Tonight we learn about the ‘Observation Skills’. 

The hands are instruments of man, intelligence.   (Absorbent Mind Ch.3)

Dr. Montessori believed that the child’s intelligence can develop to a certain level without help of the hand, but if it develops with his hands the level reached is higher and the child’s character is stronger.

Another interesting ability of child’s development to learn about in this Montessori night.    

Well, that was only my first thought when I heard about NEBULAE, HORME and MNEME.  It gave me such goose-bumpsss. 

NEBULAE  is a creative energy guiding the child to absorb from the environment.  Up to this every impression is unconsciously stored and absorbed.

HORME  is an unconscious will power the urge the child on to do what he needs to do to aid his divine urge which guides the child and his efforts to their goal.

MNEME  is a supreme type of memory, which unconsciously stores impressions, which then become part of the child’s personality.

So basically, the relationship of these terms is ..  From birth to 3 the child’s mind is in a period of mental construction.  Dr. Montessori referred to this period as the period of ‘Spiritual Embryo‘. 

The child uses a special ability for soaking up knowledge, informatin and everything about him from the environment unconsciously from birth to 3 years and consciously from the age of 3 – 6 years.  Dr. Montessori called this ability the ‘Absorbent Mind‘.  The growth and psychic of the child’s development are guided by the ‘Absorbent Mind’, which is driven towards development by an unconscious will power and a vital force that urges teh child to do what he needs to do to develop called ‘Horme‘.  This development works in conjunction with ‘Sensitive Period‘. 

‘Nebula‘ is a creative energy that guides the child to absorb the impressions unconsciously from the environment. The impressions that the child absorbs during this period are a supreme type of subconscious memory, give the name ‘Mneme‘ by Sir Percy Nuann.  These impressions are absorbed and stored unconsciously from birth to 3 years.

I shouldn’t get caught up with the vocab that Dr. Montessori had been using because the meaning behind it is more remarkable.   It’s not the definition of the word that I learn, but it is about the special moment of the child when his intellectual development is working.  Each developing moment has its own character.  I think Dr. Montessori just named these characters in a quite genius way.      Still blurr huh ??    

‘We know how to find pearls in the shells of oysters gold in the mountains and coal in the bowels of the earth but we are unaware of the creative nebulae that the child hides in himself when he enters this world to renew mankind’ (Educational Philosophy in Modern India, Kumar S, p128)

It amazes me to discover this transform secret of the baby though.

A helpless new-born baby that can only move his limbs and can only make an uu-uu-ah-ah noise or else cry out loud, suddenly becomes a man. 

Within a limited time of 3 years, he learns how to walk, making a great movement and balance, learns how to talk, using his mother-tongue language with a perfect grammar usage, becomes sooo independent, making so much decision without fear, and finally his brain has been fully develop.

Baby’s just can’t wait huh ?? 

Spiritual Embryo and Sensitive Period are the analogy term used by Dr. Montessori to describe the most important concepts of Dr. Montessori’s understanding of the child’s development. 

Spiritual Embryo is the phase of intellectual development or a period of mental construction of the child that starts developing right after birth and continues developing to three.  

It is the non-physical growth of the child’s mind, intellect, personality, temperament, spirit and soul (from birth to three years), which Dr. Montessori thought of as being comparable to the physical growth of the embryo in the womb before birth.  The potential power of the brain is there, and as the child grows that potential will either develop, or else gradually die away.  Once this period of construction is over; what has been built wrong will remain and the child will have a defect for life.

Sensitive Period is a term adopted (from biologists working on animal instinct) by Dr. Montessori to refer to a particular periods in a child’s development when a special sensitivity towards certain factors can be observed.  Each of these periods lasts for only as long as is necessary for the child to accomplish a particular stage of development.

The education they received as small children laid the foundation for everything they benefited from later.  The intellectual capability that enables each person to succeed in his chosen profession is not given to him by teachers, however.  It is created by the child he once was.   (Montessori St Nicholas Centre – p 25)

Time is a theft.  I can’t go back to fix my Spiritual Embryo and Sensitive Period.  I am already the ‘Procreator’.  Now, I just have to watch the ‘Creator’, the child, explores the world and observe his moment of true.

