversation -is of the greatest help to the fluency and correctness -of speech and to an early enriching of the -vocabulary, all important factors in the release of -the child from the prison of his baby limitations. -The habit of listening while others talk acquired in -these general morning conversations is also of incalculable -value, as is attested by the proverbial rarity -of the good listener even among adults.</p> - -<p>Of course the main business of the day is the use -of the apparatus, the different Montessori exercises, -and these soon occupy the attention of all the children. -With intervals of outdoor play in the courtyard -garden, care of the plants there, the morning -progresses till the lunch hour, which has been described. -After this, or indeed, whenever they feel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -sleepy, the smaller children take their naps, and they -do not go home until five or six o’clock in the afternoon, -having back of them a peaceful, harmonious -day, every instant of which has been actively, happily, -and profitably employed, and which has been full -from morning till night of goodwill and comradeship.</p> - -<p>From time to time it happens that a new brother -or sister is introduced into this big family, with its -rgime of perfect freedom from unnecessary restraint. -The behavior of children who are brought -into the school after the beginning of the school-year -is naturally extremely various, since they are -allowed then, as always, to express with perfect liberty -their own individualities. Some join at once, of -their own accord, in one or another of the interesting -“games” they see being played by the other children -already initiated, and in half an hour are indistinguishable -from the older inhabitants of that little -world, drawing their fingers alternately over sandpaper -and smooth wood to learn the difference between -“rough” and “smooth,” or delightedly matching the -different-colored spools of silk. Others, naturally -shy ones, naturally reserved ones, those who have been -rendered suspicious by injudicious home treatment, or -those who have naturally slow mental machines, hold -aloof for a time. They are allowed to do this as long -as they please. They are welcomed once smilingly, -and then left to their own devices.</p> - -<p>I remember, in the Via Giusti school, seeing for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -several days in succession a tiny girl, not more than -three, with wide, shy, fawn-eyes, sitting idle at a -little table, in the middle of the morning, with all her -wraps on. When I inquired the meaning of this very -unusual sight, the Directress told me that, apparently, -the child had something of the wild-animal terror of -being caught in a trap, and had indicated, terrified, -when her mother, on the first morning, tried to take -off her cap and cloak, that she wished to be free at -any moment to make her escape from these new and -untried surroundings. So her wraps were not removed, -she was allowed to sit near the door, which -was kept ajar, and not a look or gesture from the -Directress disturbed the reassuring isolation in which -that baby, by slow degrees, found herself and learned -her first lesson of the big world. I think she sat thus -for three whole days, at first starting nervously if -anyone chanced to approach her, with the painful, -apprehensive glare of the constitutionally timid child, -but little by little conquering herself.</p> - -<p>One day she reached over shyly for a buttoning -frame, left on the next table by a child who had -wandered off to other joys. She sat with this some -time, looking about suspiciously to see if some adult -were meditating that condescending swoop of patronizing -congratulation which is so offensive to the self-respecting -pride of a naturally reserved personality. -No one noticed her. Still glancing up with frequent -suspicious starts, she began trying to insert the buttons -in the buttonholes, and then, by degrees, lost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -herself, forgot entirely the tragic self-consciousness -which had embittered her little life, and with a real -“Montessori face,” a countenance of ardent, happy, -self-forgetting interest in overcoming obstacles, she -set definitely to work. After a time, finding that her -cape impeded her motions, she flung it off, taking -unconsciously the step into which, three days before, -only superior physical force could have coerced -her.</p> - -<p>I watched her through the winter with much interest, -her reticent, self-contained nature always marking -her off from the other little ones more or less, -and I rejoiced to see that all the natural manifestations -of her differing individuality were religiously -respected by the wise Directress. It was not long -before she was trotting freely about the room choosing -her activities with lively delight, and looking on -with friendly, though never very intimate, interest at -the doings of the other children. But it was months -before she cared to join at all in enterprises undertaken -in common by the majority of the pupils, the -rollicking file, for instance, which stamped about -lustily in time to the music. She watched them, half-astonished, -half-disapproving, wholly contented with -her own permitted aloofness, like a slim little greyhound -watching the light-hearted, heavy-footed antics -of a litter of Newfoundland puppies. At least one -person who saw her thanked Heaven many times -that a kind Providence had saved her from well-meaning -adult efforts to make her over according to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -Newfoundland pattern. Hers was a rare individuality, -the integrity of which was being preserved entire -for the future leavening of an all-too-uniform -civilization. For although the Montessori school furnishes -the best possible practical training for democracy, -inasmuch as every child learns speedily first -the joys of self-dependence and then the self-abnegating -pleasure of serving others, it is also preparing -the greatest possible amelioration of our present-day -democracy, by counteracting that bad, but apparently -not inevitable, tendency of democracy to a -dead level of uniform and characterless mediocrity. -The Casa dei Bambini proves in actual practice that -even the best interests of the sacred majority do -not demand that powerful and differing individualities -be forced into a common mould, but only -guided into the higher forms of their own natural -activities.</p> - -<p>This brief digression is an illustration of the way -in which every thoughtful observer in a Montessori -school falls from time to time into a brown study -which takes him far afield from the busy babies before -him. No greater tribute to the broadly human and -universal foundation of the system could be presented -than this inevitable tendency in visitors to see in the -differing childish activities the unchaining of great -natural forces for good which have been kept locked -and padlocked by our inertia, our short-sightedness, -our lack of confidence in human nature, and our deep-rooted -and unfounded prejudice about childhood, our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -instinctive, mistaken, harsh conviction that it will be -industrious, law-abiding, and self-controlled only -under pressure from the outside.</p> - -<p>It must be admitted that there is one variety of -child who is the mortal terror of Montessori teachers. -This is not the violently insubordinate child, because -his violence and insubordination at home only indicate -a strong nature which requires nothing but -proper activities to turn it to powerful and energetic -life. No, what reduces a Montessori teacher to -despair is a child like one I saw in a school for the -children of the wealthy, a beautiful, exquisitely attired -little fairy of four, whose lovely, healthful body -had been cared for with the most scientific exactitude -by trained nurses, governesses, and nurse-maids, and -the very springs of whose natural initiative and invention -seemed to have been broken by the debilitating -ministrations of all those caretakers. It is significant -that the teacher of this school admitted to me that -she found her carefully-reared pupils generally more -listless, more selfish, harder to reach, and harder to -stimulate than poor children; but the least prosperous -of us need not think that because we cannot afford -nurse-maids our children will fare better than those -of millionaires, for one too devoted mother can equal -a regiment of servants in crushing out a child’s initiative, -his natural desire for self-dependence, his -self-respect, and his natural instinct for self-education.</p> - -<p>The great point of vantage of a Montessori school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -over an ordinary school in dealing with these morally -starved children of too prosperous parents, is that it -catches them younger, before the pernicious habit of -passive dependence has continued long enough entirely -to wreck their natural instincts. Beside the beautiful -child of four with the sapped and weakened will-power -mentioned above, was an equally beautiful, exquisitely -dressed little tot of just three, whose glowing -face of happy energy provided the most welcome -contrast to the saddening mental torpor of the older -child, who, though naturally in every way a normal -little girl, stood hopelessly apathetic before all the -fascinating lures to her invention which the Montessori -apparatus spread before her. The little girl -of three, without a word from the teacher, regulated -for herself a busy, profitable, happy, purposeful life, -getting out one piece of apparatus after another, -“playing” with it until her fresh interest was gone, -putting it away, and falling with equal ardor upon -something else. The older child regarded her with the -curious passive wonder of a Hindu when he sees us -Occidentals getting our fun out of dancing and engaging -in various active sports ourselves instead of -reclining upon pillows to watch other people paid -thus to exert themselves. She was given a choice of -geometric insets, and provided with colored pencils -and a big sheet of paper, baits which not even an -idiot child can resist, and, sitting uninventive before -this delightful array, remarked with a polite indifference -that she was used to having people draw pictures<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -for her. The poor child had acquired the habit of -having somebody else do even her playing.</p> - -<p>In the face of this melancholy sight, I was comforted -by the teacher’s hopeful assurance that the -child had made some advance since the beginning of -the school, and showed some signs that intellectual -activity was awakening naturally under the well-nigh -irresistible stimulus of the Montessori apparatus.</p> - -<p>One exception to the general truth that the children -in a Montessori school do not take concerted action -is in the “lesson of silence.” This is often mentioned -in accounts of the Casa dei Bambini, but it is so important -that it may perhaps be here described again. -It originated as a lesson for one of the senses, hearing, -but though it undoubtedly is an excellent exercise for -the ears it has a moral effect which is more important. -It is certainly to visitors one of the most impressive -of all the impressive sights to be seen in -the Children’s Home.</p> - -<p>One may be moving about between the groups of -busy children, or sitting watching their lively animation -or listening to the cheerful hum of their voices, -when one feels a curious change in the atmosphere -like the hush which falls on a forest when the sun -suddenly goes behind a cloud. If it is the first time -one has seen this “lesson,” the effect is startling. A -quick glance around shows that the children have -stopped playing as well as talking, and are sitting -motionless at their tables, their eyes on the blackboard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -where in large letters is written “Silenzio” -(Silence). Even the little ones who cannot read, follow -the example of the older ones, and not only sit -motionless, but look fixedly at the magic word. The -Directress is visible now, standing by the blackboard -in an attitude and with an expression of tranquillity -which is as calming to see as the meditative impassivity -of a Buddhist priest. The silence becomes more -and more intense. To untrained ears it seems absolute, -but an occasional faint gesture or warning -smile from the Directress shows that a little hand has -moved almost but not quite inaudibly, or a chair -has creaked.</p> - -<p>At first the children smile in answer, but soon, -under the hypnotic peace of the hush which lasts minute -after minute, even this silent interchange of loving -admonition and response ceases. It is now evident -from the children’s trance-like immobility that -they no longer need to make an effort to be motionless. -They sit quiet, rapt in a vague, brooding reverie, -their busy brains lulled into repose, their very souls -looking out from their wide, vacant eyes. This expression -of utter peace, which I never before saw on a -child’s face except in sleep, has in it something profoundly -touching. In that matter-of-fact, modern -schoolroom, as solemnly as in shadowy cathedral -aisles, falls for an instant a veil of contemplation, -between the human soul and the external realities of -the world.</p> - -<p>And then a real veil of twilight falls to intensify<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -the effect. The Directress goes quietly about from -window to window, closing the shutters. In the ensuing -twilight, the children bow their heads on their -clasped hands in the attitude of prayer. The -Directress steps through the door into the next room -and a slow voice, faint and clear, comes floating back, -calling a child’s name.</p> - -<p>“El...e...na!”</p> - -<p>A child lifts her head, opens her eyes, rises as -silently as a little spirit, and with a glowing face of -exaltation, tiptoes out of the room, flinging herself -joyously into the waiting arms.</p> - -<p>The summons comes again, “Vit...to...ri...o!”</p> - -<p>A little boy lifts his head from his desk, showing -a face of sweet, sober content at being called, and -goes silently across the big room, taking his place by -the side of the Directress. And so it goes until perhaps -fifteen children are clustered happily about the -teacher. Then, as informally and naturally as it -began, the “game” is over. The teacher comes back -into the room with her usual quiet, firm step; light -pours in at the windows; the mystic word is erased -from the blackboard. The visitor is astonished to -see that only six or seven minutes have passed since -the beginning of this new experience. The children -smile at each other, and begin to play again, perhaps -a little more quietly than before, perhaps more gently, -certainly with the shining eyes of devout believers -who have blessedly lost themselves in an instant of -rapt and self-forgetting devotion.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>And, in a sense, they too have been to church. This -modern scientific Roman woman-doctor, who probably -never heard of William Penn, has rediscovered the -mystic joys of his sect, and has appropriated to her -system one of the most beneficial elements of the -Quaker Meeting.</p> - -<p>Before seeing this “lesson of silence” one does not -realize that there is a lack in the world of the Casa -dei Bambini. After seeing it one feels instantly that -it is an essential element, this brief period of perfect -repose from the mental activity which, though unstimulated, -is practically incessant; this brief excursion -away from all the restless, shifting, rapid things -of the world into the region of peace and calm and -immobility. And yet who of us, without seeing this -in actual practice, would ever have dreamed that little -children would care for such an exercise, would submit -to it for an instant, much less throw themselves into -it with all the ardor of little Yogis, and emerge from -it sweeter, more obedient, calmed, and gentler as from -a tranquilizing prayer? Sometimes, once in a day -is not enough for them, and later they ask of their -own accord to have this experience repeated. Their -pleasure in it is inexpressible. The expression which -comes over their little faces when, in the midst of their -busy play, they feel the first hush fall about them is -something never to be forgotten.</p> - -<p>It makes one feel a sort of envy of these children -who are so much better understood than we were at -their age. And the fact that our own hearts are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -somehow calmed and refreshed by this bath of silent -peace makes one wonder if we are not all of us still -children enough to benefit by many of the habits of -life taught there, to profit by the adaptation to our -adult existence of some of the principles underlying -this scheme of education for babies.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV<br /> - -<small>SOMETHING ABOUT THE APPARATUS AND ABOUT THE THEORY UNDERLYING IT</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap2">AS I look at the title of this chapter before setting -to work on it, the sight of the word “Theory” -makes me apprehensively aware that I am stepping -down into very deep water without any great confidence -in my powers as a swimmer. But I recall -again the reflection which has buoyed me up more -than once in the composition of these unscientific impressions, -namely that I am addressing an audience -no more scientific than I am, an audience of ordinary, -fairly well educated American parents. Furthermore -I am convinced that my book can do no -more valuable service than if by the tentative incompleteness -of its account it drives every reader to the -study of the system in Dr. Montessori’s own carefully -written treatise.</p> - -<p>It is always, I believe, essential to an understanding -of any educational system to comprehend first of all -the underlying principle before going on to its adaptation -to actual conditions. This adaptation naturally -varies as the actual conditions vary, and should -change in many details if it is to embody faithfully, -under differing conditions, the fundamental principle. -But the master idea in every system is unvarying,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -eternal, and it should be stated, studied, and grasped, -before any effort is made to learn the details of its -practical application. A statement of this fundamental -principle will be found in different phrasings, -several times in the course of this book, because it is -essential not only to learn it once, but to bear it constantly -in mind. <i>Any attempt to use the Montessori -apparatus or system by anyone who does not fully -grasp or is not wholly in sympathy with its bed-rock -idea, results inevitably in a grotesque, tragic -caricature of the method</i>, such a farcical spectacle as -we now see the attempt to Christianize people by -forcible baptism to have been.</p> - -<p>The central idea of the Montessori system, on -which every smallest bit of apparatus, every detail -of technic rests solidly, is a full recognition of the -fact that no human being can be educated by anyone -else. He must do it himself or it is never done. And -this is as true at the age of three as at the age of -thirty; even truer, for the man of thirty is at least -as physically strong as any self-proposed mentor is -apt to be, and can fight for his own right to chew -and digest his own intellectual food.</p> - -<p>It can be readily seen how this dominating idea -changes completely the old-established conditions in -the schoolroom, turning the high light from the -teacher to the pupil. Since the child can really be -taught nothing by the teacher, since he himself must -do every scrap of his own learning, it is upon the -child that our attention centers. The teacher should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -be the all-wise observer of his natural activity, giving -him such occasional quick, light-handed guidance as -he may for a moment need, providing for him in the -shape of the ingenious Montessori apparatus stimuli -for his intellectual life and materials which enable him -to correct his own mistakes; but, by no means, as -has been our old-time notion, taking his hand in hers -and leading him constantly along a fixed path, which -she or her pedagogical superiors have laid out beforehand, -and into which every childish foot must be -either coaxed or coerced.</p> - -<p>We have admitted the entire validity of this theory -in physical life. We no longer send our children for -their outdoor exercise bidding them walk along the -street, holding to Nurse’s hand like little ladies and -gentlemen. If we can possibly manage it we turn -them loose with a sandpile, a jumping-rope, hoops, -balls, bats, and other such stimuli to their natural -instinct for vigorous body-developing exercise. And -we have a “supervisor” in our public playgrounds -only to see that children are rightly started in their -use of the different games, not at all to play every -game with them. We do this nowadays because we -have learned that little children are so devoted to -those exercises which tend to increase their bodily -strength that they need no urging to engage in them. -The Montessori child, analogously, is allowed and -encouraged to let go the hand of his mental nurse, to -walk and run about on his own feet, and an almost -endless variety of stimuli to his natural instinct for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -vigorous mind-developing, intellectual exercise is -placed within his reach.</p> - -<p>The teacher, under this system, is the scientific, observing -supervisor of this mental “playground” -where the children acquire intellectual vigor, independence, -and initiative as spontaneously, joyfully, -and tirelessly as they acquire physical independence -and vigor as a by-product of physical play. We have -long realized that children do not need to be driven -by force, or even persuaded, to take the amount -of exercise necessary to develop their growing bodies. -Indeed the difficulty has been to keep them from doing -it so continuously as to interfere with our sedentary -adult occupations and tastes. We have learned that -all we need to do is to provide the jumping-rope and -then leave the child alone with other children. The -most passionately inspired pedagogue can never learn -to skip rope for a child, any more than in after years -he can ever learn the conjugation of a single irregular -verb for a pupil. The learner must do his own -learning, and, this granted, it follows naturally that -the less he is interfered with by arbitrary restraint -and vexatious, unnecessary rules, the more quickly -and easily he will learn. An observation of the typical, -joyfully busy child in a Casa dei Bambini furnishes -more than sufficient proof that he enjoys acquiring -mental as well as physical agility and strength, and -asks nothing better than a fair and unhindered chance -at this undertaking.</p> - -<p>But even when this deep-laid foundation principle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -of self-education has been grasped, all is not plain -sailing for the adventurer on the Montessori ocean. -A set of theories relating to such complicated organisms -as human beings, cannot in the nature of things -be of primer-like simplicity. For my own convenience -I very soon made two main divisions of the different -branches on which the Montessori system is developed -out of its central main idea. One division, the practical, -is made up of theories based on acute, scientific -knowledge of the child’s body, his muscles, brain, -and nerves, such as only a doctor and a physiological -psychologist combined can have. The second division -is made up of theories based on the spiritual nature of -man, as disclosed by the study of history, by unbiased -direct observation of present-day society, and by that -divining fervor of enthusiastic reverence for the element -of perfectibility in human nature which has always -characterized founders of new religions.</p> - -<p>This chapter is to be devoted to the narration of -what a person, neither a doctor nor a physiological -psychologist, was able to understand of the first -division.</p> - -<p>I think the first point which struck me especially -was the insistence on the fact that very little children -have no greater natural interest than in learning how -to do something with their bodies. We all know how -much more fascinating a place our kitchens seem to -be for our little children than our drawing-rooms. I -have heard this inevitable gravitation towards those -back regions of the house accounted for on the theory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -the “children seem to like servants better than other -people. There seems to be some sort of natural -affinity between a child and a cook.” One morning -spent in the Casa dei Bambini showed me the true -reason. Children like cooks and chamber-maids -better than callers in the parlor, because servants -are always doing something imitable; and they like -kitchens and pantries better than drawing-rooms because -the drawing-room is a museum full of objects, -interesting it is true, but inclosed in the padlocked -glass-case of the command, “Now, don’t touch!” -while the kitchen is a veritable treasure-house of Montessori -apparatus.</p> - -<p>The three-year-old child who, eluding pursuit from -the front of the house, sits down on the kitchen floor -with a collection of cookie-cutters of different shapes -in his lap, and amuses himself by running his fingers -around their edges, is engaged in a true “stereognostic -exercise” as it is alarmingly dubbed in scientific -nomenclature. If there is a closet of pots and pans, -and he has time before he is dragged off to clean -clothes and the vacuity of adult-invented toys, to -fit the right covers to the pots and see which pan -goes inside which, he has gone through a “sensory -exercise for developing his sense of dimension.” If he -is struck by the fact that the package of oatmeal, -although so large, weighs less than the smaller bag of -salt, he has been initiated into a “baric exercise”; -while if there are some needles of ice left on the floor -by a careless iceman, with these and a permitted dabbling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -in warm dishwater, he unconsciously invents -for himself a “thermic exercise.” If the cook is indulgent -or too busy to notice, there may be added to -these interests the creative rapture to be evolved -from a lump of dough, or a fumbling attempt to -fathom the mysterious inwardness of a Dover egg-beater.</p> - -<p>I have heard it said of the Montessori method that -a system of education accomplished with such simple -everyday means could scarcely claim that it is either -anything new or the discovery of any one person. -It seems to me that is about like denying any novelty -to the discovery that pure air will cure consumption. -The pure air has always been there, consumptives -have had nothing to do but to breathe it to get well, -but the doctors who first drove that fact into our impervious -heads deserve some credit and can certainly -claim that they were innovators with their descent -upon the stuffy sickrooms and their command to open -the windows.</p> - -<p>Children from time immemorial have always done -their best, struggling bravely against the tyranny of -adult good intentions, to educate themselves by training -their senses in all sorts of sense exercise. They -have always been (generations of exasperated -mothers can bear witness to it!) “possessed” to -touch and handle all objects about them. What Dr. -Montessori has done is to appear suddenly, like the -window-breaking doctors, and to cry to us, “Let -them do it!” Or rather, to suggest something better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -for them to touch and handle since it is neither necessary -nor desirable that one’s three-year-old should -perfect his sense of form either on one’s cherished -Svres vase or on a more or less greasy cooking -utensil. Nor has he that perverse fondness for the -grease of the kettle, or that wicked joy in the destruction -of valuable bric--brac which our muddle-headed -observation has led us to attribute to him. Those are -merely fortuitous, and for him negligible, accompaniments -to the process of learning how to distinguish -accurately different forms. Dr. Montessori assures -us, and proves her assertion, that his sole interest is -in the varying shapes of the utensils he handles, and -that if he is given cleaner, lighter articles with more -interesting shapes, he requires no urging to turn to -them from his greasy and heavy pots and pans.</p> - -<p>Bearing in mind, therefore, the humble and familiar -relatives of the Montessori apparatus to be -found in our own kitchens and dining-rooms, let us -look at it a little more in detail.</p> - -<p>The buttoning-frames have been described (page -13). One’s invention can vary them nearly to infinity. -In the Casa dei Bambini there are these -frames arranged for buttons and buttonholes, for -hooks and eyes, for lacings, patent snap-fasteners, -ribbon-ends to tie, etc., etc. The aim of this exercise -is so apparent that it is scarcely necessary to mention -it, except for the constant temptation of a child-lover -before the Montessori apparatus to see in it -only the most enchanting diversion for a child, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -amuses him, though so simply, far more than the -most elaborate of mechanical toys. But, and here is -where our wool-gathering wits must learn a lesson -from purposeful forethought: we should never forget -that <i>there is no smallest item in the Montessori training -which is intended merely to amuse the child</i>. He -is given these buttoning-frames not because they fascinate -him and keep him out of mischief, but because -they help him to learn to handle, more rapidly than -he otherwise would, the various devices by which his -clothes and shoes are held together, on his little -body. As for the profound and vitally important -reason why he should be taught and allowed as soon -as possible to dress himself, that will be treated in -the discussion of the philosophical side of this baby-training -(page 129 ff.).</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_056fptop.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Exercises in Practical Life.</span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_056fpbottom.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Building “the Tower.”</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>It is apparent, of course, that the blindfolded child -who was identifying the pieces of different fabrics -was training his sense of touch. The sight of this -exercise reminds the average person with a start of -surprise that he too was born with a sense of touch -which might have been cultivated if anyone had -thought of it; for most of us, by the enormity of our -neglect of our five senses, reduce them, for all practical -purposes to two, sight and hearing, and distrust -any information which comes to us by other -means. Our complacency under this self-imposed -deprivation is astonishing. It is as if a man should -wear a patch over one eye because he is able to see -with one and thinks it not worth while to use two.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -Now, it is apparent that our five senses are our only -means of conveying information to our brains about -the external world which surrounds us, and it is -equally apparent that to act wisely and surely in the -world, the brain has need of the fullest and most accurate -information possible. Hence it is a foregone -conclusion, once we think of it at all, that the education -of all the senses of a child to rapidity, agility, -and exactitude is of great importance, not at all for -the sake of the information acquired at the time -by the child, but for the sake of the five, finely -accurate instruments which this education puts under -his control. The child who was identifying the different -fabrics was blindfolded to help him concentrate -his sense of touch on the problem and not aid -this sense or mislead it, as we often do, with his sight.</p> - - - - -<p>It may be well here to set down a few facts about -the relative positions of the senses of touch and of -sight, facts which are not known to many of us, and -the importance of which is not realized by many who -happen to know them. Everyone knows, to begin -with, that a new-born baby’s eyes, while physically -perfect, are practically useless, and that the ability -to see with them accurately comes very gradually. It -seems that it comes much more gradually than the -people usually in charge of little children have ever -known, and that, roughly speaking, up to the age of -six, children need to have their vision reinforced by -touch if, without great mental fatigue, they are to -get an accurate conception of the objects about them.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>It appears furthermore that, as if in compensation -for this slow development of vision, the sense of -touch is extraordinarily developed in young children. -In short, that the natural way for little ones to -learn about things is to touch them. Dr. Montessori -found that the finger-tips of little children -are extremely sensitive, and she claims that there is -no necessity, granted proper training, why this valuable -faculty, only retained by most adults in the -event of blindness, should be lost so completely in -later life.</p> - -<p>Now it is plain to be seen that we adults, with our -fixed habit of learning about things from looking at -them, have, in neglecting this means of approach to -the child-brain, been losing a golden opportunity. -If children learn more quickly and with less fatigue -through their fingers than through their eyes, why -not take advantage of this peculiarity—a peculiarity -which extends even more vividly to child-memory, for -it is established beyond question that a little child -can remember the “feel” of a given object much -more accurately and quickly than the look of it. It -is easy to understand, once this explanation is given, -the great stress that is laid, in Montessori training, on -the different exercises for developing and utilizing -the sense of touch.</p> - -<p>One of the first things a child just admitted to a Casa -dei Bambini is taught is to keep his hands scrupulously -clean, because we can “touch things better” -with clean finger-tips than with dirty ones. And, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -course, he is allowed to take the responsibility of -keeping his own hands clean, and encouraged to do it -by the presence of the little dainty washstands, just -the right height for him, supplied with bowl, pitcher, -etc., just the right size for him to handle. The joy -of the children in these simple little washstands, and -their deft, delighted, frequent use of them is a reproach -to us for not furnishing such an easily secured -amelioration in the life of every one of our babies.</p> - -<p>The education of the sense of touch, like all the -Montessori exercises for the senses, begins with a few -simple and strongly contrasting sensations and proceeds -little by little, to many only very slightly -differing sensations, following the growth of the -child’s ability to differentiate. The child with clean -finger-tips begins, therefore, with the first broad distinction -between rough and smooth. He is taught to -pass his finger-tips lightly, first over a piece of sandpaper, -and then over a piece of smoothly polished -wood, or glossy enameled paper, and is told briefly, -literally in two words, the two names of those two -abstract qualities.</p> - -<p>Here, in passing, with the first mention of this -sort of exercise, it should be stated that the children -are taught to make these movements of the hand -and all others like them <i>always</i> from left to right, so -that a muscular habit will be established which will -aid them greatly later when they come to “feel” -their letters, which are, of course, always written -from left to right.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>The children are encouraged to keep their eyes -closed while they are “touching” things, because -they can concentrate their attention in this way. -And here another general observation should be -made: that in the Montessori language “touching” -does not mean the brief haphazard contact of hand -with object which we usually mean, but a systematic -examination of an object by the finger-tips such as a -blind person might make.</p> - -<p>After the first broad distinction is learned between -rough and smooth, there are then to be conquered all -the intervening shades and refinements of those qualities. -The children take the greatest delight in these -exercises and almost at once begin to invent new ones -for themselves, “feeling” whatever materials are -near them and giving them their proper names, or -asking what their names are. It is as if their little -minds were suddenly opened, as our dully perceptive -adult minds seldom are, to the infinite variety of surfaces -in the world. They notice the materials of -their own dresses, the stuffs used in upholstering furniture, -curtains, dress fabrics, wood, smooth and -rough, steel, glass, etc., etc., with exquisitely fairy-light -strokes of their sensitive little finger-tips, -which seem almost visibly to grow more discriminating.</p> - -<p>The “technical apparatus” for continuing this -training is varied, but always simple. A collection of -slips of sandpaper of varying roughness to be placed -in order from fine to coarse by the child (blindfolded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -or not, as he seems to prefer); other collections of -bits of fabrics of all sorts to be identified by touch -only; of slips of cardboard, enameled or rough; -blotting-paper, writing-paper, newspaper, etc., etc.; -of objects of different shapes, cubes, pyramids, balls, -cylinders, etc., for the blindfolded child to identify; -later on of very small objects like seeds of different -shapes or sizes; finally, of any objects which the -child knows by sight, his playthings, articles around -the house, to be recognized by his touch only.</p> - -<p>There is one result on the child’s character of this -sort of exercise which Dr. Montessori does not specifically -mention but which has struck me forcibly in -practical experimentation with it. I have found that -little hands and fingers trained by these fascinating -“games” to light, attentive, discriminating, and unhurried -handling of objects, lose very quickly that -instinctive childish, violent but very uncertain clutch -at things, which has been for so many generations -the cause of so much devastation in the nursery. -Little tots of four, trained in this way, can be trusted -with glassware and other breakable objects, which -would go down to certain destruction in the fitfully -governed hands of the average undisciplined child of -twelve. In other words the child of four has fitted -himself by means of a highly enjoyable process to be, -in one more respect, an independent, self-respecting, -trustworthy citizen of his world.