«I ask the dear children, who can do anything, to join me in building peace among men and in the world». These are the words, written in Italian, that stand out on the tomb of Maria Montessori buried in Noordwijk, Holland, where she died on 6 May 1952.
Doctor, pedagogist, educator, universally known for the method that bears her name, adopted in thousands of nursery, elementary, middle and high schools throughout the world, Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori was born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, province of Ancona, and was among the very first Italian women to graduate in medicine at the end of the nineteenth century. But it is to those “dear children”, remembered even on her tombstone, that she dedicated her entire life.
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Maria Montessori (1870- 1952) on the cover of Time on February 3, 1930
In fact, it was 1907 when Maria Montessori the first opens in Rome, in the working-class neighborhood of San Lorenzo Children House. From that moment on, he never stopped experimenting with his educational theories, giving life to a pedagogical system that is still followed throughout the world today. “Never help a child while he is carrying out a task in which he feels he can succeed.” Or: “Play is the child’s work.” And again: «The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say: the children are working as if I didn’t exist». «The child is considered by the adult to be an empty vessel that he must fill, but the adult makes a serious mistake in considering himself the creator of the child». These are his words, which over time have become the maxims of that method which first of all gives confidence to the child. Moreover: Maria Montessori speaks of “freedom to be returned” to the little ones with a view to the “normalization” of the child, that is, the process through which the child alone reaches the ability to use his potential. In his, at the time, revolutionary vision, the child is able to learn autonomously, more through his own initiative than by imposition and, from this perspective, practical activities play an essential role.
A brand called Maria Montessori
by Stefania Parmeggiani
Precisely the objective of recovering the great wealth of ideas, games and practical activities that Maria Montessori has left us is at the center of the new series of Republic, on newsstands every Saturday from April 13th. Is titled Montessori laboratory: subtitle Games and activities to grow up happy. Il Montessori method it is in fact based on direct experience, primarily sensorial, mediated by play and not by adult intervention. From this it is already clear that it is practice that acts as a teacher for parents and teachers here. They are the recipients of these illustrated volumes, enriched with easy-to-consult explanatory notes. In fact, the games proposed in these books, inspired by the maxims of Maria Montessori, are not ready-made on the market, but it will only be thanks to the fantasy and imagination of children and parents that they will take shape.
And so from the mobile suspended on the cradle to the first games with the hands and the voice, passing through the carpet full of objects to touch, from the game of tasting objects to the hand-made rag puppet, to the beloved cuckoo, in the first volume edited, as well as others in this series, by the pedagogist and primary school teacher Marta Versiglia, flow under the eyes of incredulous parents and educators – accustomed today in the era of the excessive power of technology to getting everything ready and ready, even better if displayed on a display – infinite game possibilities to be built with one’s own hands and those of own children. Because seeing a father or mother building toys for their child themselves will encourage the little one to do the same when she has acquired the necessary skills. In fact, the purpose of education is not to train, but to help the little ones develop their energies, Maria Montessori never tired of repeating it. Children are then extremely interested in real objects, precisely because of the need to know the world around them, explains Versiglia who was lucky enough to spend his childhood in the countryside, in a house surrounded by fields and vineyards, and was therefore able experience firsthand most of the experiences reported in these pages.
In the volume dedicated to outdoor activities, for example, each game begins with the search for the poor, simple material provided by the territory and the climate: earth, water, stones, flowers, twigs, shells, snow and ice, are elements that do not they are bought. The crunch of the earth under his shoes, the buzz of an insect, the smell of flowers, the gurgling of a stream: nothing is insignificant for the little explorer. Because, as he writes Silvia Vegetti Finzi in the preface to this volume, «the reconnaissance of space stimulates curiosity, promotes exploration, stimulates the senses, mobilizes attention. The child who plays experiences that he exists, that he knows how to do things and feels capable of “bringing the world into the world”. In the Montessori perspective, the request that the child makes to the adult is: “help me do it on my own”. And here lies the great teaching of Maria Montessori: let them do it on their own!
#Repubblica #Montessori #Laboratory
– 2024-04-12 17:24:45