Such is our duty toward the child: to give a ray of light and to go on our way  (The Montessori Method: scientific pedagogy as applied to child education in the ‘Children’s Houses’, Montessori, p.94)

Tonight we are starting to put our hands-on the practical activitiess ..  following the concept of Montessori’s style ..  Don’t give more to the ears and eyes than you give to the hands ..  (The Discovery of the Child – Dr. Maria Montessori p. xx)

I know how to open and to close the door.  I know how to lift the table and the chair.  I know how to scoop and to pour the rice.  But to see all those tasks performed in a graceful, calm and quiet manner makes me amused.

Taking the mat from the shelf, carrying it in a correct position while walking gently and bringing it back to the place where it belongs are demonstrated in such a sophisticated way. 

The class is over .. I’m going home with a smile on my face because tonight I have learnt how to use something truly great, the special abilities and precious treasures of the child’s mind, the undivided ability of the ‘Absorbent Mind’.  Hopefully, I will still be able to awaken my own special ‘hidden’ abilities in some way huh ?? .. night .. night ..

(The Absorbent Mind is a term that Dr. Montessori used to describe the ability of the child’s mind from birth to 6 years of age.  She believed that the child’s mind has an ability of  soaking up knowledge, information and everything around him from the environment without any effort unconsciously from birth to 3 and consciously from 3 to 6.)

Dr. Montessori gave the world a scientific method, practical and tested, for bringing forth the very best in young human beings.  She taught adults how to respect individual differences, and to emphasize social interaction and the education of the whole personality rather than the teaching of a specific body of knowledge.

Montessori practice is always up-to-date and dynamic because observation and the meeting of needs is continual and specific for each child. When physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional needs are met children glow with excitement and a drive to play and work with enthusiasm, to learn, and to create. They exhibit a desire to teach, help, and care for others and for their environment.

The high level of academic achievement so common in Montessori schools is a natural outcome of experience in such a supportive environment. The Montessori Method of education is a model which serves the needs of children of all levels of mental and physical ability as they live and learn in a natural, mixed-age group which is very much like the society they will live in as adults.

Today Montessori teacher training centers and schools exist on all continents. There are Montessori parenting classes, “Nidos” (“nests” for infants), infant communities, “children’s houses” (for age 3-6), and classes for children up to age eighteen in public and private schools. Montessori works in gifted and talented programs and for children with developmental disabilities of all kinds. Many parents are using Dr. Montessori’s discoveries to raise/educate their children at home. The discoveries of Maria Montessori are valuable for anyone living and working with children in any situation.

Resourse : http://www.montessori.edu/method.html

Montessori Founder

Maria Montessori was born in 1870 at Chiaravalle near Ancona, Italy and later moved to Rome with her family.  Unlike most young girls who dreamed of having a classic life style, Montessori had other thoughts.  She attended a technical school, a kind of secondary  or grammar school (with a scientific bias) and subsequently, she changed her plans.  She made a decision to study medicine and determined to enter medical school at the University of Rome.  In 1896, she become the first female doctor in Italy.  Montessori devoted her lifetime to the study of child development.  

Maria Montessori created the Montessori Method, an educational method for children that gently allows the children to learn at their own pace in a prepared environment which allows them to experience the excitement of learning. 

The role of the teacher is simply to guide, to make observations and to help the children do the tasks themselves.  The activites are based on hands-on learning material which is meaningful for the children.

Today, the Montessori’s Educational Theory is held in high regard in most countries thoughout the world.

I can feel a troop of butterflies are fighting in my tummy.  A mixture of confusion, doubt, fears etc.  I don’t know what I am getting myself into.  I had over 10 years experience of working with children in a school environment but dealing with small children is not something that ever existed in my head.  

Driving  for quite a journey at night especially during winter is a big commitment.  Lecturing, researching and writing with my poor English is another PIGGG issue ….  hoooww ..

But after my first class,  my worriieess calm down.     The course is very interesting and challenging.  Training to be a ‘Montessori Teacher’ is totally a different concept from a traditional teacher.  We train to help the children unfold their innate spiritual wisdom that leads them to reach their full potential through their own efforts at their own pace. I ‘WOOOW’ a lot at the concept.  

Only imagining myself observing the children (a small version of human being hu..hu ) in the class, I can’t stop smiling to myself. 

It requires lots and lots of hard work academically and practically.  Well, you can only get something out of it when you only put something into it huh ???