</p> - -<p>Of course all these different exercises are much -more entertaining when, like other fun-producing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -“games,” they are “played” with a crowd of other -children. When one child of a group is blindfolded, -and as our American children say “It,” while the -others sit about, watching his identification of more -and more difficult objects, ready, all of them, for a -shout of applause at a success, or at a failure -for an instant laughing pounce on the coveted -blindfold and application of it to the child next -in order, of course there is much more jolly -laughter, the interest is keener, and the attention -more concentrated by the contact with other wits, -than can be the case with a single child, even with an -audience of the most sympathetic mother or aunt. -There is absolutely no adequate substitute for the -beneficial action and reaction of children upon one -another such as form such a considerable part of the -Montessori training in a Casa dei Bambini. On the -other hand, those of us who live, as we almost all do, -far from any variety of a Montessori school, can, -with the exercise of our ingenuity and mother-wit, -arrange a great number of more or less adequate temporary -expedients. A large number of the Montessori -devices, if they were not called “sensory exercises,” -would be recognized as merely fascinating new games -for children. What is blind-man’s buff but a “sensory -exercise for training the ear,” since what the -person who is “It” does is to try to catch the slight -movements made by the other players accurately -enough to pursue and capture them? Children have -another game called, for some mysterious reason of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -childhood, “Still pond, no more moving!” a variety -of blind-man’s buff, which trains still more finely the -sense of hearing, since the players are required to -stand perfectly still, and the one who is “It” must -detect their presence by such almost imperceptible -sounds as their breathing, or the rustling caused by -an involuntary movement. If Montessori herself -had invented this game, it could not be more perfectly -devised for bodily control. Children who -wriggle about in ordinary circumstances without the -slightest capacity to control their bodies, even in response -to the sternest adult commands for quiet, will -stand in some strained position without moving a -finger, their concentration so intense that even their -breathing is light and inaudible. We must all have -seen children happily playing such games; many of -us have spent hours and hours of our childhood over -them; Froebel used them and others like them plentifully -in his system; there are all sorts of more or less -hit-or-miss imitations of them being constructed by -modern child-tamers; but no one before this Italian -woman-doctor ever analyzed them so that we plain -unprofessional people could fully grasp their fascination -for us; ever told us that children like them -because they afford an opportunity to practise self-control, -and that similar games based on the same -idea that it is “fun” to exercise one’s different -senses in company or in competition with one’s youthful -contemporaries, would be just as entertaining as -these self-invented games, handed down for untold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -generations from one set of children to another. All -the varieties of blindfold sensory exercises are variations -on the theme of blind-man’s buff, which is so -perennially interesting to all children. Any small -group of young children, two or three little neighbors -come in to play, will with a little guidance at first readily -“play” any of the “tactile exercises” described -above (pages 60, 61) for hours on end, instead of -wrangling about the rocking-horse—a toy invented -for solitary or semi-solitary consumption. Any -group of children, collected anywhere for ever so -short a time, can be converted into a half-hour’s -Montessori school, though as a rule the younger -they are the better material they are, since they have -not fallen into bad mental habits.</p> - -<p>The various exercises or “games” for exercising -the sense of touch, although not described here in all -the detail of their elaboration in the Casa dei Bambini, -can be elaborated from these suggestions as one’s -own, or what is more likely, the children’s inventiveness -may make possible.</p> - -<p>The definite education of taste and smell has not -been very much developed by Dr. Montessori, although -simple exercises have been successfully devised, -such as dropping on the tongue tiny particles of -substances, sweet, sour, salt, bitter, etc., having the -child rinse his mouth out carefully between each test. -Similar exercises with different-smelling substances -can be undertaken with blindfolded children, asking -them to guess what they are smelling. Dr. Montessori<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -lays no great stress on this, however, as the sense -of smell with children is not highly developed.</p> - -<p>Practice in judging weight is given by the use of -pieces of wood of the same size but of different -weights, chestnut contrasted with oak, poplar-wood -with maple, etc., etc., the child learning by slightly -lifting them up and down on the palm of his hand. -Later on this can be varied by the use of any objects -of about the same size but of different weights, and -later still by single objects of weights disproportionate -to their size, such as a bit of lead or a small -pillow.</p> - -<p>The difference between these carefully devised exercises -and the haphazard, almost unconscious comparison -by the child in the kitchen of the bag of salt -and the box of oatmeal, is a very good example of -the way in which Dr. Montessori has systematized -and ordered, graded and arranged the exercises which -every child instinctively craves. The average mother, -with leisure to devote to her much-loved child, calls -him away from the pantry-shelf where he may upset -the oatmeal box or spill the salt, thus “getting into -mischief,” and leads him, with mistaken affection, -back to his toy animals. The luckier child of a -poorer, busier, or more indifferent mother is allowed -to “mess around” in the kitchen until he makes himself -too intolerable a nuisance. He goes through in -this way many valuable sense exercises, but he wastes -a great deal of his time in misdirected and futile -effort, and does, as a matter of fact, make a great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -deal of trouble for his elders which is not at all a -necessary accompaniment to his own life, liberty, or -pursuit of information.</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori has neither led the child away from -his instinctively chosen occupations, nor left him in -the state of anarchic chaos resulting from his natural -inability to choose, among the bewildering variety -of objects in the world, those which are best suited -for his self-development. She has, so to speak, taken -out into the kitchen, beside the child, busy with his -self-chosen amusements, her highly trained brain, -stored with pertinent scientific information, and she -has looked at him long and hard. As a result she is -able to show us, what our own blurred observation -never would have distinguished, just which elements, -in the heterogeneous mass of his naturally preferred -toys, are the elements towards which the tendrils of -his rapidly-growing intellectual and muscular organism -are reaching.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V<br /> - - -<small>DESCRIPTION OF THE REST OF THE APPARATUS -AND THE METHOD FOR WRITING -AND READING</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE carefully graded advance, from the simpler -to the harder exercises, which is so essential a -part of the correct use of the Montessori, as of all -other educational apparatus, seems to most mothers -contemplating the use of the system, a very difficult -feature. “How am I to know?” they ask. -“Which exercise is the best one to offer a child to -begin with, how can I tell when he has sufficiently -mastered that so that another is needed, and how -shall I select the right one to go on with?”</p> - -<p>Perhaps the first answer to make to these questions -is the one which so often successfully solves -Montessori problems: “Have a little more trust in -your child’s natural instincts. Don’t think that a -single mistake on your part will be fatal. It will not -hurt him if you happen to suggest the wrong thing, -if you do not insist on it, for, left freely to himself, -he will not pay the least attention to anything that -is not suitable for him. Give him opportunity for -perfectly free action, and then <i>watch him carefully</i>.”</p> - -<p>If he shows a lively spontaneous interest in a -Montessori problem, and devotes himself to solving it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -you may be sure that you have hit upon something -which suits his degree of development. If he goes -through with it rather easily and, perhaps, listlessly, -and needs your reminder to keep his attention on it, -in all probability it is too easy; he has outgrown it, -he no longer cares to occupy himself with it, just as -you no longer care to jump rope, though that may -have been a passion with you at the age of eight.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_068fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Buttoning-Frames to Develop Co-ordinated Movements of the Fingers and Prepare -the Children for Exercises of Practical Life.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>If, on the other hand, he seems distressed at the -difficulties before him, and calls repeatedly for help -and explanation, one of three conditions is present. -Either the exercise is too hard for him, or he has acquired -already the bad habit of dependence on others, -in both of which cases he needs an easier exercise; or, -lastly, he has simply had enough formal “sensory exercises” -for a while. It is the most mistaken notion -about the Montessori Children’s Home to conceive -that the children are occupied from morning -till night over the apparatus of her formal instruction. -They use it exactly as long, or as often, or as -seldom, as they please, just as a child in an ordinary -nursery uses his ordinary toys. It must be kept constantly -in mind that the wonderful successes attained -by the Montessori schools in Rome cannot be repeated -by the mere repetition of sensory exercises, thrust -spasmodically into the midst of another system, or -lack of system, in child-training. The Italian children -of five or six, who have had two or three years -of Montessori discipline, and who are such marvels -of sweet, reasonable self-control, who govern their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -own lives so sanely, who have accomplished such -astonishing feats in reading and writing, are the results -of many other factors besides buttoning-frames -and geometric insets, important as these are.</p> - - - - -<p>Perhaps the most vital of these other factors is -the sense of responsibility, genuine responsibility, not -the make-believe kind, with which we are too often -apt to put off our children when they first show their -touchingly generous impulse to share some of the -burdens of our lives. For instance, to take a rather -extreme instance, but one which we must all have seen, -a child in an ordinary home is allowed to pick up a -bit of waste-paper on the floor, after having had his -attention called to it, and is told to throw it in the -waste-paper basket. This action of mechanical obedience, -suitable only for a child under two years of age, -is then praised insincerely to the child’s face as an -instance of “how <i>much</i> help he is to Mother!”</p> - -<p>The Montessori child is trained, through his feeling -of responsibility for the neatness and order of -his schoolroom, to notice litter on the floor, just as -any housekeeper does, without needing to have her -attention called to it. It is her floor and her business -to keep it clean. And this feeling of responsibility -is fostered and allowed every opportunity to -grow strong, by the sincere conviction of the Montessori -teacher that it is more important for the child -to feel it, than for the floor to be cleaned with adult -speed. As a result of this long patience on the part -of the Directress, a child who has been under her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -care for a couple of years, will (to go on with our -chosen instance) pick up litter from the floor and -dispose of it, as automatically as the mistress of the -house herself, and with as little need for the goad -either of upbraiding for neglect, or praise incommensurate -with the trivial service. This is an attitude -in marked contrast to that of many of our -daughters who often attain high-school age without -acquiring this feeling, apparently perfectly possible -to inculcate if the process is begun early enough, of -loyal solidarity with the interests of the household.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_070fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Solid Geometrical Insets.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>With this caution that a Montessori life for a little -child does not in the least mean his incessant occupation -with formal sensory exercises, let us again -take up the description and use of the apparatus.</p> - -<p>The first thing which is given a child is usually -either one of the buttoning-frames (shown in the -illustration facing page 68), or what are called the -“solid geometric insets.” This latter game with the -formidable name is illustrated opposite this page, -where it is seen to resemble the set of weights kept -beside their scales by old-fashioned druggists. No -other Montessori exercise is more universally popular -with the littlest ones who enter the Children’s -Home, and few others hold their attention so long. -This combines training for both sight and touch, -since, as an aid to his vision, the child is taught to -run his finger-tips around the cylinder which he is -trying to fit in, and then around the edges of the -holes. His finger-tips recognize the similarity of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -size before his eyes do. This piece of apparatus -is, of course, entirely self-corrective, and needs no -supervision. When it becomes easy for a child -quickly to get all the cylinders into the right holes, -he has probably had enough of this exercise, although -his interest in it may recur from time to -time, during many weeks.</p> - - - - -<p>One of the exercises which it is usual to offer him -next is the construction of the Tower. This game -could be played (and often is) with the nest of hollow -blocks which nearly every child owns, and it consists -of building a pyramid with them, the biggest at -the bottom, the next smaller on this, and so on to the -apex made by the tiniest one. This is to learn the -difference between big and small; and as the child -progresses in exactitude of vision, the game can be -varied by piling the blocks in confusion at one side -of the room and constructing the pyramid, a piece -at a time, at some distance away. This means that -when the child leaves his pyramid to go and get the -block needed next, he must “carry the size in his -eye” as the phrase runs, and pick out the block next -smaller by an effort of his visual memory.</p> - -<p>The difference between long and short is taught by -means of ten squared rods of equal thickness, but -regularly varying length, the shortest one being just -one-tenth as long as the longest. The so-called Long -Stair (illustration facing page 74) is constructed by -the child with these. This is perhaps the most difficult -game among those by which dimensions are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -taught, and a good many mistakes are to be anticipated. -The material is again quite self-corrective, -however, and little by little, with occasional -silent or brief reminders from the adult onlooker, the -child learns first to correct his own mistakes, and then -not to make them. Thickness and thinness are -studied with ten solids, brick-like in shape, all of the -same length, but of regularly varying thickness, the -thinnest one being one-tenth as thick as the biggest -one. With these the child constructs the Big Stair -(illustration facing page 74). Later on (considerably -later), when the child begins to learn his numbers, -these “stairs” are used to help him. The large -numbers cut out of sandpaper and pasted on smooth -cardboard, are placed by the child beside the right -number of red and blue sections on each rod of the -Long Stair.</p> - -<p>After the construction of the Long and Big Stair -the child is usually ready for the exercises with different -fabrics to develop his sense of touch, and for -the first beginning of the exercises leading to writing; -especially the strips of sandpaper pasted upon -smooth wood used to teach the difference between -rough and smooth. At the same time with these exercises, -begin the first ones with color which consist -of simply matching spools of identical color, two by -two.</p> - -<p>When these simple exercises of the tactile sense -have been mastered, the child is allowed to attempt -the more difficult undertaking of recognizing all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -minute gradations between smooth and rough, between -dark blue and light blue, etc., etc.</p> - -<p>The training of the eye to discriminate between -minute differences in shades, is carried on steadily in -a series of exercises which result in an accuracy of -vision in this regard which puts most of us adults to -shame. These color-games are played with silk -wound around flat cards, like those on which we often -buy our darning-cotton. There are eight main colors, -and under each color eight shades, ranging from -dark to light. The number of games which can be -played with these is only limited by the ingenuity of -the Directress or mother, and, although most of -them are played more easily with a number of children -together, many are quite available for the solitary -“only child at home.” He can amuse himself by -arranging his sixty-four bobbins in the correct order -of their colors, or he can later, as in the pyramid-making -game, pile them all on one side of the room, -and make his graduated line at a distance, “holding -the color” in his mind as he crosses the room, a feat -which almost no untrained adult can accomplish; although -it is surprising what results can be obtained -any time in life by conscious, definite effort to train -one of the senses. There is nothing miraculous in -the results obtained in the Casa dei Bambini. They -are the simple, natural consequence of definite, direct -<i>training</i>, which is so seldom given. The remarkable -improvement in general acuteness of his vision after -training his eyes to follow the flight of bees, has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -picturesquely and vigorously recorded by John Burroughs; -and all of us know how many more chestnuts -we can see and pick up in a given time, after a -few hours’ concentration on this exercise, than when -we first began to look for them in the grass.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_074fptop.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Broad Stair.</span></p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_074fpbottom.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">The Long Stair.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>The color-games played by a number of children -together with the different-colored spools are various, -but resemble more or less the old-fashioned game -of authors. One of them is played thus. Eight -children choose each the name of a color. Then the -sixty-four spools are poured out in confusion on the -table around which the children sit. One of them -(the eldest or one chosen by lot) begins to deal out -to the others in turn. That is, the one on his right -asking for red, the dealer must quickly choose a spool -of the right color and hand it to his neighbor. Then -the child beyond asks for blue, and so it goes until the -dealer makes a mistake. When he does, the deal goes -to the child next him. After every child has before -him in a mixed pile the eight shades of his chosen -color, they all set to work as fast as they can to see -who can soonest arrange them in the right chromatic -order. The child who does this first has “won” -the game, and is the one who deals first in the next -game. Children of about the same age and ability -repeat this game with the monotonously eternal vivid -interest which characterizes an old-established quartet -of whist-players, and they attain, by means of it and -similar games with the color spools, a control of their -eyes which is a marvel and which must forever add<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -to the accuracy of their impressions about the world. -When a generation of children trained in this manner -has grown up, landscape painters will no longer -be able to complain, as they do now, that they are -working for a purblind public.</p> - - - - -<p>We are now approaching at last the extremely important -and hitherto undescribed “geometric insets,” -whose mysterious name has piqued the curiosity of -more than one casual and hasty reader of accounts of -the Montessori system. A look at the pictures of -these shows them to be as simple as all the rest -of Dr. Montessori’s expedients. Anyone who was -ever touched by the picture-puzzle craze, or who in -his childhood felt the fascination of dissected maps, -needs no explanation of the pleasure taken by little -children of four and five in fitting these queer-shaped -bits of wood into their corresponding sockets, the -square piece into the square socket, the triangle into -the three-cornered hole, the four-leafed clover shape -into the four-lobed recess. There can be no better -description of the way in which a child is initiated into -the use of this piece of apparatus than the one written -by Miss Tozier for <i>McClure’s Magazine</i>:</p> - -<p>“A small boy of the mature age of four, who has -been sitting plunged either in sleep or meditation, -now starts up from his chair and wanders across to -his directress for advice. He wants something to -amuse him. She takes him to the cupboard, throws -in a timely suggestion, and he strolls back to his -table with a smile. He has chosen half a dozen or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -more thin, square tablets of wood and a strip of -navy-blue cloth. He begins by spreading down the -cloth, then he puts his blocks on it in two rows. -They are of highly-varnished wood, light blue, with -geometrical figures of navy-blue in the centre; there -is a triangle, a circle, a rectangle, an oval, a square, -an octagon. The teacher, who has followed him, -stands on the other side of the table. She runs two -of her fingers round one of the edges of the triangle. -‘Touch it so,’ she says. He promptly and delightedly -imitates her. She then pulls all the figures out -of their light-blue frames by means of a brass button -in each, mixes them up on the table; and tells him -to call her when he has them all in place again. The -dark-blue cloth shows through the empty frame, so -that it appears as if the figures had only sank down -half an inch. While he continues to stare at this -array, off goes the teacher.</p> - -<p>“‘Is she not going to show him how to begin?’</p> - -<p>“‘An axiom of our practical pedagogy is to aid -the child only to be independent,’ answers Dr. Montessori. -‘He does not wish help.’</p> - -<p>“Nor does he seem to be troubled. He stares a -while at his array of blocks; yet his eye does not -grow quite sure, for he carefully selects an oval from -the mixed-up pile and tries to put it in the circle. -It won’t go. Then, quick as a flash, as if subconsciously -rather than designedly, he runs his little forefinger -around the rim of the figure and then round -the edge of the empty space left in the light-blue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -frames of both the oval and the circle. He discovers -his mistake at once, puts the figure into its place, -and leans back a moment in his chair to enjoy his own -cleverness before beginning with another. He finally -gets them all into their proper frames, and instantly -pulls them out again, to do it quicker and better next -time.</p> - -<p>“These blocks with the geometric insets are among -the most valuable stimuli in the Casa dei Bambini. -The vision and the touch become, by their use, accustomed -to a great variety of shapes. It will be noted, -too, that the child apprehends the forms synthetically, -as given entities, and is not taught to recognize -them by aid of even the simplest geometrical analysis. -This is a point on which Dr. Montessori lays particular -stress.”</p> - -<p>Now it is to be borne in mind that although, for the -children, this is only a “game,” as fascinating to -them as the picture-puzzle is to their elders, their far-seeing -teacher is utilizing it, far cry though it may -seem, to begin to teach them to write. And here I -realize that I have at last written a phrase for which -my bewildered reader has probably been waiting in an -astonished impatience. For of all the profound, -searching, regenerating effects of the Montessori system, -none seems to have made an impression on the -public like the fact, almost a by-product of the -method, that Montessori children learn to write and -read more easily than others. I have heard Dr. Montessori -exclaim in wonder many times over the popular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -insistence on that interesting and important, but -by no means central, detail of her work; as though -reading and writing were our only functions in life, as -though we could get information and education only -from the printed page, a prop which is already, in the -opinion of many wise people, too largely used in our -modern world as a substitute for first-hand, individual -observation.</p> - -<p>It cannot be denied, however, that the way Montessori -children learn to write is very spectacular. The -theory underlying it is far too complicated to describe -in complete detail in a book of this sort, but for the -benefit of the person who desires to run and read at -the same time, I will set down a short-cut, unscientific -explanation.</p> - -<p>The inaccuracy and relative weakness of a little -child’s eyesight, compared to his sense of touch, has -been already mentioned (page 57). This simple -element in child physiology must be borne constantly -in mind as one of the determining factors in the Montessori -method of teaching writing. The child who -is “playing” with the geometric insets soon learns, -as we have seen from Miss Tozier’s description, that -he can find the shallow recess which is the right shape -for the piece of wood which he holds in his hand if he -will run the fingers of his other hand around the edge -of his piece of wood and then around the different recesses.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_078fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Insets Which the Child Learns to Place Both by Sight -and by Touch.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - - -<p>It is hard for an ordinary adult really to conceive -of the importance of this movement for a little child.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -Indeed, so fixed is our usual preference for vision as -a means of gaining information, that it gives one a -very queer feeling to watch a child, with his eyes wide -open, apparently looking intently at the board with -its different-shaped recesses, but unable to find the -one matching the inset he holds, until he has gone -through that eerie, blind-man’s motion with his finger-tips.</p> - -<p>Now that motion, very frequently repeated, not -only tells him where to fit in his inset, but, like all -frequently repeated actions, wears a channel in his -brain which tends, whenever he begins the action, -to make him complete it in the way he always -has done it. It can be seen that, if, instead of a -triangle or a square, the child is given a letter of -the alphabet and shown how to follow its outlines -with his fingers in the direction in which they move -when the letter is written, the brain channel and -muscular habit resulting are of the utmost importance.</p> - -<p>But before he can make any use of this, he needs to -learn another muscular habit, quite distinct from (although -always associated with) the mastery of the -letters of the alphabet, namely, the mastery of the -pencil. The exceeding awkwardness naturally felt by -the child in holding this new implement for the first -time, has nothing to do with his recognition of A or -B, although it adds another great difficulty to his reproducing -those letters. He must learn how to manage -his pencil before he engages upon the much more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -complicated undertaking of constructing with it -certain fixed symbols, just as he must learn how to -walk before he can be sent on an errand. The old-fashioned -way (still generally in use in Italy, and -not wholly abandoned in all parts of our own country) -was to force the child to fill innumerable copy-books -with monotonous straight lines or “pot-hooks,” -a weariness of the spirit and a thorn in the flesh which -any one who has suffered from it can describe feelingly. -One way adopted by modern educators to avoid -this dreary exercise is by frankly running away from -the issue and postponing teaching children to write -until a much more mature age than formerly, in the -hope that general exercises in free-hand drawing will -sufficiently supplement the general strengthening and -steadying of the muscles which come with more mature -development. It is an inaccurate but, perhaps, -suggestive comparison to say that this is a little as -though young children should not be taught how to -walk because it is so hard for them to keep their balance, -but made to wait until all their bones are -mature.</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori has solved the difficulty by another -use of the geometric insets. This time it is the hole -left by the removal of one of the insets which is used. -Suppose, for instance, that one chooses the triangular -inset. It is set down on a piece of paper -and the triangle is lifted out, leaving the paper showing -through. The child is provided with colored -crayons and shown how to trace around the outline<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -of the triangular-shaped piece of paper. The fact -that the metal frame stands up a little from the -paper prevents his at first wildly unsteady pencil -from going outside the triangle. When he has -traced around the outline<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> with his blue crayon, he -lifts the frame up and there is the most beautiful -blue triangle, all the work of his own hands! He -usually gazes at this in delighted surprise, and then -it is suggested to him to fill in this outline with -strokes of his pencil. He is allowed to make these -as he chooses, only being cautioned not to pass outside -the line. At first the crayon goes “every which -way,” and the “drawings” are hardly recognizable -because the outline has been so overrun at every -point; but gradually the child’s muscular control -is improved and finally carried to a very high degree -of perfection. Regular, even parallel lines begin -to appear and the final result is as even as a Japanese -color-wash. It is evident that in the course -of this work he makes of his own accord, with the -utmost interest animating each stroke, as many lines -as would fill hours and hours of enforced drudgery -over copy-books. When, after much practice, the -muscles have learned almost automatically to control -fingers holding a pencil, that particular muscular -habit is sufficiently well-learned for the child to -begin on another enterprise.</p> - -<p>Now of course, though it is most interesting to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -color triangles and circles, a child does not spend -all his day at it. Among other things which occupy -and amuse him at this time is getting acquainted with -the look and feel of the letters of the alphabet. The -children are presented, one at a time, sometimes only -one a day, with large script letters, made of black -sandpaper pasted on smooth white cards, and are -taught how to draw their fingers over the letter in the -direction taken when it is written. At the same time -the teacher repeats slowly and distinctly the sound of -the letter, making sure that the child takes this in.</p> - -<p>After this, the little Italian child, happy in the possession -of a phonetically spelled language, has an -easier time than our English-speaking children, who -begin then and there their lifelong struggle with the -insanities of English spelling. But this is a struggle -to which they must come under any system, and much -less formidable under this than it has ever been before. -For the next step is, of course, to put these -letters together into simple words. There is no need -to wait until a child has toiled all through the alphabet -before beginning this much more interesting -process. As soon as he knows two letters he can spell -Mamma. There is no question as yet of his constructing -the letters with his own hands. He simply -takes them from their separate compartments and -lays them on the floor or table in the right order. In -handling them throughout all of these exercises the -children are encouraged constantly to make that -blind-man’s motion of tracing around the letter. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -rough sandpaper apparently shouts out information -to the little finger-tips highly sensitized by the -tactile exercises, for the child nearly always corrects -himself more surely by touching than by looking at -his sandpaper alphabet. Of course, the strongest of -muscular habits is being formed as he does this.</p> - -<p>A pleasant variation on this routine is a test -of the child’s new knowledge. The teacher asks -him to give her B, give her D, P, M, etc. The -letters are kept in little pasteboard compartments, a -compartment for all the B’s, another for all the D’s, -and so on. The child, in answer to the teacher’s request, -looks over these compartments and picks out -from all the others the letter she has asked for. This, -of course, seems only like a game to him, a variation -on hide-and-seek.</p> - -<p>All these processes go on day after day, side by -side, all invisibly converging towards one end. The -practice with the crayons, the recognition of the -letters by eye and touch, the revelation as to the -formation of words with the movable alphabet, are so -many roads leading to the painless acquisition of the -art of writing. They draw nearer and nearer together, -and then, one day, quite suddenly, the famous -“Montessori explosion into writing” occurs. -The teacher of experience can tell when this explosion -is imminent. First the parallel lines which the child -makes to fill and color the geometric figures become -singularly regular and even; second, his acquaintance -with the alphabet becomes so thorough that he recognizes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -the letters by sense of touch only, and, third, -he increases in facility for composing words with the -movable alphabet. The burst into spontaneous writing -usually comes only after these three conditions -are present.</p> - -<p>It usually happens that a child has a crayon in -his hand and begins the motion of his fingers made as -he traces around one of his sandpaper letters. But -this time he has the pencil in his fingers, and the idea -suddenly occurs to him, usually reducing him to -breathless excitement, that if he traces on the paper -with his pencil the form of the letters, he will be -writing. In the twinkling of an eye it is done. He -has written with his own hand one of the words which -he has been constructing with the movable alphabet. -He is usually as proud of this achievement as though -he had invented the art of writing. The first children -who were taught in this manner and who experienced -this explosion into writing did really believe, I -gather, that writing was something of their own invention. -They rushed about excitedly to explain, to -anyone who would listen, all about this wonderful -new discovery: “Look! Look! You don’t need the -movable letters to make words. See, you just take -a pencil or a piece of chalk, and draw the letters for -yourself ... as many as you please ... anywhere!” -And, in fact, for the first few days after -this explosion, their teachers and mothers found writing -“anywhere!” all over the house. The children -were in a fever of excited pride. Since then, although<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -the first word always causes a spasm of joy, -children in a Children’s Home are so used to seeing -the older ones writing and reading, that their own -feat is taken more calmly, as a matter of course. It -really always takes place in this sudden way, however. -One day a child cannot write, and the next -he can.</p> - -<p>The formation of the letters, so hard for children -taught in the old way, offers practically no difficulty -to the Montessori child. He has traced their outline -so often with his finger-tips that his knowledge of -them is lodged where, in his infant organism, it belongs, -in his muscular memory; so that when, pencil -in his well-trained hand, he starts his fingers upon an -action already so often repeated as to be automatic, -muscular habit and muscular memory do the rest. He -does not need consciously to direct each muscle in -the action of writing, any more than a practised -piano-player thinks consciously of which finger goes -after which. The vernacular phrase expressing this -sort of involuntary, muscular-memory facility is -literally true in his case, “He has done it so often -that he could do it with his eyes shut.” It is to be -noted that for a long time after this explosion into -writing, the children continue incessantly to go -through the three preparatory steps, tracing with -their fingers the sandpaper letters, filling in the -geometric forms and composing with the movable -alphabet. These are for them what scales are for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -the pianist, a necessary practice for “keeping -the hand in.” By means of constantly tracing the -sandpaper letters the children write almost from the -first the most astonishingly clear, firm, regular hand, -much better than that of most adults of my acquaintance.</p> - -<p>It is apparent, from even this short-hand account -of this remarkably successful method, that children -cannot learn to write by means of it without considerable -(even if unconscious and painless) effort on -their part, and without intelligence, good judgment, -and considerable patience on the part of the teacher. -The popular accounts of the miracles accomplished -by Dr. Montessori’s apparatus have apparently led -some American readers to fancy that it is a sort of -amulet one can tie about the child’s neck, or plaster -to apply externally, which will cause the desired effect -without any further care. As a matter of fact, -it is a carefully devised trellis which starts the child’s -sensory growth in a direction which will be profitable -for the practical undertaking of learning how to -write, a trellis invented and patented by Dr. Montessori, -but which those of us who attempt to teach -children must construct for ourselves on her pattern, -following step by step the development of each of -the children under our care.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_086fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Tracing Sand-Paper Letters.</span><span class="gap"><span class="smcap">Tracing Geometrical Design.</span></span><br /> - - - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - - -<p>And yet, although the Montessori apparatus does -not teach children by magic how to write a good -hand, in comparison with the methods now in use, it is -really almost miraculous in its results. In our schools<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -children learn slowly to write (and how badly!) when -they are seven or eight, cannot do it fluently until -they are much older, and never do it very well, if the -average handwriting of our high-school and college -student is any test of our system. In the Montessori -schools a child of four usually spends about a month -and a half in the definite preparation for writing, -and children of five usually only a month. Some very -quick ones of this age learn to write with all the -letters in twenty days. Three months’ practice, after -they once begin to write, is, as a rule, enough to -steady their handwriting into an excellently clear and -regular script, and, after six months of writing, a -Montessori tot of five can write fluently, legibly, and -(most important and revolutionary change) with -pleasure, far beyond that usually felt by a child in, -say, our third or fourth grades.