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Posted by Chelsea on April 24, 2006, 9:54 pm, in reply to "The Catholic Church and Montessori" Thanks for these great resources! I tread cautiously when reading Marianna Bartold only because there is generally so much truth to what she writes that it is sometimes hard to decipher between the Truth and her opinion in some cases with regard to what is really "Catholic. I agree with her for the most part that Maria Montessori had flaws in her philosophy. (We don't uplift her as a doctor of the Church, or even a saint for that matter). Bartold gave one of the best examples of that in her blog. Although I have to point out that an old earth theory and the theory of evolution are not opposed in any way to Church teaching. In fact the Church's official teaching on these matters is that they are not taking a position. I just mention that because I know a lot of Catholic homeschoolers have been influenced by the Protestant Fundamentalism with regard to no evolution and a young earth model. You would think though that in Italy where even today the public schools are free to teach Catholic religion that certainly in Maria Montessori's time she would have done more to incorporate Catholicism into her method in general. It got me thinking though that perhaps this is why we see today two distinct sort of branches of Montessori's model. Many of the contemporary Montessori publications are very sort of "new-agey" with an emphasis on the "universe" almost as if the universe is to be worshiped in place of God. Then we have the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd that takes the Catholic elements of Montessori's method and expounds on them beautifully. I agree with Bartold that there are flaws in Montessori's writings and they are easy to point out. But it is also just as easy to find the amazing genius in her method and expound on it from a Catholic perspective as Gianna Gobbi and Sofia Cavelleti have done so beautifully. And so goes the saying "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." Blessings,
66.41.38.138
Dear Cay,
Chelsea
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