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Posted by Bernadette on April 25, 2006, 11:00 am, in reply to "The Catholic Church and Montessori" I hope that you had a blessed Easter and continue to do so. Here are my recommendations for you. My favorite book so far about the Church and Montessori is 'The Child in the Church' by Maria Montessori and others, edited by E.M. Standing. This book has recently been republished and is available through The Catholic Shop in Chantilly, Virginia, phone 703-222-0096 or 1-888-AVE-MARIA (283-6274). It discusses the atrium quite a bit. E.M. Standing wrote 'Maria Montessori, Her Life and Work.' If you haven’t read that one yet, I would definitely suggest that you do. This article ‘Montessori and the Popes’ was also written by E.M. Standing. I wanted to comment on the KIC blog. From reading her statement, it is obvious that she does not have any training with regard to Montessori. As I mentioned in my other post on ‘Trained vs. Untrained’, Montessori based her method on the Four Planes of Human Development. Montessori observed children. She was the first woman medical doctor at a time when women did not even attend college. She studied the child and who he is, what the nature of the child is. This observation lasted for decades and occurred in the many countries where her method was used. She saw man develop and called it the Four Planes of Human Development. The planes are broken up into the age groups of 0-6, 6-12, 12-18, and 18-24. She compared man to a butterfly that goes through its four stages of larva, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. Each stage of the butterfly’s life is unique and different with its own particular needs for proper growth. Giving a larva wonderful fruit to eat is not appropriate, since everything it needs for its growth is in the egg. But the caterpillar needs food to grow. It is the same with man. Each stage of man’s development has different needs and characteristics. So, because the needs are different at each stage, the education at each stage must be different to meet those needs. For example, the 0-6 child has the ‘absorbent mind.’ Everything that happens around the child, the child takes in, literally absorbing. A young child at this point cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy. Everything is real to this child. I’ve met young children who think Power Rangers and Jedi are real. Nothing will convince them otherwise. So, when they reach the age of reason at age 7 (held by Aristotle, St. Thomas, and the Church), the second plane child will then question what is real. He thinks, ”How can I prove ‘x’ is real? If Jedi are not real, and Power Rangers are not real, how can I prove that Jesus and Mary are real?” The second plane child is the child of questions and wonder. My oldest is now in this plane and my second is transitioning into this plane. They ask questions like “What is water?” and showing them what it is did not satisfy the question (they really want to know WHAT water is); or “What does the mind of God look like?” (since we had talked about before she grew in me, she still existed in the mind of God). So, for the second plane child it is appropriate to use a ‘fantasy’ story, since they can question and search for the truth. And, yes, Montessori is a very hands-on method of education, for all the planes. As for the quotes in her blog, I have not read the book quoted. However, I would not take this blog author as an authority on Montessori. Also, quotes must be understood within the context that they were taken from. Even Bible can be misquoted. From my research, Montessori wrote in Italian as well as gave her lectures in Italian. So, for KIC to pick at the word ‘devas’, might be a translator’s best word for what Montessori what trying to convey. As for Chelsea’s comment, Montessori spent her life trying to understand man and his development. That study alone would take more than one’s lifetime. Montessori said that her method found its fulfillment in teaching religion to children, that “her own method could only find its fullest expression when applied to the teachings of the Catholic faith” (Child in the Church). So, she had others, Anna Maccheroni and Sofia Cavalletti, use her method (which she still needed to further develop) for the teaching of religion. As for the ‘New Age’ feel that Montessori has become associated with, Montessori uses the term “Cosmic Education” for the second plane child. But, one needs to understand the context of her use of the term. She meant by it, that this child from 6-12, wonders and wants to know things like why are things the way they are. The children think big. They need a ‘cosmic’ education, an education that will open the world up to them. I enjoy your questions. I hope that my comments are helpful.
72.66.12.18
Hi, Cay.
http://www.homeschoolstories.com/educationalphilosophies/montessori/montpope.html
The ‘Home’ link on this page has a link to ‘Montessori’ (which you might already know about) that has some interesting articles as well.
One last comment on the fantasy. The 0-6 age child is self-constructing. Montessori thought that the brain continues to develop, grow and ‘self-construct’ especially through the first three years of life. That’s why we don’t have memories usually before the age of three. A child can best develop then, with dealing with what is real. Appreciation for fantasy can only be had when the person knows what is real in order to compare the fantasy to reality.
God bless,
Bernadette
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