</p> - -<p>He has not only achieved this valuable accomplishment -with enormous economy of time, but he has been -spared, into the bargain, the endless hours of soul-killing -drudgery from which the children in our -schools now suffer. The Montessori child has, it is -true, gone through a far more searching preparation -for this achievement, but it has all been without any -strain on his part, without any consciousness of effort -except that which springs from the liveliest spontaneous -desire. It has tired him, literally, no more -than if he had spent the same amount of time playing -tag.</p> - -<p>I have heard some scientific talk which sounded to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -my ignorant ears very profound and psychological, -about whether this capacity of Montessori children -to write can be considered as a truly “intellectual -achievement,” or only a sort of unconsciously learned -trick. This is a fine theoretic distinction which I -think most mothers will feel they can safely ignore. -Whatever it is from a psychological standpoint, and -however it may be rated in the Bradstreet of pure -science, it is an inestimable treasure for our children.</p> - -<p>Reading comes after writing in the Montessori system, -and has not apparently as inherently close a -connection with it as is sometimes thought. That is, -a child who can form letters perfectly with his pencil -and can compose words with the movable alphabet -may still be unable to recognize a word which he -himself has neither written nor composed. But, of -course, with such a start as the Montessori system -gives him, the gap between the two processes is soon -bridged. There are various reasons why a detailed -account of the Montessori method of teaching reading -need not be given here. One is that this book -is written for mothers and not teachers, and since -the methods for teaching reading in our schools are -much better than those used for teaching writing, -mothers will naturally, as a rule, leave reading until -the child is under a teacher. Furthermore, there is -nothing so very revolutionary in the Montessori -method in this regard and there exist already in this -country several excellent methods for teaching reading.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -And yet a few notes on some features of the -Montessori system will be of interest.</p> - -<p>Like many variations of our own system it begins -with the recognition of single words. At first these -are composed with the movable alphabet. Later, -when the child can interpret readily words composed -in this way, they are written in large clear script -on slips of paper. The child spells the word out -letter by letter, and then pronounces these sounds -more and more rapidly until he runs them together -and perceives that he is pronouncing a word familiar -to him. This is always a moment of great satisfaction -to him and of encouragement to his teacher.</p> - -<p>After this has continued until the children recognize -single words quickly, the process is extended to -phrases. Here the teacher goes very slowly, with -great care, to avoid undue haste and lack of thoroughness. -There is a danger here that the children -will fall into the mechanical habit (familiar to us all) -of reading aloud a page with great glibness, although -the sense of the words has made no impression on -their minds. To avoid this the Montessori Directress -adopts the simple expedient of not allowing them at -first to read aloud. She carries on, instead, a series -of silent conversations with the children, writing on -the board some simple request for an action on their -part. “Please stand up,” “Please shut your eyes,” -and so on. Later longer and more complicated -sentences are written on slips of paper and distributed -to the children. They read these to themselves (not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -being misled by their oral fluency into thinking they -understand what they do not), and show that they -have understood by performing the actions requested. -In other words, these are short letters addressed by -the teacher to the children, and answered by silent -action on the part of the children. Like all of the -Montessori devices, this is self-corrective. It is perfectly -easy for the child to be sure whether he has -understood the sentence or not, and his attention is -fixed, not on pronouncing correctly (which has -nothing to do with understanding the sentences before -him), but on the comprehension of the written -symbols. As for the teacher, she has an absolutely -perfect check on the child. If he does not understand, -he does not do the right thing. It means the -elimination of the “fluent bluffer,” a phenomenon not -wholly unfamiliar to teachers, even when they are -dealing with very young children.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VI<br /> - - -<small>SOME GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT THE MONTESSORI -APPARATUS IN THE AMERICAN -HOME</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THE first thing to do, if you can manage it, is to -secure a set of the Montessori apparatus. It is -the result of the ripest thought, ingenuity, and practical -experience of a gifted specialist who has concentrated -all her forces on the invention of the different -devices of her apparatus. But there are various supplementary -statements to be made which modify this -simple advice.</p> - -<p>One is, that the arrival in your home of the box -containing the Montessori apparatus means just as -much for the mental welfare of your children as the -arrival in the kitchen of a box of miscellaneous groceries -means for their physical health. The presence -on the pantry shelf of a bag of the best flour -ever made will not satisfy your children’s hunger unless -you add brains and good judgment to it, and -make edible, digestible bread for them. There is -nothing magical or miraculous about the Montessori -apparatus. It is as yet the best raw material produced -for satisfying the intellectual hunger of normal -children from three to six, but it will have practically -no effect on them if its use is not regulated by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -the most attentive care, supplemented by a keen and -never-ceasing objective scrutiny of the children who -are to use it. This is one reason why mothers find -it harder to educate their children by the Montessori -system (as by all other systems) than teachers do, -for they have an age-long mental habit of clasping -their little ones so close in their arms that, figuratively -speaking, they never get a fair, square look -at them.</p> - -<p>This study of the children is an essential part of all -education which Dr. Montessori is among the first -pointedly and definitely to emphasize. The necessity -for close observation of conditions before any -attempt is made to modify them is an intellectual -habit which is the direct result of the methods of -positive sciences, in the study of which she received -her intellectual training. Just as the astronomer -looks fixedly at the stars, and the biologist at the -protoplasm before he tries to generalize about their -ways of life and action, so we must learn honestly -and whole-heartedly to try to see what sort of children -Mary and Bob and Billy <i>are</i>, as well as to love -them with all our might. This should not be, as it is -apt to be, a study limited to their moral characteristics, -to seeing that Mary’s fault is vanity and -Bob’s is indifference, but should be directed with the -most passionate attention to their intellectual traits -as well, to the way in which they naturally learn or -don’t learn, to the doors which are open, and those -which are shut, to their intellectual interest. For<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -children of three and four have a life which it is no -exaggeration to call genuinely intellectual, and their -constant presence under the eyes of their parents -gives us a chance to know this, which helps to make -up for our lack of educational theory and experience -in which almost any teacher outstrips us.</p> - -<p>There are no two plants, in all the infinity of -vegetable life, which are exactly alike. There are -not, so geologists tell us, even two stones precisely -the same. To lump children (even two or three children -closely related) in a mass, with generalizations -about what will appeal to them, is a mental habit -that experience constantly and luridly proves to be -the extremest folly. This does not mean individualism -run wild. There are some general broad principles -which hold true of all plants, and which we will -do well to learn from an experienced gardener. All -plants prosper better out-of-doors than in a cellar, -and all children have activity for the law of their nature. -But lilies-of-the-valley shrivel up in the amount -of sunshine which supplies just the right conditions -for nasturtiums, and your particular three-year-old -may need a much quieter (or more boisterous) -activity than his four-year-old sister. Neither of -them may be, at first, in the least attracted by the -problem of the geometric insets, or by the idea of -matching colors. They may not have reached that -stage, or they may have gone beyond it. You will -need all your ingenuity and your good judgment to -find out where they are, intellectually, and what they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -are intellectually. The Montessori rule is never to -try to force or even to coax a child to use any part -of the apparatus. The problem involved is explained -to him clearly, and if he feels no spontaneous desire -to solve it, no effort is made to induce him to undertake -it. Some other bit of apparatus is what, for the -moment, he needs, and one only wastes time in trying -to persuade him to feel an interest which he is, for -the time, incapable of.</p> - -<p>If you doubt this, and most of us feel a lingering -suspicion that we know better than the child what he -wants, look back over your own school-life and confess -to yourself how utterly has vanished from your -mind the information forced upon you in courses -which did not arouse your interest. My own private -example of that is a course on “government.” I was -an ordinarily intelligent and conscientious child, and I -attended faithfully all the interminable dreary recitations -of that subject, even filling a note-book with -selections from the teacher’s remarks, and, at the -end of the course, passing a fairly creditable examination. -The only proof I have of all this is the record -of the examination and the presence, among my -relics of the past, of the note-book in my handwriting; -for, among all the souvenirs of my school-life, -there is not one faintest trace of any knowledge -about the way in which people are governed. I cannot -even remember that I ever did know anything -about it. My mind is a perfect, absolute blank on the -subject, although I can remember the look of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -schoolroom in which I sat to hear the lectures on it, -I can see the face of the teacher as plainly as though -she still stood before me, I can recall the pictures on -the wall, the very graining of the wood on my desk. -There is only no more recollection of the subject -than if the lectures had been delivered in Hindustani. -The long hours I spent in that classroom -are as wholly wasted and lost out of my all-too-short -life as though I had been thrust into a dark closet -for those three hours a week. Even the amount of -“discipline” I received, namely the capacity to sit -still and endure almost intolerable ennui, would have -been exactly as great in one case as in the other, -and would have cost the State far less.</p> - -<p>All of us must have some such recollection of our -school-life to set beside the vivifying, exciting, never -to be forgotten hours when we first really grasped a -new abstract idea, or learned some bit of scientific -information thrillingly in touch with our own understandable -lives; and we need no other proof of the -truth of the maxim, stated by all educators, but -stated and <i>constantly acted upon</i> by Dr. Montessori, -that the prerequisite of all education is the interest of -the student. There is no question here to be discussed -as to whether he learns more or less quickly, -more or less well, according as he is interested or not. -The statement is made flatly by the Italian educator -that he does not, he cannot learn at all, anything, if -he is not interested. There is no use trying to call -in the old war-horse of “mental discipline” and say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -that it is well to force him to learn whether he has an -interest in the subject or not, because the fact is -that he cannot learn without feeling interest; and -the appearance of learning, the filled note-books, the -attended recitations, the passed examinations, we all -know in our hearts to be but the vainest of illusions -and to represent only the most hopelessly wasted -hours of our youth.</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori, with her usual bold, startlingly -consistent acceptance as a practical guide to conduct -of a fact which her reason tells her to be true, -acts on this principle with her characteristic whole-souled -fervor. If the children are not interested, it is -the business of the educator to furnish something -which will interest them (as well as instruct them) -rather than to try to force their interest to center itself -on some occupation which the educator has -thought beforehand would turn the trick.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> When we -capture and try to tame a little wild creature of unknown -habits (and is not this a description of each -little new child?) our first effort is to find some food -which will agree with him, and experimentation is always -our first resort. We offer him all sorts of things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -to eat, and observe which he selects. It is true that we -do make some broad generalizations from the results -of our experiences with other animals, and we do not -try to feed a little creature who looks like a woodchuck -on honey and water, nor a new variety of moth -on lettuce-leaves. But even if the unknown animal -looks ever so close a cousin of the woodchuck family, -we do not try to force the lettuce-leaves down his -throat if, after a due examination of them, he shows -plainly that he does not care for them. We cast -about to see what else may be the food he needs; and -though we may feel very impatient with the need for -making all the troublesome experiments with diet, we -never feel really justified in blaming the little creature -for having preferences for turnip-tops, nor do we -have a half-acknowledged conviction that, perhaps, if -we had starved him to eat lettuce-leaves, it might have -been better for him. We are only too thankful to -hit upon the right food before our little captive dies -of hunger.</p> - -<p>Something of all this is supposed to go through the -mind of the Montessori mother as she refrains from -arguing with her little son about the advisability of -his being interested in one, rather than another, of -the Montessori contrivances; and these considerations -are meant to explain to her the prompt acquiescence -of the Montessori teacher in the child’s intellectual -“whims.” She is not foolishly indulging him to -make herself less trouble, or to please him. She is -only trying to find out what his natural interest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -is, so that she may pounce upon it and utilize it for -teaching him without his knowing it. She is only -taking advantage of her knowledge of the fact that -water runs down-hill and not up, and that you may -keep it level by great efforts on your part, and even -force it to climb, but that you can only expect it to -work for you when you let it follow the course marked -out for it by the laws of physics. In other words, she -sees that her business is to make use of every scrap -of the children’s interest, rather than to waste her -time and theirs trying to force it into channels where -it cannot run; to carry her waterwheel where the -water falls over the cliff, and not to struggle to turn -the river back towards the watershed. And anyone -who thinks that a Montessori teacher has “an easy -time because she is almost never really teaching,” -underestimates grotesquely the amount of alert, -keen ingenuity and capacity for making fine distinctions, -required for this new feat of educational -engineering.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, the advanced modern educators -who cry jealously that there is nothing new in all -this, that it is the principle underlying their own -systems of education, need only to ask themselves -why their practice is so different from that of the -Italian doctor, why a teacher who can force, coerce, -coax, or persuade all the members of a class of thirty -children to “acquire” practically the same amount -of information about a given fixed number of topics -within a given fixed period of time, is called a “good”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -teacher? They will answer inevitably that chaos and -anarchy in the educational world would result from -any course of study less fixed than that in their -schools. And an impartial observer, both of our -schools and of history, might reply that chaos and -anarchy have been prophesied every time a more liberal -form of government, giving more freedom to -the individual, has been suggested, anywhere in the -world.</p> - -<p>In any case, the Montessori mother, with the newly -acquired apparatus spread out before her, needs to -gird herself up for an intellectual enterprise where -she will need not only all the strength of her brain, -but every atom of ingenuity and mental flexibility -which she can bring to bear on her problem. She will -do well, of course, to fortify herself in the first place -by a careful perusal of Dr. Montessori’s own description -of the apparatus and its use, or by reading any -other good manual which she can find. The booklet -sent out with the apparatus gives some very useful -detailed instructions which it is not necessary to repeat -here, since it comes into the hands of everyone -who secures the apparatus. One of the main things -for the Montessori mother to remember is that the -teachers in the Casa dei Bambini are trained to make -whatever explanations are necessary, as brief as possible, -given in as few words as they can manage, and -with good long periods of silence in between.</p> - -<p>Much of the apparatus is so ingeniously devised -that any normally inventive child needs but to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -it set before him to divine its correct use. The buttoning-frames, -and the solid and plane geometric insets -need not a single word of explanation, even to -start the child upon the exercise. But the various -rods and blocks, used for the Long and Broad Stair -and the Tower, are so much like ordinary building-blocks -that, the first time they are presented, the -child needs a clear presentation of how to handle -them. This can be made an object-lesson conducted -in perfect silence; although later, when the child begins -to use the sandpaper numbers with them as he -learns the series of numbers up to ten, he needs, of -course, to be guided in this exercise.</p> - -<p>With these rods and blocks especially, care should -be taken to observe the Montessori rule that apparatus -is to be used for its proper purpose only, in -order to avoid confusion in the child’s mind. He -should never use the color spools, for instance, to -build houses with. Not that, by any means, he should -be coaxed to continue the exercises in color if he feels -like building houses; but other material should be -given him—a pack of cards, building-blocks, small -stones, anything handy, but never apparatus intended -for another exercise.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_100fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Training the “Stereognostic Sense”—Combining Motor and Tactual Images.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>In the exercises for learning the difference between -rough and smooth, the child needs at first a little -guidance in learning how to draw his finger-tips -<i>lightly</i> from left to right over the sandpaper strips; -and in the exercises of discrimination between different -fabrics, he needs someone to tie the bandage over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -his eyes and, the first time, to show him how to set -to work.</p> - - - - -<p>A silent object-lesson, or a word or two, are needed -to show him how to separate and distinguish between -the pieces of wood of different weights in the baric -exercises, and a similar introduction is needed to the -cylindrical sound-boxes.</p> - -<p>As he progresses both in age and ability, and begins -some of the more complicated exercises, he needs -a little longer explanation when he begins a new exercise, -and a little more supervision to make sure -that he has understood the problem. In the later -part of the work with plane geometric insets, and in -the work with colored crayons, he needs occasional -supervision, not to correct the errors he makes, but -to see that he keeps the right aim in sight. Of -course, when he begins work with the alphabet he -needs more real “teaching,” since the names of the -letters must be told him, and care must be taken that -he learns firmly the habit of following their outlines -in the right direction, of having them right side up, -etc. But throughout one should remember that most -“supervision” is meddling, and that one does the -child a real injury in correcting a mistake which, with -a little more time and experience, he would have been -able to correct for himself. It is well to keep in -mind, also, that little children, some of them at least, -have a peculiarity shared by many of us adults, and -that is a nervousness under even silent inspection. I -know a landscape painter of real ability who is reduced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -almost to nervous tears and certainly to paralyzed -impotence, by the harmless presence of the -group of silent, staring spectators who are apt to -gather about a person making a sketch out of doors. -Even though we may refrain from actually interfering -in the child’s fumbling efforts to conquer his own lack -of muscular precision, we may wear on him nervously -if we give too close an attention to his efforts. The -right thing is to show him (if necessary) what he is -to try to do, and then if it arouses his interest so -that he sets to work upon it, we will do well to busy -ourselves somewhat ostentatiously with something else -in the room. Occasionally a child, even a little child, -has acquired already the habit of asking for help -rather than struggling with an obstacle himself. The -best way to deal with this unfortunate tendency is to -provide simpler and simpler exercises until, through -making a very slight effort “all himself,” the child -learns the joy of self-conquest and re-acquires his -natural taste for independence. Most of us, with -healthy normal children, however, meet with no -trouble of this kind. The average child of three, or -even younger, set before the solid geometric insets, -clears the board for action by the heartiest and most -instinctive rejection of any aid, suggestions, or even -sympathy. His cry of “Let <i>me</i> do it!” as he -reaches for the little cylinders with one hand and -pushes away his would-be instructor with the other, -does one’s heart good.</p> - -<p>It is to be seen that Dr. Montessori’s demand for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -child-liberty does not mean unbridled and unregulated -license for him, even intellectual license; nor does her -command to her teachers to let him make his own forward -advance mean that they are to do nothing for -him. They may, indeed, frequently they must, set -him carefully on a road not impossibly hard for him, -and head him in the right direction. What they are -not to do, is to go along with him, pointing out with -a flood of words the features of the landscape, -smoothing out all the obstacles, and carrying him up -all the hills.</p> - -<p>More important than any of the details in the use -of the apparatus is the constant firm intellectual -grasp on its ultimate purpose. The Montessori -mother must assimilate, into the very marrow of her -bones, the fundamental principle underlying every -part of every exercise, the principle which she must -never forget an instant in all the detailed complexity -of its ingenious practical application. She is to remember -constantly that the Montessori exercises are -neither games to amuse the children (although they -do this to perfection), nor ways for the children to -acquire information (although this is also accomplished -admirably, though not so directly as in the -kindergarten work). They are, like all truly educative -methods, means to teach the child how to learn. -It is of no great importance that he shall remember -perfectly the form of a square or a triangle, or even -the sacred cube of Froebelian infant-schools. It is of -the highest importance that he shall acquire the mental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -habit of observing quickly and accurately the -form of any object he looks at or touches, because if -he does, he will have, as an adult, a vision which will -be that of a veritable superman, compared to the unreliable -eyesight on which his parents have had to depend -for information. It is of no especial importance -that he shall learn quickly to distinguish -with his eyes shut that a piece of maple the same -size as a piece of pine is the heavier of the two. It -is of the utmost importance that he shall learn to -take in accurate information about the phenomena -of the world, from whichever sense is most convenient, -or from all of them at once, correcting and supplementing -each other as they so seldom do with us -badly trained adults.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VII<br /> - - -<small>THE POSSIBILITY OF AMERICAN ADAPTATIONS -OF, OR ADDITIONS TO, THE MONTESSORI -APPARATUS</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">HOLDING firmly in mind the guiding principle -formulated in the paragraph preceding, it -may not be presumptuous for us, in addition to exercising -our children with the apparatus devised by -Dr. Montessori, to attempt to apply her main principles -in ways which she has not happened to hit -upon. She herself would be the first to urge us to do -this, since she constantly reiterates that she has but -begun the practical application of her theories, and -she calls for the co-operation of the world in the -task of working out complete applications suitable for -different conditions.</p> - -<p>It is my conviction that, as soon as her theories -are widely known and fairly well assimilated, she -will find, all over the world, a multitude of ingenious -co-partners in her enterprise, people who, quite unconscious -of her existence, have been for years approximating -her system, although never doing so -systematically and thoroughly. Is it not said that -each new religion finds a congregation ready-made, of -those who have been instinctively practising the as -yet unformulated doctrines?</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>An incident in my own life which happened years -ago, is an example of this. One of the children of -the family, an adored, delicate little boy of five, fell -ill while we were all in the country. We sent at once -in the greatest haste to the city for a trained nurse, -and while awaiting her arrival, devoted ourselves to -the task of keeping the child amused and quiet in his -little bed. The hours of heart-sickening difficulty -and anxiety which followed can be imagined by anyone -who has, without experience, embarked on that -undertaking. We performed our wildest antics before -that pale, listless little spectator, we offered up our -choicest possessions for his restless little hands, we set -in motion the most complicated of his mechanical -toys; and we quite failed either to please or to quiet -him.</p> - -<p>The nurse arrived, cast one glance at the situation, -and swept us out with a gesture. We crept away, -exhausted, beaten, wondering by what possible miraculous -<i>tour de force</i> she meant single-handed to -accomplish what had baffled us all, and holding ourselves -ready to secure for her anything she thought -necessary, were it the horns of the new moon. In a -few moments she thrust her head out of the door and -asked pleasantly for a basket of clothes-pins, just -common wooden clothes-pins.</p> - -<p>When we were permitted to enter the room an hour -or so later, our little patient scarcely glanced at us, -so absorbed was he in the fascinatingly various angles -at which clothes-pins may be thrust into each other’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -clefts. When he felt tired, he shut his eyes and -rested quietly, and when returning strength brought -with it a wave of interest in his own cleverness, he -returned to the queer agglomeration of knobby wood -which grew magically under his hands. Now Dr. Montessori -could not possibly have used that “sensory -exercise,” as they have no clothes-pins in Italy, -fastening their washed garments to wires, with knotted -strings; and the nurse was probably married with -children of her own before Dr. Montessori opened -the first Casa dei Bambini; but that was a true Montessori -device, and she was a real “natural-born” -Montessori teacher. And I am sure that everyone -must have in his circle of acquaintances several persons -who have such an intuitive understanding of -children that Dr. Montessori’s arguments and theories -will seem to them perfectly natural and axiomatic. -One of my neighbors, the wife of a farmer, a plain -Yankee woman who would be not altogether pleased -to hear that she is bringing up her children according -to the theories of an inhabitant of Italy, has, by the -instinctive action of her own wits, hit upon several -inventions which might, without surprising the Directress, -be transferred bodily to any Casa dei Bambini. -All of her children have gone through what she -calls the “folding-up fever,” and she has laid away in -the garret, waiting for the newest baby to grow up to -it, the apparatus which has so enchanted and instructed -all the older ones. This “apparatus,” to -use the unfortunately mouth-filling and inflated name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -which has become attached to Dr. Montessori’s simple -expedients, is a set of cloths of all shapes and sizes, -ranging from a small washcloth to an old bedspread.</p> - -<p>When the first of my neighbor’s children was a little -over three, his mother found him, one hot Tuesday, -busily employed in “folding up,” that is, crumpling -and crushing the fresh shirtwaists which she had just -laboriously ironed smooth. She snatched them away -from him, as any one of us would have done, but she -was nimble-witted enough to view the situation from -an impersonal point of view which few of us would -have adopted. She really “observed” the child, to -use the Montessori phrase; she put out of her mind -with a conscious effort her natural, extreme irritation -at having the work of hours destroyed in minutes, and -she turned her quick mind to an analysis of the -child’s action, as acute and sound as any the Roman -psychologist has ever made. Not that she was in the -least conscious of going through this elaborate mental -process. Her own simple narration of what followed, -runs: “I snatched ’em away from him and I -was as mad as a hornit for a minit or two. And -then I got to thinkin’ about it. I says to myself, -‘He’s so little that ’tain’t nothin’ to him whether -shirtwaists are smooth or wrinkled, so he couldn’t -have taken no satisfaction in bein’ mischievous. -Seems ’s though he was wantin’ to fold up things, -without really sensin’ what he was doin’ it <i>with</i>. -He’s seen me fold things up. There’s other things -than shirtwaists he could fold, that ’twouldn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -do no harm for him to fuss with.’ And I set -th’ iron down and took a dish-towel out’n the -basket and says to him, where he set cryin’, ‘Here, -Buddy, here’s somethin’ you can fold up.’ And he -set there for an hour by the clock, foldin’ and unfoldin’ -that thing.”</p> - -<p>That historic dish-towel is still among the “apparatus” -in her garret. Five children have learned -deftness and exactitude of muscular action by means -if it, and the sixth is getting to the age when his -mother’s experienced eye detects in him signs of the -“fever.”</p> - -<p>Now, of course, the real difference between that -woman and Dr. Montessori, and the real reason why -Dr. Montessori’s work comes in the nature of a revelation -of new forces, although hundreds of “natural -mothers” long have been using devices strongly resembling -hers, is that my neighbor hasn’t the slightest -idea of what she is doing and she has a very erroneous -idea of why she is doing it, inasmuch as she regards -the fervor of her children for that fascinating sense -exercise, as merely a Providential means to enable -her to do her housework untroubled by them. She -could not possibly convince any other mother of any -good reason for following her examples because she is -quite ignorant of the good reason.</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori, on the other hand, with the keen -self-consciousness of its own processes which characterizes -the trained mind, is perfectly aware not -not only of what she is doing, but of a broadly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -fundamental and wholly convincing philosophical -reason for doing it; namely, that the child’s body is -a machine which he will have to use all his life in -whatever he does, and the sooner he learns the accurate -and masterful handling of every cog of this -machine the better for him.</p> - -<p>Now, whenever frontier conditions exist, people -generally are forced to learn to employ their senses -and muscles much more competently than is possible -under the usual modern conditions of specialized labor -performed almost entirely away from the home; and -though for most of us the old-fashioned conditions of -farm-life so ideal for children, the free roaming of -field and wood, the care and responsibility for animals, -the knowledge of plant-life, the intimate acquaintance -with the beauties of the seasons, the enforced -self-dependence in crises, are impossibly out -of reach, we can give our children some of the benefits -to be had from them by analyzing them and seeing -exactly which are the elements in them so tonic and -invigorating to child-life, and by adapting them to -our own changed conditions. There are even a few -items which we might take over bodily. A number of -families in my acquaintance have inherited from their -ancestors odd “games” for children, which follow -perfectly the Montessori ideas. One of them is called -the “hearth-side seed-game” and is played as the -family sits about the hearth in the evening,—though -it might just as well be played about a table in the -dining-room with the light turned low. Each child<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -is given a cup of mixed grains, corn, wheat, oats, and -buckwheat. The game is a competition to see who can -the soonest, by the sense of touch only, separate them -into separate piles, and it has an endless fascination -for every child who tries it—if he is of the right -age, for it is far too fatiguing for the very little -ones. Another family makes a competitive game of -the daily task of peeling the potatoes and apples -needed for the family meals. Once the general principle -of the “Montessori method” is grasped, there -is no reason why we should not apply it to every -activity of our children. Indeed Dr. Montessori is as -impatient as any other philosopher, of a slavishly -close and unelastic interpretation of her ideas. Furthermore, -it is to be remembered that the set of Montessori -apparatus was not intended by its inventor -to represent all the possible practical applications -of her theories. For instance, there are in it none of -the devices for gymnastic exercises of the whole body -which she recommends so highly, but which as yet -she has been able to introduce but little into her -schools. Here, too, what she would wish us to do is -to make an effort to comprehend intelligently what her -general ideas are and then to use our own invention -to adapt them to our own conditions.</p> - -<p>A good example of this is the enlightenment which -comes to most of us, after reading her statement about -the relative weakness of little children’s legs. She -calls our attention to the fact that the legs of the new-born -baby are the most negligible members he possesses,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -small and weak out of all proportion to his -body and arms. Then with an imposing scientific -array of carefully gathered statistics, she proves that -this disproportion of strength and of size continues -during early childhood, up to six or seven. In other -words, that a little child’s legs are weaker and tire -more quickly than the rest of him, and hence he craves -not only those exercises which he takes in running -about in his usual active play, but others which he -can take without bearing all his weight on his still -rather boneless lower extremities.</p> - -<p>This fact, although doubtless it has been common -property among doctors for many years, was entirely -new to me; and probably will be to many of the -mothers who read this book, but an ingenious person -has only to hear it to think at once of a number -of exercises based on it. Dr. Montessori herself -suggests a little fence on which the children can walk -along sideways, supporting part of their weight with -their arms. She also describes a swing with a seat -so long that the child’s legs stretched out in front of -him are entirely supported by it, and which is hung -before a wall or board against which the child presses -his feet as he swings up to it, thus keeping himself -in motion. These devices are both so simple that -almost any child might have the benefit of them, but -even without them it is possible to profit by the above -bit of physiological information, if it is only by -restraining ourselves from forbidding a child the instinctive -gesture we must all have seen, when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -throws himself on his stomach across a chair and kicks -his hanging legs. If all the chairs in the house are -too good to allow this exercise, or if it shocks too -much the adult ideas of propriety, a bench or kitchen-chair -out under the trees will serve the same purpose.</p> - -<p>Everyone who is familiar with the habits of natural -children, or who remembers his own childish passions, -knows how they are almost irresistibly fascinated -by a ladder, and always greatly prefer it to a staircase. -The reason is apparent. After early infancy -they are not allowed to go upstairs on their hands and -knees, but are taught, and rightly taught, to lift the -whole weight of their bodies with their legs, the inherent -weakness of which we have just learned. Of -course this very exercise in moderation is just what -weak legs need; but why not furnish also a length -of ladder out of doors, short enough so that a fall on -the pile of hay or straw at the foot will not be serious? -As a matter of fact, you will be astonished to -see that even with a child as young as three, the hay -or straw is only needed to calm your own mind. The -child has no more need of it than you, nor so much, -his little hands and feet clinging prehensilely to the -rounds of the ladder as he delightedly ascends and -descends this substitute for the original tree-home.</p> - -<p>The single board about six inches wide and three -or four inches from the ground (a length of joist or -studding serves very well) along which the child -walks and runs, is an exercise for equilibrium which -is elsewhere described (page 149). This can be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -varied, as he grows in strength and poise, by having -him try some of the simpler rope-walking tricks of -balance, walking on the board with one foot, or backward, -or with his eyes shut. It is fairly safe to say, -however, that having provided the board, you need -exercise your own ingenuity no further in the matter. -The variety and number of exercises of the sort -which a group of active children can devise goes far -beyond anything the adult brain could conceive. -The exercises with water are described (page -151). These also can be varied to infinity, by the -use of receptacles of different shapes, bottles with -wide or narrow mouths, etc.</p> - -<p>The folding-up exercises seem to me excellent, and -the hearth-side seed-game is, in a modified form, already -in use in the Casa dei Bambini. Small, low -see-saws, the right size for very young children, are -of great help in aiding the little one to learn the -trick of balancing himself under all conditions; and -let us remember that the sooner he learns this all-important -secret of equilibrium, the better for him, -since he will not have the heavy handicap of the bad -habit of uncertain, awkward, misdirected movements, -and he will never know the disheartening mental distress -of lack of confidence in his own ability deftly, -strongly, and automatically to manage his own body -under all ordinary circumstances.</p> - -<p>A very tiny spring-board, ending over a heap of -hay, is another expedient for teaching three- and -four-year-olds that they need not necessarily fall in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -a heap if their balance is quickly altered. If this -simple device is too hard to secure, a substitute -which any woman and even an older child can arrange -for a little one, is a long thin board, with plenty -of “give” to it, supported at each end by big stones, -or by two or three bits of wood. The little child -bouncing up and down on this and “jumping himself -off” into soft sand, or into a pile of hay, learns unconsciously -so many of the secrets of bodily poise -that walking straight soon becomes a foregone conclusion.</p> - -<p>One of the blindfold games in use in Montessori -schools is played with wooden solids of different -shapes, cubes, cylinders, pyramids, etc. The blindfolded -child picks these, one at a time, out of the -pile before him and identifies each by his sense of -touch. In our family this has become an after-dinner -game, played in the leisure moments before we all -push away from the table and go about our own -affairs, and managed with a napkin for blindfold, and -with the table-furnishings for apparatus.</p> - -<p>The identification of different stuffs, velvet, cotton, -satin, woolen, etc., can be managed in any house -which possesses a rag-bag. I do not see why the possession -of a doll, preferably a rag-doll, should not -be as valuable as the Montessori frames. Most dolls -are so small that the hooks and eyes and the buttons -and buttonholes on their minute garments are too -difficult for little fingers to manage, whereas a doll -which could wear the child’s own clothes would certainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -teach him more about the geography of his -raiment than any amount of precept. I can lay no -claim to originality in this idea. It was suggested -to my mind by the constant appearance in new costumes -of the big Teddy-bear of a three-year-old -child, whose impassioned struggles with the buttons of -her bear’s clothes forms the most admirable of self-imposed -manual gymnastics.</p> - -<p>Lastly, it must not be forgotten that the “sets of -Montessori apparatus” must be supplemented by several -articles of child-furniture. There is not in it -the little light table, the small low chair so necessary -for children’s comfort and for their acquiring correct, -agreeable habits of bodily posture. Such little -chairs are easily to be secured but, alas! rarely found -in even the most prosperous households. We must not -forget the need for a low washstand with light and -easily handled equipment; the hooks set low enough -for little arms to reach up to them, so that later we -shall not have to struggle with the habit fixed in the -eight-year-old boy, of careless irresponsibility about -those of his clothes which are not on his back; the -small brooms and dust-pans so that tiny girls will -take it as a matter of course that they are as much -interested as their mothers in the cleanliness of a -room; in short, all the devices possible to contrive to -make a little child really at <i>home</i> in his father’s house.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_116fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Color Boxes Comprising Spools of Eight Colors and Eight Shades of Each Color.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -<small>SOME REMARKS ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF -THE SYSTEM</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">WHEN I first began to understand to some -extent the thoroughgoing radicalism of the -philosophy of liberty which underlies all the intricate -detail of Dr. Montessori’s system, I used to wonder -why it went home to me with such a sudden inward -conviction of its truth, and why it moved me so -strangely, almost as the conversion to a new religion. -This Italian woman is not the first, by any means, to -speak eloquently of the righteousness of personal liberty. -As far back as Rabelais’ “Fay ce que -vouldras” someone was feeling and expressing that. -Even the righteousness of such liberty for the child -is no invention of hers. Jean Jacques Rousseau’s -“mile,” in spite of all its disingenuous evading of -the principle in practice, was founded on it in theory; -and Froebel had as clear a vision as any seer, as -Montessori herself, of just the liberty his followers -admit in theory and find it so hard to allow in -practice.</p> - -<p>Why, then, should those who come to Rome to -study the Montessori work, stammerers though they -might be, wish, all of them, to go away and prophesy? -For almost without exception this was the common<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -result among the widely diverse national types I saw -in Rome; always granting, of course, that they had -seen one of the good schools and not those which -present a farcical caricature of the method.</p> - -<p>In thinking the matter over since, I have come to -the conclusion that the vividness of inward conviction -arises from the fact that the founder of this -“new” philosophy bases it on the theory of democracy; -and there is no denying that the world to-day is -democratic, that we honestly in our heart of hearts -believe, as we believe in the law of gravity, that, on -the whole, democracy, for all its shortcomings, has in -it the germ of the ideal society of the future.</p> - -<p>Now, our own democracy was based, a hundred or -so years ago, on the idea that men reach their highest -development only when they have, for the growth of -their individuality, the utmost possible freedom which -can be granted them without interfering with the -rights and freedom of others. Little by little during -the last half-century the idea has grown that, -inasmuch as women form half the race, the betterment -of the whole social group might be hastened if this -beneficial principle were applied to them.</p> - -<p>If you will imagine yourself living sixty or so -years ago, when, to conservative minds, this idea of -personal liberty for women was like the sight of -dynamite under the foundations of society, and to -radical minds shone like the dawn of a brighter day, -you can imagine how startling and thrilling is the -first glimpse of its application to children. I felt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -during the beginning of my consideration of the -question, all the sharp pangs of intellectual growing-pains -which must have racked my grandfather when -it first occurred to him that my grandmother was a -human being like himself, who would very likely -thrive under the same conditions which were good for -him. For, just as my grandfather, in spite of the -sincerest affection for his wife, had never conceived -that he might be doing her an injury by insisting on -doing her thinking for her, so I, for all my love for -my children, had never once thought that, by my -competent, loving “management” of them, I might -be starving and stunting some of their most valuable -moral and intellectual qualities.</p> - -<p>In theory I instantly granted this principle of as -much personal liberty as possible for children. I -could not help granting it, pushed irresistibly forward -as I was by the generations of my voting, self-governing -ancestors; but the resultant splintering upheaval -of all my preconceived ideas about children -was portentous.</p> - -<p>The first thing that Dr. Montessori’s penetrating -and daring eye had seen in her survey of the problem -of education, and the fact to which she devotes -throughout her most forceful, direct, and pungent -explanation, had simply never occurred to me, in spite -of Froebel’s mild divination of it; namely, that children -are nothing more or less than human beings. I -was as astonished by this fact as I was amazed that -I had not thought of it myself; and I instantly perceived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -a long train of consequences leading off from -it to a wholly unexplored country. True, children -are not exactly like adults; but then, neither are -women exactly like men, nor are slow, phlegmatic men -exactly like the red-headed, quick-tempered type; but -they all belong to the genus of human beings, and -those principles which slow centuries of progress have -proved true about the genus as a whole hold true -about subdivisions of it. Children are much weaker -physically than most adults, their judgment is not so -seasoned by experience, and their attention is more fitful. -Hence, on the whole, they need more guidance -than grown-ups. But, on the other hand, the motives, -the instincts, the needs, the potential capacities of children -are all human and nothing but human. Their -resemblances to adults are a thousand times more -numerous and vital than their differences. What is -good for the one must, in a not excessively modified -form, be good for the other.</p> - -<p>With this obvious fact firmly in mind, Dr. Montessori -simply looked back over history and drew upon -the stores of the world’s painfully acquired wisdom -as to the best way to extract the greatest possibilities -from the world’s inhabitants. If it is true, she reasoned, -that men and women have reached their highest -development only when they have had the utmost possible -liberty for the growth of their individualities, -if it is true that slavery has been the most ruinously -unsatisfactory of all social expedients, both for masters -and slaves, if society has found it necessary for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -its own good to abolish not only slavery but caste -laws and even guild rules; if, with all its faults, we -are agreed that democracy works better than the -wisest of paternal despotisms, then it ought to be -true that in the schoolroom’s miniature copy of society -there should be less paternal despotism, more -democracy, less uniformity of regulation and more,—very -much more,—individuality.</p> - -<p>Therefore, although we cannot allow children as -much practical freedom as that suitable for men of -ripe experience, it is apparent that it is our first duty -as parents to make every effort to give them as full -a measure of liberty as possible, exercising our utmost -ingenuity to make the family life an enlightened -democracy. But this is not an easy matter. A -democracy, being a much more complicated machine -than an autocracy, is always harder to organize and -conduct. Moreover the family is so old a human institution -that, like everything else very old, it has -acquired barnacle-like accretions of irrelevant tradition. -Elements of Russian tyranny have existed in -the institution of the family so long that our very -familiarity with them prevents us from recognizing -them without an effort, and prevents our conceiving -family life without them; quite as though in this age -of dentistry, we should find it difficult to conceive of -old age without the good old characteristic of toothlessness. -To renovate this valuable institution of the -family (and one of the unconscious aims of the Montessori -system is nothing more or less than the renovation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -of family life), we must engage upon a daily -battle with our own moral and intellectual inertia, -rising each morning with a fresh resolve to scrutinize -with new eyes our relations to our children. We must -realize that the idea of the innate “divine right of -parents” is as exploded an idea as the “divine right -of kings.” Fathers and mothers and kings nowadays -hold their positions rightfully only on the same conditions -as those governing other modern office-holders, -that they are better fitted for the job than anyone -else.</p> - -<p>I speak from poignant personal experience of the -difficulty of holding this conception in mind. When -I said above that I “saw at once a long train of -consequences following this new principle of personal -liberty for children,” I much overstated my own acumen; -for I am continually perceiving that I saw -these consequences but very vaguely through the -dimmed glasses of my unconscious, hidebound conservatism, -and I am constantly being startled by the -possibility of some new, although very simple application -of it in my daily contact with the child-world. -A wholesome mental exercise in this connection -is to run over in one’s mind the dramatic changes -in human ideas about family life which have taken -place gradually from the Roman rule that the father -was the governor, executioner, lawgiver, and absolute -autocrat, down to our own days. For all our clinging -to the idea of a closely intimate family-life, most -of us would turn with horror from any attempt to return<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -to such tyranny as that even of our own Puritan -forebears. It is possible that our descendants may -look back on our present organization with as much -astonished and uncomprehending revulsion.</p> - -<p>The principle, then, of the Montessori school is -the ideal principle of democracy, namely, that human -beings reach their highest development (and hence -are of most use to society) only when for the growth -of their individuality they have the utmost possible -liberty which can be granted them without interfering -with the rights of others. Now, when Dr. Montessori, -five years ago, founded the first Casa dei Bambini, she -not only believed in that principle but she saw that -children are as human as any of us; and, acting with -that precipitate Latin faith in logic as a guide to -practical conduct which is so startling to Anglo-Saxons, -she put these two convictions into actual -practice. The result has electrified the world.</p> - -<p>She took as her motto the old, old, ever-misunderstood -one of “Liberty!”—that liberty which we still -distrust so profoundly in spite of the innumerable -hard knocks with which the centuries have taught us it -is the only law of life. She was convinced that the -“necessity for school discipline” is only another expression -of humanity’s enduring suspicion of that -freedom which is so essential to its welfare, and that -schoolroom rules for silence, for immobility, for uniformity -of studies and of results, are of the same -nature and as outworn as caste rules in the world -of adults, or laws against the free choice of residence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -for a workman, against the free choice of a profession -for women, against the free advance of any individual -to any position of responsibility which he is capable -of filling.</p> - -<p>All over again in this new field of education Dr. -Montessori fought the old fight against the old idea -that liberty means red caps and riots and guillotines. -All afresh, as though the world had never learned the -lesson, she was obliged to show that liberty means -the only lasting road to order and discipline and self-control. -Once again, for the thousandth time, people -needed to be reminded that the reign of the tyrant -who imposes laws on human souls from the outside -(even though that tyrant intends nothing but the best -for his subjects and be called “teacher”), produces -smothered rebellion, or apathy, or broken submissiveness, -but never energetic, forward progress.</p> - -<p>For this constant turning to that trust in the -safety of freedom which is perhaps the only lasting -spiritual conquest of our time, is the keynote of her -system. This is the real answer to the question, -“What is there in the Montessori method which is -so different from all other educational methods?” -This is the vital principle often overlooked in the -fertility of invention and scientific ingenuity with -which she has applied it.</p> - -<p>This reverence for the child’s personality, this supreme -faith that liberty of action is not only safe -to give children, but is the prerequisite of their -growth, is the rock on which the edifice of her system<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -is being raised. It is also the rock on which the -barks of many investigators are wrecked. When -they realize that she really puts her theory into execution, -they cry out aghast, “What! a school without -a rule for silence, for immobility, a school without -fixed seats, without stationary desks, where children -may sit on the floor if they like, or walk about as -they please; a school where children may play all -day if they choose, may select their own occupations, -where the teacher is always silent and in the background—why, -that is no school at all—it is anarchy!”</p> - -<p>One seems to hear faint echoes from another generation -crying out, “What! a society without -hereditary aristocracy, without a caste system, where -a rail-splitter may become supreme governor, where -people may decide for themselves what to believe -without respect for authority, and may choose how -they wish to earn their livings, ... this is no society -at all! It is anarchy!”</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori has two answers to make to such -doubters. One is that the rule in her schools, like -the rule in civilized society, is that no act is allowed -which transgresses against the common welfare, or is -in itself uncomely or offensive. That the children are -free, does not mean that they may throw books at -each other’s heads, or light a bonfire on the floor, any -more than free citizens of a republic may obstruct -traffic, or run a drain into the water-supply of a -town. It means simply that they are subject to no -<i>unnecessary</i> restraint, and above all to no meddling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -with their instinctive private preferences. The second -answer, even more convincing to hard-headed people -than the first, is the work done in the Case dei Bambini, -where every detail of the Montessori theory has -been more than proved, with an abundance of confirmatory -detail which astonishes even Dr. Montessori -herself. The bugbear of discipline simply does not -exist for these schools. By taking advantage of their -natural instincts and tendencies, the children are made -to perform feats of self-abnegation, self-control, and -collective discipline, impossible to obtain under the -most rigid application of the old rules, and, as for -the amount of information acquired unconsciously -and painlessly by those babies, it is one of the fairy-stories -of modern times.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IX<br /> - -<small>APPLICATION OF THIS PHILOSOPHY TO -AMERICAN HOME LIFE</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">NATURALLY, the question which concerns us is, -how the spiritual discoveries made in this new -institution in a far-away city of Italy, can be used -to benefit our own children, in our own everyday, -American family life. It must be stated uncompromisingly, -to begin with, that they can be applied -to our daily lives only if we experience a “change -of heart.” The use of the vernacular of religion -in this connection is not inappropriate, for what -we are facing, in these new principles, is a new -phase of the religion of humanity. We are simply, -at last, to include children in humanity, and since -despotism, even the most enlightened varieties of -it, has been proved harmful to humanity, we are to -abstain from being their despots, even their paternal, -wise, and devoted despots. This does not mean that -they are not to live under some form of government -of which we are the head. We have as much right -to safeguard their interests against their own weaknesses -as society has to safeguard ours, in forbidding -grade railways in big cities for instance, but -we have no more right than society has to interfere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -with inoffensive individual tastes, preferences, needs, -and, above all, initiative.</p> - -<p>At this point I can hear in my mind’s ear a -chorus of indignant parents’ voices, crying out that -nothing is further from their theory or practice -than despotism over the children, and that, so far -from ruling their little ones, they are the absolute -slaves of their offspring (forgetting that in many -cases there is no more despotic master than a slave -of old standing). To answer this natural protest -I wish here to be allowed a digression for the purpose -of attempting a brief analysis of a trait of -human egotism, the understanding of which bears -closely on this phase of the relations of parent and -child. I refer to the instinctive pleasure taken by -us all in the dependence of someone upon us.</p> - -<p>This is so closely connected with benevolence that -it is usually wholly unrecognized as a separate and -quite different characteristic. Even when it is seen, -it is identified only by those who suffer from it, and -any intimation of its existence on their part savors -so nearly of ingratitude that they have not, as a -rule, ventured to complain of what is frequently an -almost intolerable tyranny. Just as it is the spiteful -member of a family who is the only one to blurt -out home-truths which run counter to the traditional -family illusions, so it is only a thoroughly bad-tempered -analyst, one who takes a malicious pleasure -in dwelling on human meannesses, who can perform<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -the useful function of diagnosing this little suspected, -very prevalent, human vice.</p> - -<p>Here is the sardonic Hazlitt, derisively relieving -his mind on the subject of benefactors. “... Benefits -are often conferred out of ostentation or pride. -As the principle of action is a love of power, the -complacency in the object of friendly regard ceases -with the opportunity or the necessity for the manifest -display of power; and when the unfortunate protg -is just coming to land and expects a last helping -hand, he is, to his surprise, pushed back in order -that he may be saved from drowning once more. -You are not haled ashore as you had supposed by -those kind friends, as a mutual triumph, after all -your struggles and their exertions on your behalf. -It is a piece of presumption in you to be seen walking -on terra firma; you are required at the risk of -their friendship to be always swimming in troubled -waters that they may have the credit of throwing -out ropes and sending out life-boats to you without -ever bringing you ashore. The instant you can go -alone, or can stand on your own ground, you are -discarded.”</p> - -<p>Now the majority of us in these piping times of -mediocrity have no grounds, fancied or real, for assuming -the rle of tyrannical Providence to other -people. But the instinct, in spite of the decreased -opportunity for its exercise, is none the less alive -in our hearts; and when chance throws in our way -a little child, our primitive, instinctive affection for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -whom confuses in our minds the motives underlying -our pseudo-benevolent actions, do we not wreak upon -it unconsciously all that latent desire to be depended -upon, to be the stronger, to be looked up to, to -gloat over the weakness of another?</p> - -<p>If this seems an exaggerated statement, consider -for a moment the real significance of the feeling -expressed by the mothers we have all met, when they -cry, “Oh, I can’t <i>bear</i> to have the babies grow up!” -and when they refuse to correct the pretty, lisping, -inarticulate baby talk. I have been one of those -mothers myself, and I certainly would have regarded -as malicious and spiteful any person who had told -me that my feelings sprang from almost unadulterated -egotism, and that I “couldn’t bear to have -the babies grow up” because I wanted to continue -longer in my complacent, self-assumed rle of God, -that I wished to be surrounded by little sycophants -who, knowing no standard but my personality, could -not judge me as anything but infallible, and that I -was wilfully keeping the children granted me by a -kind Heaven as weak and dependent on me as possible -that they might continue to secrete more food -for my egotism.</p> - -<p>What I now see to be a plain statement of the -ugly truth underlying my sentimental reluctance -to have the babies grow up would have seemed to -me the most heartless attack on mother-love. It -now occurs to me that mother-love should be something -infinitely more searching and subtle. Modern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -society with its enforced drains and vaccinations and -milk inspection and pure-food laws does much of -the physical protecting which used to fall to the -lot of mothers. Our part should not be, like bewildered -bees, to live idly on the accumulation of -virtues achieved for us by the hard won battles of -our ancestors against their lower physical instincts; -but to catch up the standard and advance into the -harder battle against the hidden, treacherous ambushes -of egotism, to conceive a new, high devotion -for our children, a devotion which has in it courage -for them as well as care for them; which is made -up of faith in their better, stronger natures, as well -as love for them, and which begins by the ruthless -slaughter, so far as we can reach it, of the selfishness -which makes us take pleasure in their dependence on -us, rather than in seeing them grow (even though -it may mean away from us) in the ability wisely -to regulate their own lives. We must take care -that we mothers do not treat our children as we -reproach men for having treated women, with -patronizing, enfeebling protection. We must learn -to wish, above all things, to see the babies grow -up since there is no condition (for any creature -not a baby) more revolting than babyishness, just -as there is no state more humiliating (for any but -a child) than childishness. Let us learn to be -ashamed of our too imperious care, which deprives -them of every chance for action, for self-reliance, -for fighting down their own weaknesses, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -snatches away from them every opportunity to -strengthen themselves by overcoming obstacles. We -must learn to see in a little child not only a much-loved -little body, informed by a will more or less pliable -to our own, but a valiant spirit, longing for the -exercise of its own powers, powers which are different -from ours, from those of every human being who has -ever existed.</p> - -<p>There is no danger that in combating this subtle -vice, we will fall back into the grosser one of physical -tyranny over women, children, or the poor. That -step forward has been taken conclusively. That question -has been settled for all time and has been -crystallized in popular opinion. We may still tyrannize -coarsely over the weak, but we are quite conscious -that we are doing something to be ashamed -of. We can therefore, without fear of reactionary -setbacks, devote ourselves to creating a popular consciousness -of the sin of moral and intellectual tyranny.</p> - -<p>Now all this reasoning has been conducted by -means of abstract ideas and big words. It may -seem hardly applicable to the relations of an affectionate -parent with his three-year-old child. How, -practically, concretely, at once, to-day, can we begin -to avoid paternal despotism over little children?</p> - -<p>To begin with, by giving them the practical training -necessary to physical independence of life. Anyone -who knows a woman who lived in the South during -the old rgime must have heard stories of the pathetic, -grotesque helplessness to which the rich white population<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -was reduced by the presence and personal service -of the slaves ... the grown women who could not -button their own shoes, the grown men who had never -in their lives assembled all the articles necessary for -a complete toilet. Dr. Montessori says, “The paralytic -who cannot take off his boots because of a pathological -fact, and the prince who dare not take them -off because of a social fact, are in reality reduced to -the same condition.” How many mothers whose -willing fingers linger lovingly over the buttons and -strings and hooks and eyes of the little costume are -putting themselves in the pernicious attitude of the -slave? How many other bustling, competent, quick-stepping -mothers, dressing and undressing, washing -and feeding and regulating their children, as though -they were little automata, because “it’s so much -easier to do it for them than to bother to teach them -how to do it,” are reducing the little ones to a state -of practical paralysis? As if ease were the aim of -a mother in her relations to her child! It would be -easier, as far as that is concerned, to eat the child’s -meals for it; and a study of the “competent” brand -of mother almost leads one to suspect that only the -physical impossibility of this substituted activity -keeps it from being put into practice. The too -loving mother, the one who is too competent, the -one who is too wedded to the regularity of her household -routine, the impatient mother, the one who is -“no teacher and never can tell anybody how to do -things,” all these diverse personalities, though actuated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -by quite differing motives, are doing the same -thing, unconsciously, benevolently, overbearingly insisting -upon living the child’s life for him.</p> - -<p>But it is evident that simply keeping our hands -off is not enough. To begin with the process of -dressing himself, the first in order of the day’s -routine, a child of three, with no training, turned -loose with the usual outfit of clothes, could never -dress himself in the longest day of the year. And -here, with a serious problem to be solved, we are -back beside the buttoning boy of the Children’s -Home. The child must <i>learn how</i> to be independent, -as he must learn how to be anything else that is worth -being, and the only excuse for existence of a parent -is the possibility of his furnishing the means for the -child to acquire this information with all speed. Let -us take a long look at the buttoning boy over there -in Rome and return to our own three-year-old for -a more systematic survey of his problem, which is -none other than the beginning of his emancipation -from the prison of babyishness. Let him learn the -different ways of fastening garments together on -the Montessori frames if you have them, or in any -other way your ingenuity can devise. Old garments -of your own, put on a cheap dress form, are not a bad -substitute for that part of the Montessori apparatus, -or the large doll suggested on page 115 may serve.</p> - -<p>Then apply your mind, difficult as that process -is for all of us, to the simplification of the child’s -costumes, even if you are led into such an unheard-of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -innovation as fastening the little waists and dresses -up the front. Let me wonder, parenthetically, why -children’s clothes should all be fastened at the back? -Men manage to protect themselves from the weather -on the opposite principle.</p> - -<p>Then, finally, give him time to learn and to practise -the new process; and time is one of the necessary -elements of life most often denied to little children, -who always take vastly longer than we do to complete -a given process. I am myself a devoted adherent of -the clock, and cannot endure the formless irregularity -of a daily life without fixed hours, so that I do not -speak without a keen realization of the fact that -time cannot be granted to little children to live their -own lives, without our undergoing considerable inconvenience, -no matter how ingeniously we arrange -the matter. We must feel a whole-hearted willingness -to forego a superfluity in life for the sake -of safeguarding an essential of life. When I feel -the temptation, into which my impatient temperament -is constantly leading me, to perform some -action for a child which he would better do for himself, -because his slowness interferes with my household -schedule, I bring rigorously to mind the Montessori -teacher who did not tuck in the child’s napkin. -And I severely scrutinize the household process, the -regularity of which is being upset, to see if that -regularity is really worth a check to the child’s -growth in self-dependence.</p> - -<p>Once in a while it really does seem to me, on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -mature consideration, that regularity is worth that -sacrifice, but so seldom as to be astonishing. One -of the few instances is the regularity of the three -meals a day. This seems to be an excellent means -of inculcating real social feeling in the child, of -making him understand the necessity for occasional -sacrifices of individual desires to benefit the common -weal. One should take care not to neglect or pass -over the few genuine opportunities in the life of a -little child, when he may feel that in common with -the rest of the family he is making a sacrifice which -<i>counts</i> for the sake of the common good.</p> - -<p>But most other situations yield very different -results when analyzed. For instance, if a child must -dress in a cold room it is better for an adult to -stuff the little arms and legs into the clothes with -all haste, rather than run the risk of chilling the -child. But as a rule, if the conditions are really -honestly examined, these two alternatives are seen -not to be the only ones. He is set perhaps to dress -in a cold room because we have a tradition that it -is “messy” and “common” to have dressing and -undressing going on anywhere except in a bedroom. -The question I must then ask myself is no longer, -“Is there not danger that the child will take cold -if I give him time to dress himself?” but, “Is the -ordered respectability of my warm parlor worth a -check to my child’s normal growth?”</p> - -<p>And it is to some such quite unexpected question -that one is constantly led by the attempt really to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -analyze the various restrictions we put upon the -child’s freedom to live his own life. These restrictions -multiply in such a perverse ratio with the -material prosperity and conventionality of our lives -that it is a truism that the children of the very poor -fare better than ours in the opportunities offered -them for the development of self-reliance, self-control, -and independence, almost the most valuable outfit -for the battle of life a human being can have.</p> - -<p>It is impossible, of course, to consider here all -the processes of the child’s day in as minute detail -as this question of his morning toilet. But the same -procedure of “hands off” should be followed, because -<i>help that is not positively necessary is a hindrance to -a growing organism</i>. It is well to put strings for your -vines to climb up, but it does them no good to have you -try to “help” them by pulling on the tips of the -tendrils. The little child should be allowed time to -wash his own face and hands, to brush his teeth, and -to feed himself, although it would be quicker to -continue our Strasbourg goose tradition of stuffing -him ourselves. He should, as soon as possible, learn -to put on and take off his own wraps, hat, and -rubbers. He should carry his own playthings, should -learn to open and shut doors, go up and down stairs -freely, hang up his own clothes (hooks placed low -must not be forgotten), and look himself for articles -he has misplaced.</p> - -<p>Adults who, for the first time, try this rgime -with little children are astonished to find that it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -not the patience of the little child, but their own, -which is inadequate. A child (if he is young enough -not to have acquired the invalid’s habit of being -waited upon) will persevere unendingly through a -series of grotesquely awkward attempts, for instance, -to climb upon an adult’s chair. The sight of this laborious -attempt to accomplish a perfectly easy feat -reduces his quick-stepping, competent mother to -nervous fidgets, requiring all her self-control to -resist. She is almost irresistibly driven to rushing -forward and lifting him up. If she does, she is very -apt to see him slide to the floor and begin all over -again. It is not elevation to the chair which he -desires. It is the capacity to attain it himself, -unaided, which is his goal, a goal like all others in -his life which his mother cannot reach for him.</p> - -<p>And if all this sounds too troublesome and complicated, -let it be remembered that the Children’s -Home looms close at hand, ominously ready to devote -itself to making conditions exactly right for -the child’s growth, never impatient, with no other -aim in life and no other occupation but to do what -is best for the child. If we are to be allowed to keep -our children with us, we must prove worthy the -sacred trust.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_138fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Materials for Teaching Rough and Smooth.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - - -<p>For, practically, the highly successful existence -of the Casa dei Bambini, keeping the children as -it does all day, takes for granted that the average -parent cannot or will not make the average home -into a place really suited for the development of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -small children. It is visibly apparent that, as far -as physical surroundings are concerned, he is Gulliver -struggling with the conditions of Brobdingnag. -He eats his meals from a table as high for him as -the mantelpiece would be for us, he climbs up and -down stairs with the painful effort we expend on the -ascent of the Pyramids, he gets into an armchair as -we would climb into a tree, and he can no more alter -the position of it than we could that of the tree.</p> - -<p>As for the conduct of life, he is considered -“naughty” if he interferes with adult occupations, -which, going on all about him all the time and being -entirely incomprehensible to him, are very difficult to -avoid; and he is “good” like the “good Indian” -according to the degree of his silent passivity. When -we return after a brief absence and inquire of a little -child, “Have you been a good child?” do we not -mean simply, “Have you been as little inconvenient -as possible to your elders?” To most of us who -are honest with ourselves it comes as rather a surprise -that this standard of virtue should not be the -natural and inevitable one.</p> - -<p>I leave to the last chapter the question, a most -searching and painful one for me, as to whether the -Casa dei Bambini will not ultimately be the Home -for all our children, and here confine myself to the -statement, which no unprejudiced mind can deny, that -such an institution, arranged as it has been with -the most single-hearted desire to further the children’s -interests, is now better adapted for child-life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -than our average homes, into which children may be -welcomed lovingly, but which are adapted in every -detail of their material, intellectual, and spiritual -life for adults only. It is my firm conviction that, -in my own case, a working compromise may be -effected, thanks to my alarmed jealousy of the greater -perfection of the Montessori Children’s Home; but -I realize that it required the alarming sight and -study of that institution to make me see that I was -forcing my children to live under a great many -unnecessary restrictions. And, if there is one thing -above all others to be kept in mind by a convert to -these new ideas it is that an <i>unnecessary restriction -in a child’s life is a crime</i>. The most puritanical -soul among us must see that there are quite enough -necessary restrictions for the child, if they are all -recognized and rigorously obeyed, to serve as disciplinary -forces to the most turbulent nature.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER X<br /> - -<small>SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THE NATURE OF -“DISCIPLINE”</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">WITH the last affirmation of the preceding -chapter I have brought myself to another -bed-rock principle of this new religion of childhood, -one which at first I was unable to understand and -hence to accept. In my very blood there runs that -conviction of the necessity for discipline which -colored so profoundly all early New England life. -At the sight of this too-pleasant and too-smiling world -of children, some old Puritan of an ancestor sprang -to life in me and cried out sourly, “But it’s good -for children to do what they don’t like to do, and to -keep on with something after they want to stop. -They must in later life. They should begin now.”</p> - -<p>The answer to this objection is one I have had -practically to work out for myself, since the Italian -exponents of the system, having back of them an unbroken -line of life-loving and life-trusting Latin forefathers, -found it practically impossible to understand -what was in my mind. There was much talk of “discipline” -in their discussion of the theories of the -method; but evidently they did not attach the same -meaning to the word as the one I had been trained to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -use. This fact led me to meditate on what I myself -really meant by discipline: a process of definition -which, as it always does, clarified my ideas and proved -them in some respects quite different from what I -had thought them.</p> - -<p>Discipline means, of course, “the capacity for -self-control.” I had no sooner formulated this definition -than I saw that I had been, in my practical use -of the word, omitting half of it, and that the vital -half. It was not discipline I had been vainly seeking -at the Casa dei Bambini, it was compulsion.</p> - -<p>Now, compulsion is a force very much handier to -use in education than self-control, since it depends -on the adult and not on the child, and practically any -adult with a club (physical or moral) can compass it, -if the child in his power is small enough. But the -most elementary experience of life proves that the -effects of compulsion last exactly as long as the -physical or moral club can be applied. Evidently -its use can scarcely prepare the child for the searching -tests of independent adult life when no one has -any longer even a pseudo-right to club him into moral -action.</p> - -<p>And yet self-control, like all other vital processes -of individual life, is tantalizingly elusive and subtle. -My untrained mind, face to face at last with the real -problem, despaired of securing this real self-control -and not the valueless compulsory obedience to external -force or persuasion with which I had been confusing -it. I saw that it is secured in the Children’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -Home and betook myself once more to an examination -of their methods.</p> - -<p>Their method for solving this problem is like the -one they use in all other problems of child-life. They -use the adult brain to analyze minutely all the complex -processes involved, and then they begin at the -beginning to teach the children all the different actions, -one after another.</p> - -<p>For instance, the capacity for close, consecutive -attention to any undertaking is a very valuable form -of self-control and self-discipline (one which a good -many adults have never mastered). The natural -tendency of childhood, as of all untrained humanity, is -for flightiness, for mental vagrancy, for picking up -and fitfully dropping an enterprise. It is obvious -that the sternest of external so-called discipline cannot -lay a finger on this particular mental fault, because -all it can command is physical obedience, which -ceases when the compulsion is no longer active. In -the Children’s Home, the child is provided with a task -so exactly suited to the instinctive needs of his growing -organism, that his own spontaneous interest in it -overcomes his own equally spontaneous aversion to -mental concentration. Later on in life he must learn -to concentrate mentally, whether he feels a strong -spontaneous interest in the subject or not; but it is -evident that he cannot do that, if he has not learned -first to control his wandering wits when the subject -does interest him. And that this last is not the -perfectly easy undertaking it seems, is apparent when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -one considers all the hopelessly flighty women there -are in the world, who could not, to save their lives, -mentally concentrate on anything. The Montessori -apparatus sets a valuable vital force in the child’s -own intellectual make-up to master an undesirable -instinct, and naturally the valuable force grows -stronger with every exercise of its power, just as a -muscle does. The little boy who was so much interested -in his buttoning-frame that he stuck to his -enterprise from beginning to end without so much as -glancing up at the activities of the other children, -showed real self-control, even though it was not associated -with the element of pain which my grim ancestors -led me to think was essential.</p> - -<p>It is true that self-control in the face of pain or -indifference is a necessary element in adult moral and -intellectual life, but it now appears that, like every -other factor in life, it must start from small beginnings -and grow slowly. The buttoning boy showed -not only self-control, but the only variety of it which -a baby is capable of manifesting. When I had the -notion that I ought (for his own good, of course) -to demand of him self-control in the face of pain, -even of a very small pain, I was asking something -which he could not as yet give, and of which compulsory -obedience could only obtain an empty and misleading -appearance, an appearance really harmful -to the child’s best interests since it completely blinded -me to the fact that he had not made the least beginning -towards attaining a real self-control. He must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -begin slowly to learn self-control, as he must begin -slowly to learn how to walk. I am quite satisfied if -he takes a single step at first, because I know that is -the essential. If he can do that, he will ultimately -learn to climb a mountain. If he can overcome the -naturally vagrant impulses of his mind through intellectual -interest (for it is none other) in the completion -of his task of buttoning up the cloth on his -frame, he has begun a mental habit the value of -which cannot be overestimated, and which will later, -in its full development, make it possible for him to -master calculus without the agonizing, too-tardy effort -at mental self-control which embittered my own -struggle with that subject.</p> - -<p>From time immemorial, the child himself has always -instinctively used in his games and plays this -method of learning self-control and mental concentration, -as much as adults would allow him. The admirable, -thoroughgoing concentration of a child on a -game of marbles or ball is proverbial; but while the -rest of us, with some unsystematic exceptions, have -looked idly on at this great natural stream of mental -vigor pouring itself out in profusion before our eyes, -Dr. Montessori has stepped in with an ingeniously -devised waterwheel and set it to work.</p> - -<p>The child in the Casa dei Bambini advances from -one scientifically graded stage of mental self-control -to the next, from the buttoning-frames to the geometric -insets, from these to their use in drawing and -the control of the pencil, and then on into the mastery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -of the alphabet, always with a greater and -greater control of the processes of his mind.</p> - -<p>The control of the processes of his body are learned -in the same analyzed, gradual progression from the -easy to the difficult. He learns in the “lesson of -silence” how to do nothing with his body, an accomplishment -which his fidgety elders have never acquired; -he learns in all the sensory exercises the complete -control of his five servants, his senses; and in -moving freely about the furniture suited to his size, -in handling things small enough for him to manage, -in transferring objects from one place to another, he -learns how to go deftly through all the ordinary -operations of everyday life.</p> - -<p>This physical adroitness has a vitally close relation -to discipline of all sorts. When we say to -the average, untrained, muscularly uncontrolled child -of four, “Now do sit still for a while!” we are making -a request about as reasonable as though we cried, -“Do stand on your head!” And then we shake him -or reprove him for not obeying what is for him an -impossible command. By so doing we start in his mind -the habit, both of not obeying and of being punished -for it; and as Nature is exuberant in her protective -devices, he very soon grows a fine mental callous over -his capacity for remorse at not obeying. The effort -required to accede to our request is entirely too great -for him, even if he wholly understands what we wish, -which is often doubtful. And because he often has -been forced to disobey a command to do something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -impossible, he falls into the way of disobeying a -command which is within his powers. The Montessori -training makes every impassioned attempt to -teach a child exactly how to do a thing before he -is requested to do it.</p> - -<p>We give a child the enormously compendious command, -“Don’t be so careless!” without reflecting -that it is about as useful and specific an exhortation -as if one should cry to us, “Do be more virtuous!” -Dr. Montessori is continually admonishing us to use -our grown-up brains to analyze into its component -parts the child’s carelessness, so that, part by part, it -can be corrected. Suppose that it has manifested -itself (as it not infrequently does) by a reckless -plunge across the room, carrying a plateful of cookies -which have most of them fallen to the floor by the end -of the trip. Almost without exception, what we all -cry impatiently to a child, even to a very little child, -under those circumstances, is “For mercy’s sake, <i>do</i> -look at what you’re doing!” which is, considered at -all analytically, exactly what it is our business as his -leaders and guides in the world to do for him.</p> - -<p>A little reflection on the subject makes us realize, in -spite of the sharpness of our reproof to him, that he -takes no pleasure in spilling the cookies and falling -over the chairs; that is, that he had no set purpose to -do this, instead of walking correctly across the room -and setting the plate down on the table. The question -we should ask ourselves, is obviously, “Why then, did -he do all those troublesome and careless things?” Obviously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -because we were requiring him to go through -a complicated process, the separate parts of which he -has not mastered; as though a musician should command -us to play the chromatic scale of D minor, and -then blame us for the resultant discord. He should -have taught us a multitude of things before requiring -such a complicated achievement,—how to hold our -fingers over the piano-keys, how to read music, how -to play simpler scales.</p> - -<p>The child with the cookie-plate needs, in the first -place, a course of exercises in learning to walk in a -straight line directly to the spot where he means to go, -exercises continued until this process becomes automatic, -so that the greatest haste on his part will not -send him reeling about as most children (and a considerable -number of their ill-trained elders) do when -they undertake to move from one side of the room to -another.</p> - -<p>How can he learn to do this? Dr. Montessori suggests -drawing a chalk-line on the floor and having the -children play the “game” (either with or without -music) of trying to walk along it without stepping -off. I myself, remembering the forbidden joys of -my reckless childhood in walking the top-rail of a -fence, have tried the expedient of providing a less -dangerous top-rail laid flat on the ground. Did any -healthy child ever need more than one chance to walk -along railway tracks? The objection in the past to -these exercises has been that they were connected -with something dangerous and undesirable. I do not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -blame my parents for forbidding me to try to balance -myself either on the top-rail of a fence or on a railway -track. Both of these were highly risky diversions. -But it does seem odd that neither they nor I -ever thought of providing, in some safe form, the -exercises in equilibrium so violently craved by all -healthy children. A narrow board, or length of so-called -“two-by-four” studding, laid on the ground, -furnishes a diversion as endlessly entertaining for a -child of three as the most dangerously high fence-rail -for an older child, and the never-failing zest with -which a little child practises balancing himself on this -narrow “sidewalk” is a proof that the exercise is -one for which he unconsciously felt a need.</p> - -<p>Another trick of equilibrium, which is hard for -a little child, is to lift one foot from the floor and -perform any action without falling over. If he is -provided with a loose rope-end, hanging where he -can easily reach it, his parent and guardian can suggest -any number of entertaining things to do while -his equilibrium is assured by his grasp on the rope. -My experience has been that one suggestion is enough. -The child’s invention does the rest. Another exercise -which is of great benefit for very little children -is to walk backwards, a process which needs no more -gymnastic apparatus than a helping hand from -father or mother, an apparatus which is equally effective -in teaching a young child the fascinating game of -crossing one foot over the other without falling down.</p> - -<p>Does all this physical training of tiny children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -seem too remote from the older child who spilled the -cookies? He stands at the end of the road over which -the balancing, backward-walking, highly entertained -three-year-old is advancing.</p> - -<p>Although it is not mentioned in any Montessori -suggestions I have seen (possibly because of the difficulty -of managing it in a schoolroom), it occurred -to me one day that water is a neglected but very -valuable factor in training a little child to accuracy -of muscular movement. This reflection occurred to -me just after I had instinctively led away a little -child from a basin of water in which I had “caught -her” dabbling her hands. Making a desperate effort -to put into practice my new resolution to question -myself sharply each time that I denied a child any -activity he seemed to desire, I perceived that in this -case, as so often, I was acting traditionally, without -considering the essential character of the situation. -I could not, of course, allow the child to dabble in -that basin of water, there, because she would be apt -to spatter it on the floor and to get her clothes wet. -But on that warm summer day, why could I not set her -outdoors on the grass, with a bit of oilcloth girded -about her waist so that she should not spoil her -dress? Her evident interest in the water was an indication -of a natural force which it might be possible -to utilize to give her some muscular training which -would entertain her at the same time. When I really -came to think about it, there is nothing inherently -wicked in playing in water.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>For the almost superhuman effort necessary to use -reason about a fact the outlines of which are dulled by -familiarity, I was rewarded many times over by the -discovery of a “sensory exercise” which apparently -is of the highest value. The child in question, provided -with a pan of water, and various cups and -jelly-molds of different sizes, which I snatched at -random from the kitchen-shelf, was in a state of silent -bliss. She filled the little cups up to the brim, she -lifted them with an anxious care which no exhortation -of mine could have induced her to apply, she drank -from them, she poured their contents into each other, -discovering for herself that the smaller ones must be -emptied into the bigger ones and not vice versa, she -filled them again with a spoon. At first she did all -this very clumsily, although always with the most -painstaking care, but as the days went on with repetitions -of this game, her dexterity became astonishing, -as was her eternal interest in the monotonous proceeding.</p> - -<p>Now she is not only kept quiet and happy for -about an hour a day by this amusement, and she has -not only learned to fill and handle her little cups and -jelly-molds very deftly, but the operation of drinking -out of a water-glass at the table is of a simplicity -fairly beneath her contempt. I smile to see our -guests gasp and dodge in dismay as, with the reckless -abandon of her age, she grasps her water-glass -with one hand, not deigning even to look at it, and -conveys it to her lips. But as a matter of fact, no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -matter how hastily or carelessly she does this, she -almost never spills a drop. The control of utensils -containing liquids has been so thoroughly learned by -her muscles in the long hours of happy play with her -little cups that it is perfectly automatic. She no -more spills water from her glass than I fall down -on the floor when I cross a room, even though I may -be quite absent-minded about that undertaking.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XI<br /> - -<small>MORE ABOUT DISCIPLINE, WITH SPECIAL -REGARD TO OBEDIENCE</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">I MUST stop at this point and devote a paragraph -or two to laying the ghost of another Puritan -ancestor who demands, “But where does the discipline -come in here, if it is all automatic and unconscious? -Why sneak exactitude of muscular action -into the child’s life by the back door, so to speak? -Would it not be better for her moral nature to command -her outright not to spill the water from her -glass at table, and force her to use her will-power by -punishing her if she does?”</p> - -<p>There are several answers to this searching question, -which is by no means so simple and direct as it -sounds. The most obvious one is the retort brutal, -i.e., that a great many generations have experimented -with that simple method of training children, -with the result that family life has been considerably -embittered and the children very poorly trained. In -other words, that practical experience has shown it -to be a very bad method indeed and in use only because -we know no better one.</p> - -<p>One of the reasons why it is bad is because it confuses -two radically different activities in the child’s -life, including both under one far too-sweeping command.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -The child’s ability to handle a glass of -water is an entirely different function from its willingness -to obey orders. To require of its nascent -capacities at the same instant a new muscular skill -and the moral effort necessary to obey a command is -to invite almost certain failure. Worse than this, and -in fact as bad as anything can be, the result of this -impossibly compendious command is to bring about a -hopeless confusion in the child’s mind which means -unnecessary nervous tension and friction and the -beginning of an utterly deplorable mental habit of -nervous tension and irritated resistance in the child’s -mind, whenever a command is given. That this instinct -of irritated resistance is not a natural one is -proved by the happily obedient older children in the -Casa dei Bambini in Rome. Furthermore, anyone -who will, under ordinary circumstances, try the simple -experiment of asking a little child (too young to -have acquired this bad mental habit) to perform some -operation which he has thoroughly mastered, will be -convinced that obedience in itself involves no pain to a -child.</p> - -<p>As to the second demand of my Puritan ancestor, -which runs, “And force her to use her will-power by -punishment,” the same flat denial must be given that -proposition. Experience proves that you can prevent -a child from performing some single special action -by means of external punishment, but that stimulating -the proper use of the will-power is something -entirely different. Apparently the will-power is more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -apt to be perverted into grotesque and unprofitable -shapes by the use of punishment than to be encouraged -into upright, useful, and vigorous growth.</p> - -<p>And here it is well to question our own hearts deeply -to make sure that we really wish, honestly, without -mental reservations, to stimulate the will-power of our -children—their will-power, be it remembered, not our -own. Is there, in the motives which actuate our attempts -at securing obedience from children, a trace of -the animal-trainer’s instinct? For, though it is true -that children are little animals, and that they can -be successfully trained by the method of the animal-trainer, -it is not to be forgotten that they are trained -by those methods only to feats of exactly the same -moral and intellectual caliber as those performed by -trick dogs and cats. They are forced to struggle -blindly, and wholly without aid, towards whatever -human achievements they may later accomplish, with -the added disadvantage of the mental habit either -of sullen dissembled revolt or crushed mental servility, -according to their temperaments.</p> - -<p>The end and aim of the horse-breaker’s effort is to -create an animal who will obey literally, with no volition -of his own, any command of any human being. -The conscientious parent who faces squarely this -ultimate logical conclusion of the animal-trainer’s -system, must see that his own aim, being entirely -opposed to that, must be attained by very different -means; and that, since his final goal is to produce a -being wholly and wisely self-governing, the sooner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -the child can be induced to begin the exercise of the -faculty of self-government, the more seasoned in experience -it will be when vital things begin to depend -on it.</p> - -<p>It is highly probable that in the heart of the modern -parent of the best type, if there is still some -of the animal-trainer’s instinct, he is quite and honestly -unconscious of it and would be ashamed of it -if he recognized it. I think most of us can say sincerely -that we have no conscious wish for anything -but the child’s best welfare. But in saying this, we -admit at once that our problem is vastly more subtle -and complicated than the horse-breaker’s, and that we -are in need of every ray of light from any source -possible.</p> - -<p>The particular, vivifying truth which we must imprint -on our minds in this connection is that spontaneity -of action is the absolute prerequisite for any -moral or intellectual advance on the part of any -human being. Nor is this, though so constantly insisted -upon by Dr. Montessori, any new invention of -hers. Dimly felt, it has regulated more or less the -best action of the best preachers, the best teachers -and lawgivers since the beginning of the world. -Pestalozzi formulated it in the hard saying, all the -more poignant because it came from a man who had -devoted himself with such passionate affection to his -pupils, “I have found that no man in God’s wide -earth is able to help any other man. Help must come -from the bosom alone.” Froebel, in all his general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -remarks on education, states this principle clearly. -Finally, it has been crystallized in the homely adage -of old wives, “Every child’s got to do its own -growing.”</p> - -<p>We all admit the truth of this theory. What is -so startling about Dr. Montessori’s attitude towards -it, is that she really acts upon it! More than that, -she expects us to act on it, all the time, in all the -multiform crises of our lives as parents, in this intricate -problem of discipline and the training of the -will-power as well as in the simpler form of physically -refraining from interfering with the child’s efforts to -feed and dress himself.</p> - -<p>And yet it is natural enough that we should find -at first sight such general philosophic statements -rather vague and remote, and not at all sufficiently -reassuring as we stand face to face with the problem -of securing obedience from a lively child of three. -We may have seen how we overlooked the obvious -reason why a child who <i>cannot</i> obey a command will -not; and we may be quite convinced that the first -step in securing both self-control and obedience from -a child is to put the necessary means in his power; and -yet we may be still frankly at a loss and deeply -apprehensive about what seems the hopeless undertaking -of directly securing obedience even after the -child has learned how to obey. All that Dr. Montessori -has done for us so far is to call our attention -to the fact, which we did not in the least perceive before, -that a child is no more born into the world with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -a full-fledged capacity to obey orders, than to do a -sum in arithmetic. But though we agree that we must -first teach him his numbers before expecting him to -add and subtract, how, we ask ourselves anxiously, -can we be in the least sure that he will be willing to -use his numbers to do sums with, that he will be willing -to utilize his careful preparatory training when -it comes to the point of really obeying orders.</p> - -<p>At this juncture I can recommend from successful -personal experience a courageous abandonment of -our traditional attitude of deep distrust towards life, -of our medieval conviction that desirable traits can -only be hewed painfully out across the grain of -human nature. The old monstrous idea which underlay -all schooling was that the act of educating himself -was fundamentally abhorrent to a child and that -he could be forced to do it only by external violence. -This was an idea, held by more generations of school-teachers -and parents than is at all pleasant to consider, -when one reflects that it would have been swept -out upon the dump-heap of discarded superstitions -by one single, unprejudiced survey of one normal -child under normal conditions.</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori, carrying to its full extent a theory -which has been slowly gaining ground in the minds of -all modern enlightened teachers, has been the first to -have the courage to act without reservation on the -strength of her observation that the child prefers -learning to any other occupation, since the child is -the true representative of our race which does advance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -even with such painful slowness, away from -ignorance towards knowledge. Now, in addition she -tells us just as forcibly, that they prefer right, orderly, -disciplined behavior to the unregulated disobedience -which we slanderously insist is their natural -taste. As a result of her scientific and unbiased -observation of child-life she informs us that our -usual lack of success in handling the problems of -obedience comes because, while we do not expect a -child at two or three or even four to have mastered -completely even the elements of any other of his -activities, we do expect him to have mastered all the -complex muscular, nervous, mental, and moral elements -involved in the act of obedience to a command -from outside his own individuality.</p> - -<p>She points out that obedience is evidently a deep-rooted -instinct in human nature, since society is -founded on obedience. Indeed, on the whole, history -seems to show that the average human being has altogether -too much native instinct to obey anyone who -will shout out a command; and that the advance from -one bad form of government to another only slightly -better, is so slow because the mass of grown men are -too much given to obeying almost any positive order -issued to them. Going back to our surprised recognition -of the child as an inheritor of human nature in -its entirety, we must admit that obedience is almost -certainly an instinct latent in children.</p> - -<p>The obvious theoretic deduction from this reasoning -is, that we need neither persuade nor force a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -child to obey, but only clear-sightedly remove the -various moral and physical obstructions which lie in -the way of his obedience, with the confident expectation -that his latent instinct will develop spontaneously -in the new and favorable conditions.</p> - -<p>When we plant a bean in the ground we do not -feel that we need to try to force it to grow; indeed, -we know very well that we can do nothing whatever -about that since it is governed entirely by the presence -or absence in the seed of the mysterious element -of life; nor do we feel any apprehension about the -capacity of that smooth, small seed, ultimately to -develop into a vine which will climb up the pole we -have set for it, will blossom, and bear fruit. We know -that, barring accidents (which it is our business as -gardeners to prevent), it cannot do anything else, -because that is the nature of beans, and we know -all about the nature of beans from a long acquaintance -with them.</p> - -<p>We would laugh at an ignorant, city-bred person -gardening for the first time, who, the instant the -two broad cotyledons showed above the ground, began -tying strings to them to induce them to climb his -pole. Our advice to him would be the obvious counsel, -“Leave them alone until they grow their tendrils. -You not only can’t do any good by trying to induce -those first primitive leaves to climb, but you may -hurt your plant so that it will never develop normally.”</p> - -<p>The question seems to be, whether we will have the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -courage and good sense to take similar sound advice -from a more experienced and a wiser child-gardener. -Dr. Montessori not only expounds to us theoretically -this doctrine that the child, properly trained, will -spontaneously obey reasonable orders suited to his -age with a prompt willingness which grows with his -growth, but she shows us in the garden of her schools, -bean-poles wreathed triumphantly with vines to the -very top. Or, to drop a perhaps too-elaborated -metaphor, she shows us children of three or four who -willingly obey suggestions suited to their capacities, -developing rapidly and surely into children of six and -seven whose obedience in all things is a natural and -delightful function of their lives. She not only says -to us, “This theory will work in actual practice,” -but, “It <i>has</i> worked. Look at the result!”</p> - -<p>Of course the crux of the matter lies in that phrase, -“proper training.” It means years of patient, intelligent, -faithful effort on the part of the guardian, -to clear away from before the child the different obstacles -to the free natural growth of this, as of all -other desirable instincts of human nature. To give -our children this “proper training” it is not enough -to have intellectually grasped the theory of the Montessori -method. With each individual child we have -a fresh problem of its application to him. Our -mother-wits must be sharpened and in constant use. -Dr. Montessori has only compiled a book of recipes, -which will not feed our families, unless we exert ourselves, -and unless we provide the necessary ingredients<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -of patience, intelligence, good judgment, and devotion.</p> - -<p>The prize which seems possible to attain by such -efforts makes them, however, worthy of all the time -and thought we may possibly put upon them. Apparently, -judging by the results obtained in the Casa -dei Bambini among Italian children, and by Miss -George in her school for American children, there is -no more need for the occasional storms of temper or -outbreaks of exasperated egotism which are so familiar -to all of us who care for children, than there -is for the occasional “fits of indigestion,” “feverishness,” -or “teething-sickness” the almost universal -absence of which in the lives of our scientifically-reared -children so astonishes the older generation.</p> - -<p>For the notable success of Miss George’s Tarrytown -school disposes once and for all of the theory -that “it may work for Italians, but not with our -naturally self-indulgent, spoiled American children.” -Fresh from the Casa dei Bambini in Rome, I visited -Miss George’s Children’s Home and, except for the -language, would have thought myself again on the -Via Giusti. The same happy, unforced interest in -the work, the same Montessori atmosphere of spontaneous -life, the same utter unconsciousness of visitors, -the same astonishing industry.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_162fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Counting Boxes.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>When theoretically by talk and discussion with experts -on the subject and practically by the sight of -the astonishing results shown in the enlightenment -and self-mastery of the older children who had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -trained in the system, I was led towards the conviction -that children really have not that irresistible -tendency towards naughtiness which my Puritan -blood led me unconsciously to assume, but that their -natural tendency is on the whole to prefer to do what -is best for them, I felt as though someone had tried -to prove to me that the world before my eyes was -emancipating itself from the action of some supposedly -inexorable natural law.</p> - -<p>Naturally, being an Anglo-Saxon, an inhabitant of -a cold climate, and the descendant of those troublesome -Puritan forefathers, who have interfered so -much with the composition of this book, I could not, -all in a breath, in this dizzying manner lose that firm -conviction of Original Sin which, though no longer -insisted upon openly in the teachings of the church, -which I no longer attend as assiduously as my parents, -still is, I discovered, a very vital element in my -conception of life.</p> - -<p>No, the doctrine of Original Sin is in the very -marrow of my New England bones, but, as a lover -of my kind, I rejoice to be convinced of the smallness -of its proportion in relation to other elements of -human nature, and I bear witness gladly that I never -saw or heard of a single case of wilful naughtiness -among all the children in the Casa dei Bambini in -Rome. And though I still cling unreasonably to my -superstition that there is, at least in some American -children, an irreducible minimum of the quality which -our country people picturesquely call “The Old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -Harry,” I am convinced that there is far, far less -of it than I supposed, and I am overcome with retrospective -remorse for all the children I have misjudged -in the course of my life.</p> - -<p>To put it statistically, I would estimate that out -of every thousand cases of “naughtiness” among -little children, nine hundred and ninety-nine are due -to something else than a “bad” impulse in the child’s -heart. Old-wife wisdom has already reduced by one-half -the percentage of infantile wickedness, in its fireside -proverb, “Give a young one that’s acting bad -something to eat and put him to bed. Half the time -he’s tired or starved and don’t know what ails him.”</p> - -<p>It now seems likely that the other half of the time -he is either hungry for intellectual food, weary with -the artificial stimulation of too much mingling with -adult life, or exasperated by perfectly unnecessary -insistence on a code of rules which has really nothing -to do with the question of right or wrong conduct. -When it comes to choosing between really right and -really wrong conduct, apparently the majority of the -child’s natural instincts are for the really right, as is -shown by his real preference for the orderly, educating -activity of the Children’s Home over disorderly -“naughtiness.” Our business should be to see to it -that he is given the choice.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XII<br /> - -<small>DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF A UNIVERSAL -ADOPTION OF THE MONTESSORI IDEAS</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">NOW, of course, it is infinitely easier in the first -place to cry out to a child, “Oh, don’t be so -careless!” than to consider thus with painful care all -the elements lacking in his training which make him -heedless, and throughout years of conscientious effort -to exercise the ingenuity necessary to supply those -lacking elements. But serious-minded parents do not -and should not expect to find life a flowery bed of ease, -and it is my conviction that most of us will welcome -with heartfelt joy any possible solution of our desperately -pressing problems, even if it involves the -process of oiling and setting in motion the little-used -machinery of our brains.</p> - -<p>I am opposed in this optimistic conviction by that -small segment of the circle of my acquaintances composed -of the doctors whom I happen to know personally. -They take a gloomy view of the matter and tell -me that their experience with human nature leads -them to fear that the rules of moral and intellectual -hygiene of childhood, of this new system, excellent -though they are, will be observed with as little faithfulness -as the equally wise rules of physical hygiene -for adults which the doctors have been endeavoring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -vainly to have us adopt. They inform me that they -have learned that, if obedience to the laws of hygiene -requires continuous effort, day after day, people will -not obey them, even though by so doing they would -avoid the pains and maladies which they so dread. -“People will take pills,” physicians report, “but -they will not take exercise. If your new system told -them of some one or two supreme actions which -would benefit their children, quite a number of parents -would strain every nerve to accomplish the necessary -feats. But what you are telling them is only -another form of what we cry so vainly, namely that -they themselves must observe nature and follow her -laws, and that no action of their doctors, wise though -they may be, can vicariously perform this function -for them. You will see that your Dr. Montessori’s -exhortations will have as little effect as those of any -other physician.”</p> - -<p>I confess that at first I was somewhat cast down -by these pessimistic prophecies, for even a casual -glance over any group of ordinary acquaintances -shows only too much ground for such conclusions. -But a more prolonged scrutiny of just such a casually -selected group of acquaintances, and a little more -searching inquiry into the matter has brought out -facts which lead to more encouraging ideas.</p> - -<p>In the first place, the doctors are scarcely correct -when they assume that they have always been the repository -of a wisdom which we laity have obstinately -refused to take over from them. Comparatively<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -speaking, it is only yesterday that the doctors themselves -outgrew the idea that pills were the divinely -appointed cures for all ills. So recent is this revolution -in ideas that there are still left among us in -eddies, out of the main stream, elderly doctors who -lay very little of the modern fanatical stress on diet, -and burn very little incense before the modern altar -of fresh air and exercise. It seems early in the day -to conclude that the majority of mankind will not -take good advice if it is offered them, a sardonic conclusion -disproved by the athletic clubs all over the -country, the sleeping-porches burgeoning out from -large and small houses, the millions of barefooted -children in rompers, the regiments of tennis-playing -adolescents and golf-playing elders, the myriads of -diet-studying housewives, the gladly accepted army -of trained nurses. We may not do as well as we -might, but we certainly have not turned deaf ears to -all the exhortations of reason and enlightenment.</p> - -<p>Furthermore, beside the fact that doctors have been -preaching “hygiene against drugs” to us only a -short time, it is to be borne in mind that, as a class, -they do not add to their many noble and glorious -qualities of mind and heart a very ardent proselytizing -fervor. It seems to be against the “temperament” -of the profession. If you go to a doctor’s office, -and consult him professionally he will, it is true, tell -you nowadays not to take pills, but to take plenty -of exercise and sleep, to eat moderately, avoid worry, -and drink plenty of pure water; but you do not ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -run across him preaching these doctrines from a barrel-head -on the street-corner, to all who will hear. -The traditional dignity of his profession forbids such -Salvation Army methods. The doctors of a town are -apt, prudently, to boil the water used in their own -households and to advise this course of action to any -who seek their counsel, rather than to band together -in an aggressive, united company and make themselves -disagreeably conspicuous by clamoring insistently at -the primaries and polls for better water for the town. -It is perhaps not quite fair to accuse us laity of obstinacy -in refusing advice which has been offered with -such gentlemanly reserve.</p> - -<p>Then, there is the obvious fact that doctors, like -lawyers, see professionally only the ailing or malcontents -of the human family, and they suffer from a -tendency common to us all, to generalize from the results -of their own observation. Our own observation -of our own community may quite honestly lead -us to the opposite of their conclusions, namely that -it is well worth while to make every effort for the -diffusion of theories which tend to improve daily -life, since, on the whole, people seem to have picked -up very quickly indeed the reasonable doctrine of -the prevention of illness by means of healthy lives. If -they have done this, and are, to all appearances, trying -hard to learn more about the process, it is reasonable -to hope that they will catch at a similar reasonable -mental and moral hygiene for their children, -and that they will learn to leave off the unnecessary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -mental and moral restrictions, the unwise interference -with the child’s growth and undue insistence on conformity -to adult ideas of regularity, just as they -have learned how to leave off the innumerable layers -of starched petticoats, the stiff scratchy pantalets, -and the close, smothering sunbonnets in which our loving -and devoted great-grandmothers required our -grandmothers to grow up.</p> - -<p>Lastly, there is a vital element in the situation -which is perhaps not sufficiently considered by people -anxious to avoid the charge of sentimentality. -This element is the strength of parental affection, -perhaps the strongest and most enduring passion -which falls to the lot of ordinary human beings. -Only a Napoleon can carry ambition to the intensity -of a passion. Great, overmastering love between man -and woman is not so common as our romantic tradition -would have us believe. In the world of religion, -saints are few and far between. Most of us manage -to live without being consumed by the reforming -fever of those rare souls who suffer under injustice -to others as though it were practised on themselves. -But nearly every house which contains children, shelters -also two human beings the hard crust of whose -natural egotism and moral sloth has been at least -cracked by the shattering force of this primeval passion -for their young, two human beings, who, no matter -how low their position in the scale of human -ethical development, have in them to some extent -that divine capacity for willing self-sacrifice which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -comes, under other conditions, only to the rarest and -most spiritual-minded members of the race. It is not -sentimentality but a simple statement of fact to say -that there is in parents who take care of their own children -(as most American parents do) a natural fund -of energy, patience, and willingness to undergo self-discipline, -which cannot be counted upon in any other -numerous class of people. The Montessori system, -with its fresh, vivid presentation of axiomatic truths, -with a fervent hope of a practical application of -them to the everyday life of every child, addresses itself -to these qualities in parents; and, for the sound -development of its fundamental idea of self-education -and self-government, trusts not only to the wise conclaves -of professional pedagogues, but to the co-operation -of the fathers and mothers of the world.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIII<br /> - - - -<small>IS THERE ANY REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN -THE MONTESSORI SYSTEM AND THE -KINDERGARTEN?</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">NO one realizes more acutely than I that the composition -of this chapter presupposes an amount -of courage on my part which it is perhaps hardly -exaggeration to call foolhardiness. That I am -really venturing upon a battleground is evident to -me from the note of rather fierce anticipatory disapproval -which I hear in the voice of everyone who -asks me the question which heads this chapter. It -always accented, “<i>Is</i> there any real difference between -the Montessori system and the kindergarten?” -with the evident design of forcing a negative answer.</p> - -<p>Oddly enough, the same reluctance to grant the -possibility of anything new in the Italian method -characterizes the attitude of those who intensely dislike -the kindergartens, as well as that of its devoted -adherents. People who consider the kindergarten -“all sentimental, enervating twaddle” ask the question -with a truculent tone which makes their query -mean, “This new system is just the same sort of -nonsense, isn’t it now?”; while those who feel that -the kindergarten is one of the vital, purifying, and -uplifting forces in modern society evidently use the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -question as a means of stating, “It can’t be anything -different from the best kindergarten ideas, for they -are the best possible.”</p> - -<p>I have seen too much beautiful kindergarten work -and have too sincere an affection for the sweet and -pure character of Froebel to have much community -of feeling with the rather brutal negations of the -first class of inquirers. If they can see nothing -in kindergartens but the sentimentality which is -undoubtedly there, but which cannot possibly, even -in the most exaggerated manifestations of it, vitiate -all the finely uplifting elements in those institutions, -it is of no use to expect from them an understanding -of a system which, like the Froebelian, rests ultimately -upon a religious faith in the strength of the -instinct for perfection in the human race.</p> - -<p>It is therefore largely for the sake of people like -myself, with a natural sympathy for the kindergarten, -that I am setting out upon the difficult undertaking -of stating what in my mind are the differences -between a Froebelian and a Montessori school for -infants.</p> - -<p>I must begin by saying that there are a great -many resemblances, as is inevitable in the case of -two methods which work upon the same material—children -from three to six. And of course it is hardly -necessary formally to admit that the ultimate aim -of the two educators is alike, because the aim which -is common to them—an ardent desire to do the best -thing possible for the children without regard for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -the convenience of the adults who teach them—is the -sign manual throughout all the ages, from Plato and -Quintilian down, which distinguishes the educator -from the mere school-teacher.</p> - -<p>There are a good many differences in the didactic -apparatus and use of it, some of which are too technical -to be treated fully here, such as the fact that -Froebel, moved by his own extreme interest in crystals -and their forms, provides a number of exercises -for teaching children the analysis of geometrical -forms, whereas Dr. Montessori thinks best not to -undertake this with children so young. Kindergarten -children are not taught reading and writing, and -Montessori children are. Kindergarten children -learn more about the relations of wholes to parts -in their “number work,” while in the Casa dei Bambini -there is more attention paid to numbers in their -series.</p> - -<p>There are of course many other differences in -technic and apparatus, such as might be expected in -two systems founded by educators separated from -each other by the passage of sixty years and by a -difference in race as well as by training and environment. -This is especially true in regard to the -greater emphasis laid by Dr. Montessori on the -careful, minute observation of the children before -and during any attempt to instruct them. Trained -as she has been in the severely unrelenting rule for -exactitude of the positive sciences, in which intelligent -observation is elevated to the position of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -cardinal virtue necessary to intellectual salvation, her -instinct, strengthened since then by much experience, -was to give herself plenty of time always to examine -the subject of her experimentation. Just as a scientific -horticulturist observes minutely the habits of a -plant before he tries a new fertilizer on it, and after -he has made the experiment goes on observing the -plant with even more passionately absorbed attention, -so Dr. Montessori trains her teachers to take time, -all they need, to observe the children before, during, -and after any given exercise. This is, of course, -the natural instinct of Froebel, of every born teacher, -but the routine of the average school or kindergarten -gives the teacher only too few minutes for it, not -to speak of the long hours necessary.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, even in the details of the -technic, there is much similarity between the two -systems. Some of the kindergarten blocks are used -in Montessori “sensory exercises.” In both institutions -the ideal, seldom attained as yet, is for the -systematic introduction of gardening and the care -of animals. In both the children play games and -dance to music; some regular kindergarten games -are used in the Casa dei Bambini; in both schools -the first aim is to make the children happy; in -neither are they reproved or punished. Both systems -bear in every detail the imprint of extreme -love and reverence for childhood. And yet the moral -atmosphere of a kindergarten is as different from -that of a Casa dei Bambini as possible, and the real<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -truth of the matter is that one is actually and fundamentally -opposed to the other.</p> - -<p>To explain this, a few words of comment on -Froebel, his life, and the subsequent fortunes of -his ideas may be useful. These facts are so well -known, owing to the universal respect and affection -for this great benefactor of childhood, that the -merest mention of them will suffice. The dates of -his birth and death are significant, 1782-1852, as -is a brief bringing to mind of the intensely German -Protestant piety of his surroundings. He died sixty -years ago, and a great deal of educational water has -flowed under school bridges since then. He died before -anyone dreamed of modern scientific laboratories, -such as those in which the Italian educator -received her sound, practical training, a training -which not only put at her disposition an amount of -accurate information about the subject of her investigation -which would have dazzled Froebel, but -formed her in the fixed habit of inductive reasoning -which has made possible the brilliant achievements of -modern positive sciences, and which was as little common -in Froebel’s time as the data on which it works. -That he felt instinctively the needs for this solid -foundation is shown by his craving for instruction -in the natural sciences, his absorption of all the -scanty information within his reach, his subsequent -deep meditation upon this information, and his attempts -to generalize from it.</p> - -<p>Another factor in Froebel’s life which scarcely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -exists nowadays was the tradition of physical violence -and oppression towards children. That this -has gradually disappeared from the ordinary civilized -family, is partly due to the general trend away from -physical oppression of all sorts, and partly to -Froebel’s own softening influence, for which we can -none of us feel too fervent a gratitude. He was -forced to devote considerable of his energy to combating -this tendency, which was not a factor at -all in the problems which confronted Dr. Montessori.</p> - -<p>Some time after his death his ideas began to spread -abroad not only in Europe (the kindergartens of -which I know nothing about, except that they are -very successful and numerous), but also in the -United States, about whose numerous and successful -kindergartens we all know a great deal. The -new system was taken up by teachers who were intensely -American, and hence strongly characterized -by the American quality of force of individuality. -It is a universally accepted description of American -women (sometimes intended as a compliment, sometimes -as quite the reverse) that, whatever else they -are, they are less negative, more forceful, more -direct, endowed with more positive personalities than -the women of other countries. These women, full of -energy, quivering with the resolution to put into -full practice all the ideas of the German educator -whose system they espoused, “organized a campaign -for kindergartens” which, with characteristic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -thoroughness, determination, and devotion, they have -carried through to high success.</p> - -<p>They, and the educators among men who became -interested in the Froebelian ideas, have been by no -means willing to consider all advance impossible -because the founder of the system is no longer -with them. They have been progressively and intelligently -unwilling to let 1852 mark the culmination -of kindergarten improvement, and they have -changed, and patched, and added to, and taken away -from the original method as their best judgment and -the increasing scientific data about children enabled -them. This process, it goes without saying, has -not taken place without a certain amount of friction. -Naturally everyone’s “best judgment” scarcely coincided -with that of everyone else. There have been -honest differences of opinion about the interpretation -of scientific data. True to its nature as an essentially -religious institution, the kindergarten has undergone -schisms, been rent with heresies, has been -divided into orthodox and heterodox, into liberals -and conservatives, although the whole body of the -work has gone constantly forward, keeping pace -with the increasing modern preoccupation with childhood.</p> - -<p>Indeed it seems to me that one may say without -being considered unsympathetic that it has now certain -other aspects of a popular, prosperous religious -sect, among which is a feeling of instinctive jealousy -of similar regenerating influences which have their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -origin outside the walls of the original orthodox -church.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly they have some excuse in the absurdly -exaggerated current reports and rumors of -the miracles accomplished by the Montessori apparatus; -but it seems to outsiders that what we have -a right to expect from the heads of the organized, -established kindergarten movement is an open-minded, -unbiased, and extremely minute and thorough investigation -into the new ideas, rather than an inspection -of popular reports and a resultant condemnation. -It is because I am as much concerned as I am astonished -at this attitude on their part that I am venturing -upon the following slight and unprofessional -discussion of the differences between the typical kindergarten -and the typical Casa dei Bambini.</p> - -<p>To begin with, kindergarteners are quite right -when they cry out that there is nothing new in the -idea of self-education, and that Froebel stated as -plainly as Montessori does that the aim of all education -is to waken voluntary action in the child. -For that matter, what educator worthy of the name -has not felt this? The point seems to be, not that -Froebel states this vital principle any less clearly, -but so much less forcibly than the Italian educator. -Not foreseeing the masterful women, with highly -developed personalities, who were to be the apostles -of his ideas in America, and not being surrounded -by the insistence on the value of each individuality -which marks our modern moral atmosphere, it did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -not occur to him, apparently, that there was any -special danger in this direction. For, of course, our -modern high estimate of the value of individuality -results not only in a vague though growing realization -of the importance of safeguarding the nascent -personalities of children, but in a plenitude of -strongly marked individualities among the adults who -teach children, and in a fixed habit of using the -strength of this personality as a tool to attain desired -ends.</p> - -<p>The difference in this regard between the two -educators may perhaps be stated fancifully in the -following way: Froebel gives his teachers, among -many other maxims to hang up where they may be -constantly in view, a statement running somewhat -in this fashion: “All growth must come from a -voluntary action of the child himself.” Dr. Montessori -not only puts this maxim first and foremost, -and exhorts her teachers to bear it incessantly in -mind during the consideration of any and all other -maxims, but she may be supposed to wish it printed -thus: “All growth must come from a VOLUNTARY -action of the child HIMSELF.”</p> - -<p>The first thing she requires of a directress in her -school is a complete avoidance of the center of the -stage, a self-annihilation, the very desirability (not -to mention the possibility) of which has never occurred -to the kindergarten teacher whose normal -position is in the middle of a ring of children -with every eye on her, with every sensitive, budding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -personality receiving the strongest possible impressions -from her own adult individuality. Without the -least hesitation or doubt, she has always considered -that her part is to make that individuality as perfect -and lovable as possible, so that the impression the -children get from it may be desirable. The idea that -she is to keep herself strictly in the background for -fear of unduly influencing some childish soul which -has not yet found itself, is an idea totally unheard of.</p> - -<p>I find in a catalogue of kindergarten material this -sentence in praise of some new device. “It obviates -the need of supervision on the part of the teacher <i>as -far as is consistent with conscientious child-training</i>.” -Now the Montessori ideal is a device which shall be -so entirely self-corrective that absolutely no interference -by the teacher is necessary as long as the -child is occupied with it. I find in that sentence the -keynote of the difference between the two systems. -In the kindergarten the emphasis is laid, consciously, -or unconsciously, but very practically always, on -the fact that the teacher teaches. In the Casa dei -Bambini the emphasis is all on the fact that the -child learns.</p> - -<p>In the beginning of her study the kindergarten -teacher is instructed, it is true, as a philosophic -consideration, that Pestalozzi held and Froebel accepted -the dictum that, just as the cultivator creates -nothing in his trees and plants, so the educator -creates nothing in the children under his care. This -is duly set down in her note-book, but the apparatus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -given her to work with, the technic taught her, what -she sees of the work of other teachers, the whole -tendency of her training goes to accentuate what is -already racially strong in her temperament, a fixed -conviction of her own personal and individual responsibility -for what happens about her. She feels -keenly (in the case of nervous constitutions, crushingly) -the weight of this responsibility, really awful -when it is felt about children. She has the quick, -energetic, American instinct to <i>do</i> something herself, -at once to bring about a desired condition. She is -the swimmer who does not trust heartily and wholly -to the water to keep him up, but who stiffens his -muscles and exhausts himself in the attempt by his -own efforts to float. Indeed, that she should be required -above all things to do nothing, not to interfere, -is almost intellectually inconceivable to her.</p> - -<p>This, of course, is a generalization as inaccurate -as all generalizations are. There are some kindergarten -teachers with great natural gifts of spiritual -divination, strengthened by the experiences of their -beautiful lives, who feel the inner trust in life which -is so consoling and uplifting to the Montessori -teacher. But the average American kindergarten -teacher, like all the rest of us average Americans, -needs the calming and quieting lesson taught by the -great Italian educator’s reverent awe for the spontaneous, -ever-upward, irresistible thrust of the miraculous -principle of growth.</p> - -<p>In spite of the horticultural name of her school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -the ordinary kindergarten teacher has never learned -the whole-hearted, patient faith in the long, slow -processes of nature which characterizes the true gardener. -She is not penetrated by the realization of -the vastness of the forces of the human soul, she -is not subdued and consoled by a calm certainty -of the rightness of natural development. She is far -gayer with her children than the Montessori teacher, -but she is really less happy with them because, in -her heart of hearts, she trusts them less. She feels -a restless sense of responsibility for each action of -each child. It is doubtless this difference in mental -attitude which accounts for the physical difference -of aspect between our pretty, smiling, ever-active, -always beckoning, nervously conscientious kindergarten -teacher, always on exhibition, and the calm, -unhurried tranquillity of the Montessori directress, -always unobtrusively in the background.</p> - -<p>The latter is but moving about from one little -river of life to another, lifting a sluice gate here -for a sluggish nature, constructing a dam there to -help a too impetuous nature to concentrate its -forces, and much of the time occupied in quietly -observing, quite at her leisure, the direction of the -channels being constructed by the different streams. -The kindergarten teacher tries to do this, but she -seems obsessed with the idea, unconscious for the -most part, that it is, after all, her duty to manage -somehow to increase the flow of the little rivers by -pouring into them some of her own superabundant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -vital force. In her commendable desire to give herself -and her whole life to her chosen work, she conceives -that she is lazy if she ever allows herself -a moment of absolute leisure, and unoccupied, impersonal -observation of the growth of the various -organisms in her garden. She must be always helping -them grow! Why else is she there? she demands -with a wrinkled brow of nervous determination to -do her duty, and with the most honest, hurt surprise -at any criticism of her work.</p> - -<p>It is possible that this tendency in American kindergartens -is not only a result of the American -temperament, but is inherent in Froebel’s original -conception of the kindergarten as the place where -the child gets his real social training, as opposed to -the home where he gets his individual training. -Standing midway between Fichte with his hard dictum -that the child belongs wholly to the State and -to society, and Pestalozzi’s conviction that he belongs -wholly to the family, Froebel thought to make -a working compromise by dividing up the bone of -contention, by leaving the child in the family most -of the time, but giving him definite social training -at definite hours every day.</p> - -<p>Now there is bound to be, in such an effort, some -of the same danger involved in a conception of -religious life which ordains that it shall be lived -chiefly between half-past ten and noon on every -Sunday morning. It may very well happen that a -child does not feel social some morning between nine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -and eleven, but would prefer to pursue some laudable -individual enterprise. It may be said that the slight -moral coercion involved in insisting that he join -in one of the group games or songs of the kindergarten -is only good discipline, but the fact remains -that coercion has been employed, even though coated -with sweet and coaxing persuasion, and the picture -of itself conceived by the kindergarten as a place -of the spontaneous flowering of the social instinct -among children has in it some slight pretense. In the -Casa dei Bambini, on the other hand, the children -learn the rules and conditions of social life as we -must all learn them, and in the only way we all learn -them, and that is by <i>living socially</i>.</p> - -<p>The kindergarten teacher, set the task of seeing -that a given number of children engage in social -enterprises practically all the time during a given -number of hours every day, can hardly be blamed -if she is convinced that she must act upon the children -nearly every moment, since she is required to -round them up incessantly into the social corral. -The long hours of the Montessori school and the -freedom of the children, living their own everyday -lives as though they were (as indeed they are) in -their own home, make a vital difference here. The -children, in conducting their individual lives in company -with others, are reproducing the actual conditions -which govern social life in the adult world. -They learn to defer to each other, to obey rules, -even to rise to the moral height of making rules,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -to sink temporarily their own interests in the common -weal, not because it is “nice” to do this, not -because an adored, infallible, lovely teacher supports -the doctrine by her unquestioned authority, not because -they are praised and petted when they do, but -(and is not this the real grim foundation of laws -for social organization?) because they find they cannot -live together at all without rules which all respect -and obey.</p> - -<p>In other words, when there is some real occasion -for formulating or obeying a law which facilitates -social life, they formulate it and obey it from an -inward conviction, based on genuine circumstances -of their own lives, that they must do so, or life would -not be tolerable for any of them; and when there is -no genuine occasion for their making this really -great sacrifice for the common weal, they are left, -as we all desire to be left, to the pursuit of their -own lives. No artificial occasion for this sacrifice -is manufactured by the routine of the school—an -artificial occasion which is apt to be resented by the -stronger spirits among children even as young as -those of kindergarten age. They feel, as we all do, -that there is nothing intrinsically sacred or valuable -about the compromises necessary to attain peaceable -social life, and that they should not be demanded -of us except when necessary. Crudely stated, -Froebel’s purpose seems to have been that the child -should, in two or three hours at a given time every -day, do his social living and have it over with. And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -although this statement is both unsympathetic and -incomplete, there is in it the germ of a well-founded -criticism of the method which many of us have -vaguely felt, although we have not been able to -formulate it before studying the principles of a system -which seems to avoid this fault.</p> - -<p>A conversation I had in Rome with an Italian -friend, not in sympathy with the Montessori ideas, -illustrates another phase of the difference between -the average kindergarten and the Casa dei Bambini. -My friend is a quick, energetic, positive -woman who “manages” her two children with a -competent ease which seems the most conclusive proof -to her that her methods need no improvement. “Oh, -no, the Case dei Bambini are quite failures,” she told -me. “The children themselves don’t like them.” I -recalled the room full of blissful babies which I had -come to know so well, and looked, I daresay, some of -the amused incredulity I felt, for she went on hastily, -“Well, <i>some</i> children may. Mine never did. I had -to put both the boy and the girl back into a kindergarten. -My little Ida summed up the whole matter. -She said, ‘Isn’t it queer how they treat you at a -Casa dei Bambini! They ask me, “Now which would -you like to do, Ida, this, or this?” It makes me -feel so queer. I want somebody to <i>tell</i> me what to -do!’”</p> - -<p>My friend went on to generalize, quite sure of -her ground, “That’s the sweet and natural child -instinct—to depend on adults for guidance. That’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -how children <i>are</i>, and all the Dr. Montessoris in the -world can’t change them.”</p> - -<p>The difference between that point of view and -Dr. Montessori’s is the fundamental difference between -the belief in aristocracy, and the value of -authority for its own sake, which still lingers among -conservatives even in our day, and the whole-hearted -belief in democracy which is growing more and more -pronounced among most of our thinkers.</p> - -<p>Ida is being trained under her mother’s masterful -eye to carry on docilely what an English writer has -called “the dogmatic method with its demand for -mechanical obedience and its pursuit of external -results.” She is acquiring rapidly the habit of standing -still until somebody tells her what to do, and -she has already acquired an unquestioning acquiescence -in the illimitable authority of somebody else, -anyone who will speak positively enough to regulate -her life in all its details. In other words, a finely -consistent little slave is being manufactured out of -Ida, and if in later years she should develop more -of her mother’s forcefulness, it will waste a great -deal of its energy in a wild, unregulated revolt -against the chains of habit with which she finds herself -loaded, and in the end will probably wreak itself -on crushing the individuality out of her children in -their turn.</p> - -<p>Sweet little four-year-old Ida, freed for a moment -from the twilight cell of her passive obedience, -and blinking pitifully in the free daylight of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -Casa dei Bambini, is a figure which has lingered long -in my memory and has been one of the factors inducing -me to undertake the perhaps too ambitious -enterprise of writing this book.</p> - -<p>In still another way the Montessori insistence on -spontaneity of the children’s action safeguards them, -it seems to me, against one of the greatest dangers -of kindergarten life, and obviates one of the justest -criticisms of the American development of Froebel’s -method, namely overstimulation and mental fatigue. -When I first thoroughly grasped this fundamental -difference, I was reminded of the saying of a wise -old doctor who, when I was an intense, violently -active girl of seventeen, had given me some sound -advice about how to lift the little children with -whom I happened to be playing: “Don’t take hold -of their hands to swing them around!” he cried to -me. “You can’t tell when the strain may be too -great for their little bones and tendons. You may -do them a serious hurt. Have them take hold of -your hands! And when they’re tired, they’ll let go.”</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_188fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Insets Around Which the Child Draws, and Then Fills in -the Outline With Colored Crayons.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>It now seems to me that in the kindergarten the -teachers are the ones who take hold of the children’s -hands, and in the Casa dei Bambini it is the other -way about. What Dr. Montessori is always crying -to her teachers is just the exhortation of my old -doctor. What she is endeavoring to contrive is a -system which allows the children to “let go” when -they themselves, each at a different time, feel the -strain of effort. The kindergarten teacher is making<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -all possible conscientious efforts to train herself to -an impossible achievement, namely to know (what -of course she never can know with certainty) when -each child loses his spontaneous interest in his exercises -or game. She is as genuinely convinced as -the Montessori directress that she must “let go” -at that moment, but she is not trained so to take -hold of the child that he himself makes that all-important -decision.</p> - -<p>It is true that the best kindergarteners learn from -years of experience (which involves making mistakes -on a good many children) about when, in general, -to let go; but not the most inspired teacher can -tell, as the child himself does, when the strain is -first felt in the immature, undeveloped brain. And it -is this margin of possibility of mistake on the part of -the best kindergarten teachers which results only too -frequently, with our nervous, too responsive American -children, in the flushed faces and unnaturally -bright eyes of the little ones who return to us after -their happy, happy morning in the kindergarten, -unable to eat their luncheons, unable to take their -afternoon naps, quivering between laughter and -tears, and finding very dull the quiet peace of the -home life.</p> - -<p>This observation finds any amount of confirmatory -evidence in the astonishingly great diversity -in mental application among children when really -left to their own devices. There is no telling how -long or how short a time any given play or game<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -will hold their attention, and both kindergarteners -and Montessori teachers agree that it is of value -only so long as it really does genuinely hold their -attention. Some children are interested only so -long as they must struggle against obstacles, and -once the enterprise runs smoothly, have no further -use for it. With others, the pleasure seems to increase -a hundredfold when they are once sure of their -own ability.</p> - -<p>For it is by no means true that the kindergarten -teacher is always apt to continue a given game or -exercise too long. It is only too long for some -of the children. There are apt to be others whom -she deprives, by her discontinuation of the game, of -an invigorating exercise which they crave with all -their might, and which they would continue, if left -free to follow their own inclination, ten times longer -than she would dare to think of asking them to do. -The pertinacity of children in some exercise which -happens exactly to suit their needs is one of the -inevitable surprises to people observing them carefully -for the first time. Since my attention has -been called to it, I have observed this crazy perseverance -on unexpected occasions in all children acting -freely. Not long ago a child of mine conceived -the idea of climbing up on an easy-chair, -tilting herself over the arm, sliding down into the -seat on her head, and so off in a sprawling heap -on the floor. I began to count the number of times -she went through this extremely violent, fatiguing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -and (as far as I could see) uninteresting exercise, -and was fairly astounded by her obstinacy in sticking -to it. She had done it thirty-four times with -unflagging zest, shouting and laughing to herself, -and was apparently going on indefinitely when, to -my involuntary relief, she was called away to -supper.</p> - -<p>In Rome I remember watching a little boy going -through the exercises with the wooden cylinders -of different sizes which fit into corresponding holes -(page 70). He worked away with a busy, serene, -absorbed industry, running his forefinger around the -cylinders and then around the holes, until he had -them all fitted in. Then with no haste, but with -no hesitation, he emptied them all out and began -over again. He did this so many times that I felt an -impatient fatigue at the sight of the laborious little -creature, and turned my attention elsewhere. I had -counted up to the fourteenth repetition of his feat -before I stopped watching him, and when I glanced -back again, a quarter of an hour later, he was still at -it. All this, of course, without a particle of that -“minimum amount of supervision consistent with conscientious -child-training.” He was his own supervisor, -thanks to the self-corrective nature of the -apparatus he was using. If he put a cylinder in the -wrong hole he discovered it himself and was forced -to think out for himself what the trouble was.</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori says (and I can easily believe her -from my own experience) that nothing is harder for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -even the most earnest and gifted teachers to learn -than that their duty is not to solve all the difficulties -in the way of the children, or even to smooth these -out as much as possible, but on the contrary expressly -to see to it that each child is kept constantly -supplied with difficulties and obstacles suitable to -his strength.</p> - -<p>A kindergarten teacher tries faithfully to teach -her children so that they will not make errors in their -undertakings. She holds herself virtually responsible -for this. With a Puritan conscientiousness she -blames herself if they do make mistakes, if they do -not understand, by grasping her explanation, all the -inwardness of the process under consideration, and -she repeats her explanations with unending patience -until she thinks they do. The Montessori teacher, -on the other hand, confines herself to pointing out -to the child what the enterprise before him is. She -does not, it is true, drop down before him the material -for the Long Stair and leave him to guess what is -to be done with it. She herself constructs the edifice -which is the goal desired. She makes sure that he -has a clear concept of what the task is, and then -she mixes up the blocks and leaves him to work out -his own salvation by the aid of the self-corrective -material.</p> - -<p>Dr. Montessori has a great many amusing stories -to tell of her first struggles with her teachers to -make them realize her point of view. Some of them -became offended, and resolved, since they were not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -allowed to help the children, to do nothing at all for -them, a resolution which resulted naturally in a state -of things worse than the first. It was very hard for -them to learn that it was their part to set the -machinery of an exercise in motion and then let the -child continue it himself. I quite appreciate the -difficulty of learning the distinction between directing -the children’s activity and teaching them each -new step of every process. My own impulse made -me realize the truth of Dr. Montessori’s laughing -picture of the teacher’s instinctive rush to the aid -of some child puzzling over the geometric insets, and -I knew, from having gone through many such profuse, -voluble, vague, confusing explanations myself, -that what they always said was, “No, no, dear; -you’re trying to put the round one in the square hole. -See, it has no corners. Look for a hole that hasn’t -any corners, etc., etc.” It was not until I had sat by -a child, restraining myself by a violent effort of self-control -from “correcting” his errors, and had seen -the calm, steady, untiring hopeful perseverance of his -application, untroubled and unconfused by adult -“aid,” that I was fully convinced that my impulse -was to meddle, not to aid. And I admit that I have -many backslidings still.</p> - -<p>Half playfully and half earnestly, I am continually -quoting to myself the curious quatrain of the -Earl of Lytton, a verse which I think may serve as -a whimsical motto for all of us energetic American -mothers and kindergarteners who may be trying to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -learn more self-restraint in our relations with little -children:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="versefirst">“Since all that I can do for thee</div> -<div class="verse">Is to do nothing, this my prayer must be,</div> -<div class="verse">That thou mayst never guess nor ever see</div> -<div class="verse">The all-endured, this nothing-done costs me.”</div> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIV<br /> - -<small>MORAL TRAINING</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">A PERUSAL of the methods of the Montessori -schools and of the philosophy underlying them -may lead the reader to question if under this new -system the child is regarded as a creature with muscular -and intellectual activities only, and without a -soul. While the sternest sort of moral training is -given to the parent or teacher who attempts to use -the Montessori system, apparently very little is addressed -directly to the child.</p> - -<p>Nothing could more horrify the founder of the system -than such an idea. No modern thinker could -possibly be more penetrated with reverence for the -higher life of the spirit than she, or could bear its -needs more constantly in mind.</p> - -<p>Critics of the method who claim that it makes no -direct appeal to the child’s moral nature, and tends -to make of him a little egotist bent on self-development -only, have misapprehended the spirit of the -whole system.</p> - -<p>One answer to such a criticism is that conscious -moral existence, the voluntary following of spiritual -law, being by far the rarest, highest, and most -difficult achievement in human life, is the one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -which develops latest, requires the longest and -most careful preparation and the most mature -powers of the individual. It is not only unreasonable -to expect in a little child much of this -conscious struggle toward the good, but it is utterly -futile to attempt to force it prematurely into existence. -It cannot be done, any more than a six-months -baby can be forced to an intellectual undertaking of -even the smallest dimension.</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, a normal child under six is -mostly a little egotist bent on self-development, and to -develop himself is the best thing he can do, both for -himself and others, just as the natural business of -a healthy child under a year of age is to extract all -the physical profit possible out of the food, rest, care, -and exercise given him. And yet even here, the line between -the varieties of growth—physical, intellectual, -and moral—is by no means hard and fast. The six-months -baby, although living an almost exclusively -physical life, in struggling to co-ordinate the muscles -of his two arms so that he can seize a rattle with -both hands, is battling for the mastery of his brain-centers, -just as the three-year-old, who leads a life -composed almost entirely of physical and intellectual -interests, still, in the instinct which leads him to pity -and water a thirsty plant, is struggling away from -that exclusive imprisonment in his own interests and -needs which is the Old Enemy of us all. The fact -that this altruistic interest is not an overmastering -passion which moves him to continuous responsible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -care for the plant, and the other fact that, even while -he is giving it a drink, he has very likely forgotten -his original purpose in the fascinations of the antics -of water poured out of a sprinkling-pot, should not -in the least modify our recognition of the sincerely -moral character of his first impulse.</p> - -<p>Now, sincerity in moral impulse is a prerequisite -to healthy moral life, the importance of which cannot -be overstated by the most swelling devices of -rhetoric. It is an essential in moral life as air is in -physical life; in other words moral life of any kind -is entirely impossible without it. Hypocrisy, conscious -or unconscious, is a far worse enemy than ignorance, -since it poisons the very springs of spiritual -life, and yet few things are harder to avoid than unconscious -hypocrisy. A realization of this truth is -perhaps the explanation of a recent tendency in -America for fairly intelligent, fairly conscientious -parents utterly to despair of seeing any light on -this problem, and to attempt to solve it by running -away from it, to throw up the whole business in dismay -at its difficulty, to attempt no moral training -at all because so much that is given is bad, and to -“let the children go, until they are old enough to -choose for themselves.”</p> - -<p>It is possible that this method, chosen in desperation, -bad though it obviously is, is better than -the older one of attempting to explain to little children -the mysteries of the ordering of the universe before -which our own mature spirits pause in bewildered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -uncertainty. The children of six who conceive of -God as a policeman with a long white beard, oddly -enough placed in the sky, lying on the clouds, and -looking down through a peephole to spy upon the -actions of little girls and boys, have undoubtedly -been cruelly wronged by the creation of this grotesque -and ignoble figure in their little brains, a -figure which, so permanent are the impressions of -childhood, will undoubtedly, in years to come, unconsciously -render much more difficult a reverent and -spiritual attitude towards the Ultimate Cause. But -because this attempt at spiritual instruction is as -bad as it can be, it does not follow that the moral -nature of the little child does not need training fitted -to its capacities, limited though these undoubtedly are -in early childhood. There is no more reason for -leaving a child to grow up morally unaided by a life -definitely designed to develop his moral nature, than -for leaving him to grow up physically unaided by -good food, to expect that he will select this instinctively -by his own unaided browsings in the pantry -among the different dishes prepared for the varying -needs of his elders.</p> - -<p>The usual method by which bountiful Nature, -striving to make up for our deficiencies, provides for -this, is by the action of children upon each other. -This factor is, of course, notably present in the Casa -dei Bambini in the all-day life in common of twenty -children. In families it is especially to be seen in -the care and self-sacrifice which older children are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -obliged to show towards younger ones. But in our -usual small prosperous American families, this element -of enforced moral effort is often wanting. -Either there are but one or two children, or if more, -the younger ones are cared for by a nurse, or by the -mother sufficiently free from pressing material care to -give considerable time to the baby of the family. -And on the whole it must be admitted that Nature’s -expedient is at best a rough-and-ready one. Though -the older children may miss an opportunity for -spiritual discipline, it is manifestly better for the -baby to be tended by an adult.</p> - -<p>But there are other organisms besides babies which -are weaker than children, and the care for plants and -animals seems to be the natural door through which -the little child may first go forth to his lifelong battle -with his own egotism. It is always to be borne in -mind that the Case dei Bambini now actually existing -are by no means ideal embodiments of Dr. Montessori’s -ideas (see page 227). She has not had a perfectly -free hand with any one of them and herself says -constantly that many phases of her central principle -have never been developed in practice. Hence the -absence of any special morally educative element in -the present Casa dei Bambini does not in the least -indicate that Dr. Montessori has deliberately omitted -it, any more than the perhaps too dryly practical -character of life in the original Casa dei Bambini -means anything but that the principle was being -applied to very poor children who were in need, first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -of all, of practical help. For instance, music and art -were left out of the life there, simply because, at that -time, there seemed no way of introducing them. It is -hard for us to realize that the whole movement is so -extremely recent that there has not been time to overcome -many merely material obstacles. In the same -way, although circumstances have prevented Dr. -Montessori from developing practically the Casa dei -Bambini as far in the direction of the care of plants -and animals as she would like, she is very strongly -in favor of making this an integral and important -part of the daily life of little children.</p> - -<p>In this she is again, as in so many of the features -of her system, only using the weight of her scientific -reputation to force upon our serious and respectful -attention means of education for little children which -have all along lain close at hand, which have been -mentioned by other educators (Froebel has, of course, -his elder boys undertake gardening), but of which, -as far as very young children go, our recognition -has been fitful and imperfect. She is the modern -doctor who proclaims with all the awe-compelling -paraphernalia of the pathological laboratory back -of him, that it is not medicine, but fresh air which is -the cure for tuberculosis. Most parents already make -some effort to provide pets (if they are not too much -trouble for the rest of the family) with a vague, instinctive -idea that they are somehow “good for children,” -but with no conscious notion of how this -“good” is transferred or how to facilitate the process;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -and child-gardens are not only a feature of some -very advanced and modern schools and kindergartens, -but are provided once in a while by a family, although -nearly always, as in Froebel’s system, for -older children. But as those institutions are now conducted -in the average family economy, the little child -gets about as casual and irregular an opportunity to -benefit by them as the consumptive of twenty years -ago by the occasional whiffs of fresh air which the -protecting care of his nurses could not prevent from -reaching him. The four-year-old, as he and his pets -are usually treated, <i>does not feel real responsibility</i> -for his kitten or his potted plant and, missing that, -he misses most of the good he might extract from his -relations with his little sisters of the vegetable and -animal world.</p> - -<p>Our part, therefore, in this connection, is to catch -up the hint which the great Italian teacher has let -fall and use our own Yankee ingenuity in developing -it, always bearing religiously in mind the fundamental -principle of self-education which must underlie -any attempt of ours to adapt her ideas to our conditions. -For, of course, there is nothing new in the idea -of associating children with animals and plants—an -idea common to nearly all educators since the first -child played with a puppy. What is new is -our more conscious, sharpened, more definite idea, -awakened by Dr. Montessori’s penetrating analysis, -of just how these natural elements of child-life -can be used to stimulate a righteous sense of responsibility.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -Our tolerant indifference towards the -children’s dogs and cats and guinea-pigs, our fatigued -complaint that it is more bother than it is -worth to prepare and oversee the handling of garden-plots -for the four- and five-year-olds, would be -transformed into the most genuine and ardent interest -in these matters, if we were penetrated with the realization -that their purposeful use is the key to open -painlessly and naturally to our children the great -kingdom of self-abnegation. There is not, as is apt -to be the case with dolls, a more or less acknowledged -element of artificiality, even though it be the sweet -“pretend” mother-love for a baby doll. The children -who really care for plants and animals are in a -sane world of reality, as much as we are in caring for -children. Their services are of real value to another -real life. The four-year-old youngster who rushes -as soon as he is awake to water a plant he had forgotten -the day before, is acting on as genuine and -purifying an impulse of remorse and desire to make -amends as any we feel for a duty neglected in adult -life. The motives which underlie that most valuable -moral asset, responsibility, have been awakened, exercised, -strengthened far more vitally than by any number -of those Sunday morning “serious talks” in -which we may try fumblingly and futilely from the -outside to touch the child’s barely nascent moral consciousness. -The puppy who sprawls destructively -about the house, and the cat who is always under our -feet when we are in a hurry, should command respectful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -treatment from us, since they are rehearsing -quaintly with the child a first rough sketch of the -drama of his moral life. The more gentleness, -thoughtfulness, care, and forbearance the little child -learns to show to this creature, weaker than himself, -dependent on him, the less difficult he will find the -exercise of those virtues in other circumstances. He -is forming spontaneously, urged thereto by a natural -good impulse of his heart, a moral habit as valuable -to him and to those who are to live with him, as the -intellectual habits of precision formed by the use of -the geometric insets.</p> - -<p>Of course, he will in the first place form this habit -of unvarying gentleness towards plants and animals, -only as he forms so many other habits, in simian -imitation of the actions of those about him. He must -absorb from example, as well as precept, the idea -that plants and animals, being dependent on us, have -a moral right to our unfailing care—a conception -which is otherwise not suggested to him until he is -several years older and has back of him the habit of -several years of indifference toward this duty of the -strong.</p> - -<p>And so here is our hard-working Montessori parent -embarked upon the career of animal-rearing, as well -as child-training, with the added difficulty that he -must care for the animals <i>through</i> the children, and -resist stoutly the almost invincible temptation to take -over this, like all other activities which belong by -right to the child, for the short-cut reason that it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -less trouble. If this impulse of the parent be followed, -the mere furry presence will be of no avail -to the child, except casually. The kitten must be the -little girl’s kitten if she is really to begin the long -preparation which will lead her to the steady and -resolute self-abnegations of maternity, the preparation -which we hope will make her generation better -mothers than we undisciplined and groping creatures -are.</p> - -<p>As for plant-life, the Antus-like character of humanity -is too well known to need comment. We are -all healthier and saner and happier if we have not -entirely severed our connection with the earth, and it -is surprising that, recognizing this element as consciously -as we do, we have made so comparatively -little systematic and regular use of it in the family to -benefit our little children. It is not because it is very -hard to manage. What has been lacking has been -some definite, understandable motive to make us act in -this way, beyond the sentimental notion that it is -pretty to have flowers and children together. No -one before has told us quite so plainly and forcibly -that this observation of plants and imaginative -sympathy with their needs is the easiest and most -natural way for little minds to get a first general -notion of the world’s economy, the struggle between -helpful and hurtful forces, and of the duty of not -remaining a passive onlooker at this strife, but of -entering it instinctively, heartily throwing all one’s -powers on the side of the good and useful.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>I know a child not yet quite three, who, by the -maddeningly persistent interrogations characteristic -of his age, has succeeded in extracting from a pair of -gardening elders an explanation of the difference between -weeds and flowers, and who has been so struck -by this information that he has, entirely of his own -volition, enlisted himself in the army of natural-born -reformers. With the personal note of very little children, -who find it so impossible to think in terms at all -abstract, he has constructed in his baby mind an -exciting drama in the garden, unfolding itself before -his eyes; a drama in which he acts, by virtue of his -comparatively huge size and giant strength, the generous -rle of <i>deus ex machina</i>, constantly rescuing -beauty beset by her foes. He throws himself upon a -weed, uproots it, and casts it away with the righteously -indignant exclamation, “Horrid old weed! -Stop eating the flowers’ dinner!”</p> - -<p>I do not think that it can be truthfully said that -there are no moral elements in his life. He is a baby -Sir Galahad, with roses for his maidens in distress. -He has felt and exercised and strengthened the same -impulse that drove Judge Lindsey to his battle for the -children of Denver against the powers of graft. He -has recognized spontaneously his duty to aid the -good and useful against their enemies, the responsibility -into which he was born when he opened his -eyes upon the world of mingled good and evil.</p> - -<p>All this is not a fanciful literary flight of the -imagination. It is not sentimentality. It is calling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -things by their real names. Because the little child’s -capacity for a genuine moral impulse is small and has, -like all his other capacities, little continuity, is no -reason why we should not think clearly about it and -recognize it for what it is—the key to the future. -Because he “makes a play” of his good action and is -not priggishly aware of his virtue is all the more reason -for us to be thankful, for that is a proof of its -unforced existence in his spirit. Just as the child -“makes a play” out of his geometric insets, and -is not pedantically aware that he is acquiring knowledge, -so, to take an instance from the Casa dei Bambini, -the little girls who set the tables and bring in -the soup are only vastly interested in the fun of -“playing waitress.” It is their elders who perceive -that they are unconsciously and painlessly acquiring -the habit of willing and instinctive service to others, -which will aid them in many a future conscious and -painful struggle against their own natural selfishness -and inertia.</p> - -<p>This use of the sincerely common life in the Children’s -Home to promote sincerely social feeling -among the children has been mentioned in the preceding -chapter. It is one of the most vitally important -of the elements in the Montessori schools. -The genuine, unforced acceptance by the children -of the need for sacrifices by the individual for the -good of all, is something which can only be brought -about by genuinely social life with their equals, such -as they have in the Children’s Home and not elsewhere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -We must do the best we can in the family-life -by seeing that the child shares as much as possible -and as sincerely as possible in the life of the -household. But at home he is inevitably living with -his inferiors, plants, animals, and babies; or his -superiors, older children and adults; whereas in the -Children’s Home he is living as he will during the -rest of his life, mostly with his equals. And it is in -the spontaneous adjustments and compromises of this -continuous life with his equals that he learns most -naturally, most soundly, and most thoroughly, the -rules governing social life.</p> - -<p>As for moral life, it seems to me that we need neither -make a vain attempt to subscribe to a too-rosy belief -in the unmixed goodness of human nature, and -blind ourselves to the saddening fact that the battle -against one’s egotism is bound to be painful, nor, on -the other hand, go back to the grim creed of our -forefathers, that the sooner children are thrust into -the thick of this unending war the better, since they -must enter it sooner or later. The truth seems to lie -in its usual position, between two extremes, and to -be that children should be strengthened by proper -moral food, care, and exercises suited to their -strength, and allowed to grow slowly into adult -endurance before they are forced to face adult moral -problems; and that we may protect them from too -great demands on their small fund of capacity for -self-sacrifice by allowing them and even encouraging -them to wreathe their imaginative “plays” about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -self-sacrificing action, provided, of course, that we -keep our heads clear to make sure that the “plays” -do not interfere with the action.</p> - -<p>It is well to make a plain statement to the child -of five, that he is requested to wipe the silver-ware -because it will be of service to his mother (if he is -lucky enough to have a mother who ever does so obviously -necessary and useful a thing as to wash the -dishes herself), but it is not necessary to insist that -this conception of service shall uncompromisingly occupy -his mind during the whole process. It does no -harm if, after this statement, it is suggested that the -knives and forks and spoons are shipwrecked people -in dire need of rescue, and that it would be fun to -snatch them from their watery predicament and restore -them safely to their expectant families in the -silver-drawer. By so doing we are not really confusing -the issue, or “fooling” the child into a good action, -if clear thinking on the part of adults accompany -the process. We are but suiting the burden to -the childish shoulders, but inducing the child-feet to -take a single step, which is all that any of us can -take at one time, in the path leading to the service -of others.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Most of this chapter has been drawn from Montessori -ideas by inference only, by the development -of hints, and it is probable that other mothers, meditating -on the same problems, may see other ways of -applying the principle of self-education and spontaneous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -activity to this field of moral life. It is -apparent that the first element necessary, after a firm -grasp on the fundamental idea that our children must -do their own moral as well as physical growing, and -after a vivid realization that the smallest amount of -real moral life is better than much simulated and -unreal feeling, is clear thinking on our part, a definite -notion of what we really mean by moral life, a definition -which will not be bounded and limited by the -repetition of committed-to-memory prayers. This -does not mean that simple nightly aspirations to be -a good child the next day may not have a most beneficial -effect on even a very young child and may satisfy -the first stirrings to life of the religious instinct, -as much as the constant daily kindnesses to plants -and animals satisfy the ethical instinct. This latter, -however, at his age, is apt to be vastly more developed -and more important than the religious instinct.</p> - -<p>Indeed the religious instinct, which apparently -never develops in some natures, although so strong -in others, is in all cases slow to show itself and, like -other slowly germinating seeds, should not be pushed -and prodded to hasten it, but should be left untouched -until it shows signs of life. Our part is to prepare, -cultivate, and enrich the nature in which it is to grow.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XV<br /> - -<small>DR. MONTESSORI’S LIFE AND THE ORIGIN -OF THE CASA DEI BAMBINI</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">DR. MONTESSORI and the average American -parent are as different in heredity, training, -and environment as two civilized beings can very -well be. Every condition surrounding the average -American child is as materially different as possible -from those about the children in the original Casa dei -Bambini. Hence the usual sound rule that the individuality -and personal history of the scientist do not -concern the student of his work does not hold in -this case. The conditions in Rome where Dr. Montessori -has done her work, differ so entirely from those -of ordinary American life, in the conduct of which -we hope to profit by her experiments, that it is only -fair to Americans interested in her work, to give them -some notion of the varying influences which have -shaped the career of this woman of genius.</p> - -<p>This is so especially in her case, because, as a nation, -we are more ignorant of modern Italian life -than of that of any great European nation. Modern -Italy, wrestling with all the problems of modern industrial -and city life grafted upon an age-old civilization, -endeavoring to enlighten itself, to take the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -best from twentieth-century progress without losing -its own individual virtues, this is a country as -unknown to us as the regions of the moon. And yet -to understand Dr. Montessori’s work and the vicissitudes -of her undertakings, we must have at least -a summary knowledge that the Italian world of to-day -is in a curious ferment of antiquated prejudices -and highly progressive thought.</p> - -<p>To us, as a rule, Rome is “The Eternal City” of -our school-Latin days, whereas, in reality, it is, for -all practical purposes as a city, much more recent -than New York—about as old, let us say, as Detroit. -But Detroit planted its vigorously growing seedling -in the open ground and not in a cracked pot of small -dimensions. Hence the problems of the two modern -cities are dissimilar. I heard it suggested by a -man of authority in the Italian government that -a great mistake had been made when the modern -capital of Italy had been dumped down upon the -heap of historic ruins which remained of ancient -Rome. It had been bad for the ruins and very hard -on the modern capital. If a site had been selected -just outside the walls of old Rome, a nineteenth-century -metropolis could have sprung up with the -effortless haste with which our own Middle Western -plains have produced cities. One thing is certain, -Dr. Montessori’s Case dei Bambini would not have -taken their present form under other conditions, and -this is what concerns us here.</p> - -<p>But before the origin of the Case dei Bambini is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -taken up, a brief biography of their creator will -help us to understand her development. Her early -life, before her choice of a profession, need not interest -us beyond the fact that she is the only child of -devoted parents, not materially well-to-do. Now, as -a result of a too-rapid social transformation among -the Italians, the “middle class” population forms a -much smaller proportion of the inhabitants of Italy -than in other modern nations. One result of this -condition is that the brilliant daughter of parents -not well-to-do, finds it much harder to pass into a -class of associates and to find an intellectual background -which suits her nature, than a similarly intellectual -and original American girl. Even now in -Italy such a girl is forced to fight an unceasing -battle against social prejudice and intellectual -inertia. It can be imagined that when Dr. Montessori -was the beautiful, gifted girl-student of whom -older Romans speak with enthusiasm or horror, according -to the centuries in which they morally live, -her will-power and capacity for concentration must -have been finely tempered in order not to break in the -long struggle.</p> - -<p>Judging by the talk one hears in Rome about the -fine, youthful fervor of Dr. Montessori’s early struggle -against conditions hampering her mental and -spiritual progress, she is a surviving pioneer of -social frontier prejudice, who has emerged from the -battle with pioneer conditions endowed with the -hickory-like toughness of intellectual fiber of will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -and of character which is the reward of sturdy -pioneers. Certain it is that her battles with prejudices -of all sorts have hardened her intellectual muscles -and trained her mental eye in the school of -absolute moral self-dependence, that moral self-dependence -which is the aim and end of her method -of education and which will be, as rapidly as it can -be realized, the solvent for many of our tragic and -apparently insoluble modern problems.</p> - -<p>It is hard for an American of this date to realize -the bomb-shell it must have been to an Italian family -a generation ago when its only daughter decided to -study medicine. So rapidly have conditions surrounding -women changed that there is no parallel -possible to be made which could bring home to us -fully the tremendous will-power necessary for an -Italian woman of that time and class to stick to her -resolution. The fangs of that particular prejudice -have been so well-nigh universally drawn that it is -safe to say that an American family would see its -only daughter embark on the career of animal-tamer, -steeple-jack, or worker in an iron foundry, with less -trepidation than must have shadowed the early days -of Dr. Montessori’s medical studies. One’s imagination -can paint the picture from the fact that she -was the first woman to obtain the degree of Doctor -of Medicine, from the University of Rome, an -achievement which was probably rendered none the -easier by the fact that she was both singularly beautiful -and singularly ardent.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>After graduation she became attached, as assistant -doctor, to the Psychiatric Clinic at Rome. At that -time, one of the temporary expedients of self-modernizing -Italy was to treat the idiot and feeble-minded -children in connection with the really insane, -a rough-and-ready classification which will serve -vividly to illustrate the desperate condition of Italy -of that date. The young medical graduate had taken -up children’s diseases as the “specialty” which no -self-respecting modern doctor can be without, and -naturally in her visits to the insane asylums (where -the subjects of her Clinic lived), her attention was -attracted to the deficient children so fortuitously -lodged under the same roof.</p> - -<p>I go into the details of the oblique manner in -which she embarked upon the prodigious undertaking -of education without any conscious knowledge of the -port toward which she was directing her course, in -order to bring out clearly the fact that she approached -the field of pedagogy from an entirely new -direction, with absolutely new aims and with a wholly -different mental equipment from those of the technically -pedagogical, philosophic, or social-reforming -persons who have labored so conscientiously in that -field for so many generations.</p> - -<p>This young doctor, then, trained by hard knocks to -do her own thinking and make her own decisions, -found that her absorbed study of abnormal and -deficient children led her straight along the path -taken by the nerves from their unregulated external<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -activities to the brain-centers which rule them so -fitfully. The question was evidently of getting at -the brain-centers. Now the name of the process of -getting at brain-centers is one not usually encountered -in the life of the surgeon. It is education.</p> - -<p>The doctor at work on these problems was all the -time in active practice as a physician, an influence -in her life which is not to be forgotten in summing -up the elements which have formed her character. She -was performing operations in the hospitals, taking -charge of grave diseases in her private practice, exposing -herself to infection of all sorts in the infectious -wards of the hospitals, liable to be called up -at any hour of the night to attend a case anywhere -in the purlieus of Rome. It was a soldier tried and -tested in actual warfare in another part of the battle -for the betterment of humanity, who finally took -up the question of the training of the young. She -parted company with many of her fellow-students of -deficient children, and faced squarely the results of -her reasoning. Not for her the position aloof, the -observation of phenomena from the detached standpoint -of the distant specialist. If nervous diseases -of children, leading to deficient intellectual powers, -could be best attacked through education, the obvious -step was to become an educator.</p> - -<p>She gave up her active practice as a physician -which had continued steadily throughout all her other -activities, and accepted the post of Director of the -State Orthophrenic School (what we would call an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -Institute for the Feeble-Minded), and, throwing herself -into the work, heart and soul, with all the ardor -of her race and her own temperament, she utilized -her finely-tempered brain and indomitable will, in -the hand-to-hand struggle for the actual amelioration -of existing conditions. For years she taught the -children in the Asylum under her care, devoting herself -to them throughout every one of their waking -hours, pouring into the poor, cracked vases of their -minds the full, rich flood of her own powerful intellect. -All day she worked with her children, loved -to idolatry by them, exhausting herself over their -problems like the simplest, most unthinking, most -unworldly, and devout sister of charity; but at night -she was the scientist again, arranging, classifying, -clarifying the results of the day’s observation, examining -with minute attention the work of all those -who had studied her problems before her, applying -and elaborating every hint of theirs, every clue discovered -in her own experiments.</p> - -<p>Those were good years, years before the world -had heard of her, years of undisturbed absorption -in her work.</p> - -<p>Then, one day, as such things come, after long, -uncertain efforts, a miracle happened. A supposedly -deficient child, trained by her methods, -passed the examinations of a public school with more -ease, with higher marks than normal children prepared -in the old way. The miracle happened again -and again and then so often that it was no longer a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -miracle, but a fact to be foretold and counted on with -certainty.</p> - -<p>Then the woman with the eager heart and trained -mind drew a long breath and, determining to make -this first success only the cornerstone of a new temple, -turned to a larger field of action, the field to -which her every unconscious step had been leading -her, the education, no longer only of the deficient, -but of all the normal young of the human race.</p> - -<p>It was in 1900 that Dr. Montessori left the -Scuola Ortofrenica, and began to prepare herself -consciously and definitely for the task before her. -For seven years she followed a course of self-imposed -study, meditation, observation, and intense -thought. She began by registering as a student of -philosophy in the University of Rome and turned -her attention to experimental psychology with especial -reference to child-psychology. The habit of -her scientific training disposed her naturally as an -accompaniment to her own research to examine -thoroughly the existing and recognized authorities -in her new field. She began to visit the primary -schools and to look about her at the orthodox and -old-established institutions of the educational world -with the fresh vision only possible to a mind trained -by scientific research to abhor preconceived ideas -and to come to a conclusion only after weighing -actual evidence.</p> - -<p>No more diverting picture can be imagined than -the one presented by this keen-eyed, clear-headed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> -scientist surveying, with an astonishment which must -have been almost dramatically apparent, the rows -of immobile little children nailed to their stationary -seats and forced to give over their natural birth-right -of activity to a well-meaning, gesticulating, -explaining, always fatigued, and always talking -teacher. It was evident at a glance that she could -not find there what she had hoped to find, that first -prerequisite of the modern scientist, a prolonged -scrutiny of the natural habits of the subject of investigation. -The entomologist seeking to solve some -of the farmer’s problems, spends years with a microscope, -studying the habits of the potato and of the -potato-bug before he tries to invent a way to help -the one and circumvent the other. But Dr. Montessori -found, so to speak, that all the potatoes she -tried to investigate were being grown in a cellar. -They grew, somehow, because the upward thrust of -life is invincible, but their pale shoots gave no evidence -of the possibility of the sturdy stems, which -a chance specimen or two escaped by a stroke of -luck from the cellar, proved to be possible for the -whole species.</p> - -<p>At the same time that she was making these -amazed and disconcerted visits to the primary -schools, she was devouring all the books which have -been written on her subject. My own acquaintance -with works on pedagogy is limited, but I observe -that people who do know them do not seem surprised -that this thoroughly trained modern doctor, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> -years of practical teaching back of her, should have -found little aid in them. Two highly valuable -authorities she did find, significantly enough doctors -like herself, one who lived at the time of the French -Revolution and one perhaps fifty years later. She -tells us in her book what their ideas were and how -strongly they modified her own; but as we are here -chiefly concerned with the net result of her thought, -it would not be profitable to go exhaustively into -the investigation of her sources. It is enough to -say that most of us would never in our lives have -heard of those two doctors if she had not studied -them.</p> - -<p>We have now followed the course of Dr. Montessori’s -life until it brings us back to that chaotic, -ancient-modern Rome, mentioned a few paragraphs -above, struggling with all sorts of modern problems -of city life. The housing of the very poor is a -question troublesome enough, even to Detroit or -Indianapolis with their bright, new municipal machinery. -In Rome the problem is complicated by the -medieval standards of the poor themselves as to -their own comfort; by the existence of many old -rookeries where they may roost in unspeakable conditions -of filth and promiscuity; and by the lack of -a widespread popular enlightenment as to the progress -of the best modern communities. But, though -Italian public opinion as a whole seems to be in a -somewhat dazed condition over the velocity of -changes in the social structure, there is no country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -in the world which has more acute, powerful, or -original intelligences and consciences trained on our -modern problems. All the while that Dr. Montessori -had been trying to understand the discrepancy between -the rapid advance of idiot children under her -system and the slow advance of normal children -under old-fashioned methods, another Italian, an influential, -intelligent, and patriotic Roman, Signor -Edoardo Talamo, was studying the problem of bettering -at once, practically, the housing of the very -poor.</p> - -<p>He had decided what to do and had done it, when -the line of his activity and that of Dr. Montessori’s -met in one of those apparently fortuitous combinations -of elements destined to form a compound which -is exactly the medicine needed for some unhealthy -part of the social tissue. The plan of Signor Talamo’s -model tenements was so wise and so admirably -executed that, except for one factor, they really -deserved their name. This factor was the existence -of a large number of little children under the usual -school age, who were left alone all day while their -mothers, driven by the grinding necessity which is -the rule in the Italian lower working classes, went -out to help earn the family living. These little ones -wandered about the clean halls and stairways, defacing -everything they could reach and constantly -getting into mischief, the desolating ingenuity of -which can be imagined by any mother of small children. -It was evident that the money taken to repair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -the damage done by them would be better employed -in preventing them from doing it in the first place. -Signor Talamo conceived the simple plan of setting -apart a big room in every one of his tenement houses -where the children could be kept together. This, of -course, meant that some grown person must be there -to look after them.</p> - -<p>Now Rome is, at least from the standpoint of a -New Yorker or a Chicagoan, a small city, where -“everyone who is anyone knows everyone else.” Although -the sphere of Signor Talamo’s activity was -as far as possible from that of the pioneer woman -doctor specializing in children’s brain-centers, he -knew of her existence and naturally enough asked -her to undertake the organization and the management -of the different groups of children in his tenement -houses, collected, as far as he was concerned, -for the purpose of keeping them from scratching -the walls and fouling the stairways.</p> - -<p>On her part Dr. Montessori took a rapid mental -survey of these numerous groups of normal children -at exactly the age when she thought them most -susceptible to the right sort of education, and saw -in them, as if sent by a merciful Providence, the -experimental laboratories which she so much needed -to carry on her work and which she had definitely -found that primary schools could never become.</p> - -<p>The fusion of two elements which are destined to -combine is not a long process once they are brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> -together. How completely Dr. Montessori was prepared -for the opportunity thus given her can be -calculated by the fact that the first Casa dei Bambini -was opened on the 6th of January, 1907, and that -now, only five years after, there arrive in Rome, from -every quarter of the globe, bewildered but imperious -demands for enlightenment on the new idea.</p> - -<p>For it was at once apparent that the fundamental -principle of self-education, which had been growing -larger and larger in Dr. Montessori’s mind, was as -brilliantly successful in actual practice as it was -plausible in abstract thought. Evidently entire freedom -for the children was not only better for the purposes -of the scientific investigator, but infinitely the -best thing for the children. All those meditations -about the real nature of childhood, over which she had -been brooding in the long years of her study, proved -themselves, once put to the test, as axiomatic in -reality as they had seemed. Her theories held water. -The children justified all her visions of their capacity -for perfectibility and very soon went far beyond -anything even she had conceived of their ability to -teach and to govern themselves. For instance, she -had not the least idea, when she began, of teaching -children under six how to write. She held, as most -other educators did, that on the whole it was too -difficult an undertaking for such little ones. It was -her own peculiar characteristic, or rather the characteristic -of her scientific training, of extreme openness -to conviction which induced her, after practical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -experience, to begin her famous experiments with -the method for writing.</p> - -<p>The story of this startling revelation of unsuspected -forces in human youth and of the almost -instant pounce upon it by the world, distracted by -a helpless sense of the futility and clumsiness of -present methods of education, is too well known to -need a long recapitulation. The first Casa dei Bambini -was established in January, 1907, without attracting -the least attention from the public. About -a year after another one was opened. This time, -owing to the marked success of the first, the affair -was more of a ceremony, and Dr. Montessori delivered -there that eloquent inaugural address which is -reprinted in the American translation of her book. -By April of 1908, only a little over a year after the -first small beginning, the institution of the Casa -dei Bambini was discovered by the public, keen on -the scent of anything that promised relief from -the almost intolerable lack of harmony between -modern education and modern needs. Pilgrims of -all nationalities and classes found their way through -the filthy streets of that wretched quarter, and the -barely established institution, still incomplete in many -ways, with many details untouched, with many others -provided for only in a makeshift manner, was set -under the microscopic scrutiny of innumerable sharp -eyes.</p> - -<p>The result, as far as we are concerned, we all -know: the rumors, vague at first, which blew across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -our lives, then more definite talk of something really -new, then the characteristically American promptness -of response in our magazines and the almost equally -prompt appearance of an English translation of -Dr. Montessori’s book.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_224fp.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Word Building With Cut-Out Alphabet.</span><br /> - -<span class="captionright">Copyright 1912, by Carl R. Byoir</span></p> - -<p>And, so far, that is all we have from her, and -for the present it is all we can have, without taking -some action ourselves to help her. It is a strange -situation, intensely modern, which could only have -occurred in this age of instantly tattling cables and -telegrams. It is, of course, a great exaggeration -to say that all educated parents and teachers in -America are interested in the Montessori system, but -the proportion who really seem to be, is astonishing -in the extreme when one considers the very -recent date of the beginning of the whole movement. -Over there in Rome, in a tenement house, a woman -doctor begins observations in an experimental laboratory -of children, and in five years’ time, which is -nothing to a real scientist, her laboratory doors -are stormed by inquirers from Australia, from Norway, -from Mexico, and, most of all, from the United -States. Teachers of district schools in the Carolinas -write their cousins touring in Europe to be sure to -go to Rome to see the Montessori schools. Mothers -from Oregon and Maine write, addressing their -letters, “Montessori, Rome,” and make demands for -enlightenment, urgent, pressing, peremptory, and -shamelessly peremptory, since they conceive of a possibility -that their children, their own children, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> -most important human beings in the world, may be -missing something valuable. From innumerable -towns and cities, teachers, ambitious to be in the -front of their profession, are taking their hoarded -savings from the bank and starting to Rome with the -nave conviction that their own thirst for information -is sufficient guarantee that someone will instantly -be forthcoming to provide it for them.</p> - - - - -<p>When they reach Rome, most of them quite unable -to express themselves in Italian or even in French, -what do they find, all these tourists and letters of -inquiry, and adventuring school-mistresses? They -find a dead wall. They have an unformulated idea -that they are probably going to a highly organized -institution of some sort, like our huge “model -schools” attached to our normal colleges, through -the classrooms of which an unending file of observers -is allowed to pass. And they have no idea whatever -of the inevitability <i>with which Italians speak Italian</i>.</p> - -<p>They find—if they are relentlessly persistent -enough to pierce through the protection her friends -try to throw about her—only Dr. Montessori herself, -a private individual, phenomenally busy with very -important work, who does not speak or understand a -word of English, who has neither money, time, or -strength enough single-handed to cope with the flood -of inquiries and inquirers about her ideas. In order -to devote herself entirely to the great undertaking -of transmuting her divinations of the truth into a -definite, logical, and scientific system, she has withdrawn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -herself more and more from public life. She -has resigned from her chair of anthropology in the -University of Rome, and last year sent a substitute -to do her work in another academic position not connected -with her present research—and this although -she is far from being a woman of independent means. -She has sacrificed everything in her private life in -order to have, for the development of her educational -ideas, that time and freedom so constantly infringed -upon by the well-meaning urgency of our demands -for instruction from her.</p> - -<p>She lives now in the most intense retirement, never -taking a vacation from her passionate absorption -in her work, not even giving herself time for the -exercise necessary for health, surrounded and aided -by a little group of five devoted disciples, young -Italian women who live with her, who call her -“mother,” and who exist in and for her and her -ideas, as ardently and whole-heartedly as nuns about -an adored Mother Superior. Together they are giving -up their lives to the development of a complete -educational system based on the fundamental idea -of self-education which gave such brilliant results -in the Casa dei Bambini with children from three to -six. For the past year, helped spiritually by these -disciples and materially by influential Italian friends, -Dr. Montessori has been experimenting with the -application of her ideas to children from six to nine, -and I think it is no violation of her confidence to -report that these experiments have been as astonishingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -successful as her work with younger children.</p> - -<p>It is to this woman burning with eagerness to do -her work, absorbed in the exhausting problems of -intellectual creation, that students from all over the -world are turning for instruction in a phase of her -achievement which now lies behind her. The woman -in the genius is touched and heartened by the sudden -homage of the world, but it is the spirit of the investigating -scientist which most often inhabits that -powerful, bulky, yet lightly poised body and looks -out from those dark, prophetic eyes; and from the -point of view of the scientist, the world asks too -much when it demands from her that she give herself -up to normal teaching. For it must be apparent -from the sketch of her present position that she -would need to give up her very life were she to -accede to all the requests for training teachers in -her primary method, since she is simply a private -individual, has no connection with the official educational -system of her country, is at the head of no -normal school, gives no courses of lectures, and has -no model schools of her own to which to invite visitors. -It is hard to believe her sad yet unembittered -statement that there is now in Rome not one primary -school which is entirely under her care, which she -authorizes in all its detail, which is really a “Montessori -School.” There are, it is true, some which -she started and which are still conducted according -to her ideas in the majority of details, but not one -where she is the leading spirit.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>There are a variety of reasons, natural enough -when one has once taken in the situation, which -account for this state of things, so bewildering and -disconcerting to those who have come from so far -to learn at headquarters about the new ideas. The -Italian Government, straining to carry the heavy -burdens of a modern State, feels itself unable to -undertake a radical and necessarily very costly reorganization -of its schools, the teachers very naturally -fear revolutionary changes which would render -useless their hard-won diplomas, and carry on against -the new system a secret campaign which has been so -far successful. Hence it happens that investigators -coming from across seas have the not unfamiliar experience -of finding the prophet by no means head of -the official religion of his own country.</p> - -<p>In the other camp, fighting just as bitterly, are -the Montessori adherents, full of enthusiasm for -her philosophy, devoting all the forces at their command -(and they include many of the highest intellectual -and social forces) to the success of the -cause which they believe to be of the utmost importance -to the future of the race. It can be seen -that the situation is not orderly, calm, or in any -way adapted to dispassionate investigation.</p> - -<p>And yet people who have come from California -and British Columbia and Buenos Ayres to seek for -information, naturally do not wish to go back to their -distant homes without making a violent effort to investigate. -What they usually try to do is to force<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -from someone in authority a card of admission either -to the Montessori school held in the Franciscan -Nunnery on the Via Giusti, or to another conducted -by Signora Galli among the children of an extremely -poor quarter of Rome, or, innocent and unaware, -in all good faith go to visit the institutions in the -model tenements, still called Case dei Bambini. But -Dr. Montessori’s relations with those schools ceased -in 1911 as a result of an unfortunate disagreement -between Signor Talamo and herself in which, so far -as an outsider can judge, she was not to blame; and -those infant schools are now thought by impartial -judges to be far from good expositions of her -methods, and in many cases are actual travesties of -it. Furthermore, Dr. Montessori has now no connection -with Signora Galli’s schools. This leaves -accessible to her care and guided by her counsels -only the school held in the Franciscan nunnery, which -is directed by Signorina Ballerini, one of Dr. Montessori’s -own disciples, as the nearest approach to -a school under her own control in Rome. This is, -in many ways, an admirable example of the wonderful -result of the Montessori ideas and is a revelation -to all who visit it. But even here, though the good -nuns make every effort to give a free hand to -Signorina Ballerini, it can be imagined that the ecclesiastical -atmosphere, which in its very essence is -composed of unquestioning obedience to authority, -is not the most congenial one for the growth of a -system which uses every means possible to do away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -with dogma of any sort, and to foster self-dependence -and first-hand ideas of things. More than this, -if this school admitted freely all those who wish to -visit it, there would be more visitors than children -on many a day.</p> - -<p>It is not hard to sympathize with the searchers -for information who come from the ends of the earth, -who stand aghast at this futile ending of their long -journey. And yet it would be the height of folly -for the world to call away from her all-important -work an investigator from whom we hope so much -in the future. How can we expect her, against all -manner of material odds, to organize a normal school -in a country with a government indifferent, if not -hostile to her ideas, to gather funds, to rent rooms, -to arrange hours, hire janitors, and lay out courses!</p> - -<p>But the proselytizer who lives in every ardent -believer makes her as unreconciled to the state of -things as we are. She is regretfully aware of the -opportunity to spread the new gospel which is being -lost with every day of silence, distressed at the -thought of sending the pilgrims away empty-handed, -and above all naturally distracted with anxiety lest -impure, misunderstanding caricatures of her system -spread abroad in the world as the only answer to the -demand for information about it. Busy as she is -with the most absorbing investigations, Dr. Montessori -is willing to meet the world halfway. If those -who ask her to teach them will do the tangible, comparatively -simple work of establishing an Institute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -of Experimental Pedagogy in Rome, the Dottoressa, -for all her concentration on her further research, will -be more than willing to give enough of her time for -making the school as wonderful, beautiful, and inspiring -as only a Montessori school can be.</p> - -<p>Our part should be to endeavor to learn from her -what we can without disturbing too much that freedom -of life which is as essential to her as to the -children in her schools, to give generously to an -Institute of Experimental Pedagogy, and then freely -allow her own inspiration to shape its course. Surely -the terms are not hard ones, and it is to be hoped -that the United States, with the genuine, if somewhat -haphazard, willingness to further the cause of -education, which is perhaps our most creditable national -characteristic, will accept the offered opportunity -and divert a little of the money now being -spent in America on scientific investigation of every -sort to this investigation so vital for the coming -generation. The need is urgent, the sum required -is not large, the opportunity is one in a century, and -the end to be gained valuable beyond the possibility -of exaggeration, for, as Dr. Montessori quotes at the -end of the preface of her book, “Whoso strives for -the regeneration of education strives for the regeneration -of the human race.”</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Since this chapter was printed, I have heard the good -news that satisfactory arrangements have been made by the Montessori -American Committee with Dr. Montessori for a training -class to be held in Rome for American teachers.</p></blockquote> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVI<br /> - -<small>SOME LAST REMARKS</small></h2></div> - - -<p class="drop-cap">THAT there is little prospect of an immediate -adoption in the United States of Montessori -ideas of flexibility and unhampered individual -growth is apparent to anyone who knows even -slightly the hierarchic rigidity of our system of education -with its inexorable advance along fixed fore-ordained -lines, from the kindergarten through the -primary school, on through the high school to the -Chinese ordeal of the college entrance examination, -an event which casts its shadow far down the line -of school-grades, embittering the intellectual activities -and darkening the life of teachers and pupils -(even pupils who have not the faintest chance of going -to college) for years before the awful moment -arrives.</p> - -<p>All really good teachers have always been, as much -as they were allowed to be, some variety of what is -called in this book “Montessori teacher.” But as the -State and private systems of education have swollen -to more and more unmanageable proportions, and -have settled into more and more exact and cog-like -relations with each other, teachers have found themselves -required to “turn out a more uniform<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -product,” a process which is in its very essence utterly -abhorrent to anyone with the soul of an educator.</p> - -<p>Our State system of education has come to such -an exalted degree of uniformity that a child in a -third grade in Southern California can be transported -to a third grade in Maine, and find himself -in company with children being ground out in precisely -the same educational hopper he has left. His -temperament, capacity, tastes, surroundings, probable -future and aspirations may be what you will, -he will find all the children about his age of all -temperaments, tastes, capacities, probable futures and -aspirations practically everywhere in the United -States, being “educated” exactly as he was, in -his original graded school, wherever it was. School -superintendents hold conferences of self-congratulation -over this “standardizing” of American education, -and some teachers are so hypnotized by -this mental attitude on the part of their official superiors, -that they come to take pride in the Procrustean -quality of their schoolroom where all statures -are equalized, and to labor conscientiously to drive -thirty or more children slowly and steadily, like a -flock of little sheep, with no stragglers and no advance-guard -allowed, along the straight road to the -next division, where another shepherdess, with the -same training, takes them in hand. There is a -significant anecdote current in school-circles, of an -educator rising to address an educational convention<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -which had been discussing special treatment for -mentally slow and deficient children, and solemnly -making only this pregnant exclamation, “We have -special systems for the deficient child, and the slow -child and the stupid child ... but <i>God help the -bright child</i>!”</p> - -<p>Now it is only fair to state that this mechanical -exactitude of program and of organization has been -in the past of incalculable service in bringing educational -order out of the chaos which was the inevitable -result of the astoundingly rapid growth in population -of our country. Our educational system is a -monument to the energy, perseverance, and organizing -genius of the various educational authorities, -city, county, and state superintendents and so on, -who have created it. But like all other complicated -machines it needs to be controlled by master-minds -who do not forget its ultimate purpose in the fascination -of its smoothly-running wheels. That there -is plenty of the right spirit fermenting among educators -is evident. For, even along with the mighty development -of this educational machine, has gone a -steadily increasing protest on the part of the best -teachers and superintendents, against its quite possible -misuse.</p> - -<p>Few people become teachers for the sake of the -money to be made in that business; it is a profession -which rapidly becomes almost intolerable to anyone -who has not a natural taste for it; and, as a consequence -of these two factors, it is perhaps, of all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -professions, the one which has the largest proportion -of members with a natural aptitude for their -lifework. With the instinctive right-feeling of human -beings engaged in the work for which they were -born, a considerable proportion of teachers have -protested against the tacit demand upon them by -the machine organization of education, to make the -children under their care, all alike. They have felt -keenly the essential necessity of inculcating initiative -and self-dependence in their pupils, and in many -cases have been aided and abetted in these heterodox -ideas by more or less sympathetic principals and -superintendents; but the ugly, hard fact remains, not -a whit diminished for all their efforts, that the -teacher whose children are not able to “pass” given -examinations on given subjects, at the end of a given -time, is under suspicion; and the principal whose -school is full of such teachers is very apt to give way -to a successor, chosen by a board of business-men -with a cult for efficiency. To advise teachers under -such conditions to “adopt Montessori ideas” is to -add the grimmest mockery to the difficulties of their -position. All that can be hoped for, at present, in -that direction, is that the strong emphasis placed -by the Montessori method on the necessity for individual -freedom of mental activity and growth, may -prove a valuable reinforcement to those American -educators who are already struggling along towards -that goal.</p> - -<p>This general state of things in the formal education<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -of our country is one of the many reasons why -this book is addressed to mothers and not to teachers. -The natural development of Montessori ideas, the -natural results of the introduction of “Children’s -Homes” into the United States, without this already -existing fixed educational organization convinced of -its own perfection, would be entirely in accord with -the general, vague, unconscious socialistic drift of -our time. Little by little, various enterprises which -used to be private and individual, are being carried -on by some central, expert organization. This is -especially true as regards the life of women. One -by one, all the old “home industries” are being taken -away from us. Our laundry-work, bread-making, -sewing, house-furnishing, and the like, are all done -in impersonal industrial centers far from the home. -The education of children over six has already followed -this general direction and is less and less in -the hands of the children’s mothers. And now here -is the Casa dei Bambini, ready to take the younger -children out of our yearning arms, and sternly forbidding -us to protest, as our mothers were forbidden -to protest when we, as girls, went away to college, or -when trained nurses came in to take the care of their -sick children away from them, because the best interests -of the coming generation demand this sacrifice.</p> - -<p>But as things stand now, we mothers have a little -breathing-space in which to accustom ourselves -gradually to this inevitable change in our world. At -some time in the future, society will certainly recognize<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -this close harmony of the successful Casa dei -Bambini with the rest of the tendencies of our times, -and then there will be a need to address a detailed -technical book on Montessori ideas to teachers, for -the training of little children will be in their hands, -as is already the training of older children.</p> - -<p>And then will be completed the process which has -been going on so long, of forcing all women into labor -suitable to their varying temperaments. The last -one of the so-called “natural,” “domestic” occupations -will be taken away from us, and very shame at -our enforced idleness will drive us to follow men into -doing, each the work for which we are really fitted. -Those of us who are born teachers and mothers (for -the two words ought to mean about the same thing) -will train ourselves expertly to care for the children -of the world, collected for many hours a day in -school-homes of various sorts. Those of us who have -not this natural capacity for wise and beneficent -association with the young (and many who love children -dearly are not gifted with wisdom in their -treatment) will do other parts of the necessary work -of the world.</p> - -<p>But that time is still in the future. At present -our teachers can no more adopt the utter freedom and -the reverence for individual differences, which constitute -the essence of the “Montessori method,” than -a cog in a great machine can, of its own volition, -begin to turn backwards. And here is the opportunity -for us, the mothers, perhaps among the last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -of the race who will be allowed the inestimable delight -and joy of caring for our own little children, a delight -and joy of which society, sooner or later, will -consider us unworthy on account of our inexpertness, -our carelessness, our absorption in other things, our -lack of wise preparation, our lack of abstract good -judgment.</p> - -<p>Our part, during this period of transition, is to -seize upon regenerating influences coming from any -source, and shape them with care into instruments -which will help us in the great task of training little -children, a complicated and awful responsibility, our -pathetically inadequate training for which is offset -somewhat by our passionate desire to do our best.</p> - -<p>We can collaborate in our small way with the -scientific founder of the Montessori method, and can -help her to go on with her system (discovered before -its completion) by assimilating profoundly her -master-idea, and applying it in directions which she -has not yet had time finally and carefully to explore, -such as its application to the dramatic and sthetic -instincts of children.</p> - -<p>Above all, we can apply it to ourselves, to our own -tense and troubled lives. We can absorb some of -Dr. Montessori’s reverence for vital processes. Indeed, -possibly nothing could more benefit our children -than a whole-hearted conversion on our part to her -great and calm trust in life itself.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">INDEX</h2></div> - - -<p> -Adult analysis of children’s problems, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Animal training different from child training, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Apparatus:<br /> -<span class="indent">Big stair, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Broad stair, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Buttoning-frames, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Color spools, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Explanation of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a> ff.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Geometric insets, flat, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Geometric insets, solid, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">How to use, <a href="#Page_67">67</a> ff., <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Long stair, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">The Tower, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</span><br /> -<br /> -Age of children in Montessori schools, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Apathetic child, the, <a href="#Page_41">41</a> ff.<br /> -<br /> -Arithmetic, beginnings of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -“Bad child,” the, treatment of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Big stair, the. See Apparatus.<br /> -<br /> -Buttoning-frames. See Apparatus.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Democracy, basis of Montessori system, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Discipline, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a> ff.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Exercises, gymnastic, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;<br /> -<span class="indent">for legs, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</span><br /> -<span class="indent">for balance, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</span><br /> -<br /> -Exercises, sensory:<br /> -<span class="indent">Baric, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Blindfolded, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Color games, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Color matching, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Hearth-side seed-game, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">In dimension, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">In folding up, <a href="#Page_107">107</a> ff.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Instinctive desire for, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Not entire occupation of children, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Simplicity of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">In smelling, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">Tactile, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">In tasting, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">By use of water, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</span><br /> -<span class="indent">By use of weights, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</span><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Family life, how affected by Montessori system, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Freedom, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Gardens, value of, in child-training, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Geometric insets. See Apparatus.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Individuality, respect for, of Montessori system, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Interest, a prerequisite to education, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a> ff., <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Kindergarten compared with Montessori system, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;<br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -<span class="indent">as to self-annihilation of teacher, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</span><br /> -<span class="indent">as to absence of supervision, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</span><br /> -<span class="indent">as to social life of children, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</span><br /> -<span class="indent">as to overstimulation, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.</span><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Lesson of silence, <a href="#Page_43">43</a> ff.<br /> -<br /> -Long stair. See Apparatus.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Mental concentration, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Music, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -New pupils, <a href="#Page_37">37</a> ff.<br /> -<br /> -Number of pupils in Montessori school, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Obedience, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Observation of children, necessity for, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Overstimulation, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Patience of children, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Plants, care of, for children, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Reading, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Responsibility, inculcation of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -School day, length of, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.<br /> -<br /> -School-equipment, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Self-control of children, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Self-dependence of children, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Slowness of children, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Social life of children, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /> -<br /> -Supervision, absence of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Theoretic basis of Montessori system, <a href="#Page_vi">vi</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>,—see also under Democracy, Freedom, Interest, Individuality, Responsibility, Self-dependence.<br /> -<br /> -Touch, sense of, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;<br /> -<span class="indent">exercises for,—see Exercises, Sensory.</span><br /> -<br /> -Tower, the. See Apparatus.<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -Writing, training for, beginnings of, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;<br /> -<span class="indent">theory underlying, <a href="#Page_79">79</a> ff.;</span><br /> -<span class="indent">alphabet, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br /> -<span class="indent">spontaneous writing, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</span><br /> -<span class="indent">time required to learn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</span><br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p class="ph3">FOOTNOTES:</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> At first he traces only the outline of the inside figure. Later -the square frame is also outlined.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> A note here may perhaps clear up a possible misconception. -It is to be remembered that all these statements about the necessity -for interest in the child’s mind refer only to <i>educative</i> processes. -Occasions may arise when it is desirable that a child shall -do something which does not interest him—for instance, sit still -in a railway train until the end of the journey. But no one need -think that he will ever acquire a taste for this occupation through -being forced to it.</p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="ph2">DOROTHY CANFIELD’S THE SQUIRREL-CAGE</p></div> - -<blockquote> - -<p>Illustrated by <span class="smcap">J. A. 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The story of a young girl’s powerlessness to -resist the steady pressure of convention.”—<i>Bookman.</i></p> - -<p>“A remarkable story of American life to-day, worth reading and -worth pondering.... Her book is, first of all, a story, and a good -one throughout.”—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p></blockquote> - - -<p class="ph2">BEULAH MARIE DIX’S THE FIGHTING BLADE</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>By the author of “The Making of Christopher Ferringham,” -“Allison’s Lad,” etc. With frontispiece by <span class="smcap">George -Varian</span>. 3rd printing. $1.30 net.</p> - -<p>The “fighting blade” is a quiet, boyish German soldier -serving Cromwell, who, though a deadly duelist, is at bottom -heroic and self-sacrificing. 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NOVICOW’S WAR AND ITS ALLEGED -BENEFITS</p> - -<p>By the Vice-President of the International Institute of Sociology.</p> - -<p>Translated by Thomas Seltzer. 130 pp. 16mo. $1.00 net.<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> - -<p>The Contents include: War as an End in Itself—One-Sided -Reasoning—War a Solution—Physiological Effects—Economic -Effects—Political Effects—Intellectual Effects—Moral Effects—Survivals, -Routine Ideas, and Sophistries—The Psychology of War—War -Considered as the Sole Form of Struggle—The Theorist of -Brute Force—Antagonism and Solidarity.</p> - - - -<p>“A small volume with a large purpose.... A large number of the -arguments of war as a beneficial agent are considered and vigorously and -clearly refuted.... Very simple and clear, bristling with crisp, epigrammatic -sentences.... 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