,illustration3 ,maria ,montessori       
,a    ,,montessori    ,,mother      ,,by
      ,,dorothy ,,canfield ,,fisher     
,author of 8,the ,squirrel-,cage0       
,,illustrated      ,illustration        
,,new ,,york    ,,henry ,,holt ,,and    
,,company    #aiac                      
,,copyright1 #aiab1      ,,by           
,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company          
,published ,october1 #aiab      ,,the   
,,quinn  ,,boden ,,co4 ,,press          
,,rahway1 ,n4 ,j4            ,,dedicated
    ,,by ,,permission    ,,to    ,,maria
 ,,montessori          ,,preface        
,on my return recently from a somewhat  
prolonged stay in ,rome1 ,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 traveler4  ,i was not       
depressed by the usual conscientious    
effort to appear  interested in what ,i 
had seen2 not once did ,i encounter the 
wavering  eye and flagging attention    
which are such invariable accompaniments

 to  anecdotes of ,european travel1 nor 
the usual elated rebound into topics  of
 local interest after a tribute to the  
miles ,i had traveled1 in some  such    
generalizing phrase of finality as1     
8,well1 ,i suppose you enjoyed  ,europe 
as much as ever40    ,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   
land4 ,for ,i found  myself set upon and
 required to give an account of what ,i 
had seen1 not  only by my family and    
friends1 but by callers1 by             
acquaintances in the  streets1 by       
friends of acquaintances1 by letters    
from people ,i knew1  and many from     
those whose names were unfamiliar4      
,the questions they all asked were of a 
striking similarity1 and ,i grew  weary 
in repeating the same answers1 answers  
which1 from the nature of  the subject1 
could be neither categorical nor brief4 

,how many evenings  have ,i talked from 
the appearance of the coffee-cups till a
 very late  bedtime1 in answer to the   
demand1 8,now1 you've been to ,rome2    
you've  seen the ,montessori schools4   
,you saw a great deal of ,dr4           
,montessori  herself and were in close  
personal relations with her4 ,tell us   
all  about it4 ,is it really so         
wonderful8 ,or is it just a fad8 ,is it 
true  that the children are allowed do  
exactly as they please8 ,i should think 
it would spoil them beyond endurance4   
,do they really learn to read and  write
 so young8 ,and isn't it very bad for   
them to stimulate them so  unnaturally8 
,and44440 this was a never-failing cry1 
8what is there in  it for our children1 
situated as we are80    ,staggered by   
the amount of explanation necessary to  
give the shortest  answers that would be
 intelligible to these searching1 but1  
on the  whole1 quite misdirected        
questions1 ,i tried to put off my       
interrogators  with the excellent       

magazine articles which have appeared on
 the  subject1 and with the translation 
of ,dr4 ,montessori's book4 ,there were 
various objections to being relegated to
 these sources of information4  ,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 theories4 ,others1  
quite  honestly1 in the breathless whirl
 of ,american business1 professional    
and social life1 were too busy to read  
such a long work4 ,some had read  it and
 emerged from it rather dazed by the    
technical terms employed1  with the dim 
idea that something remarkable was going
 on in ,italy of  which our public      
education ought to take advantage1 but  
without the  smallest definite idea of a
 possible change in their treatment of  
their  own youngsters4 ,all had many    
practical questions to put1 based on the

  difference between ,american and      
,italian life1 questions which1 by      
chance1 had not been answered in the    
magazine articles4    ,i heard1         
moreover1 in varying degree1 from all   
the different  temperaments1 the common 
note of skepticism about the results    
obtained4  ,everyone hung on my         
first-hand testimony as an impartial    
eye-witness4  8,you are a parent like   
us4 ,will it really work80 they inquired
 with  such persistent unanimity that   
the existence of a still unsatisfied    
craving for information seemed          
unquestionable4 ,if so many people in my
  small personal circle1 differing in no
 way from any ordinary group of         
educated ,americans1 were so actively1  
almost aggressively interested in       
hearing my personal account of the      
actual working of the new system1  it   
seemed highly probable that other       
people's personal circles would  be     
interested4 ,the inevitable result of   
this reasoning has been the  composition

 of this small volume1 which can claim  
for partial expiation  of its existence 
that it has no great pretensions to     
anything but  timeliness4    ,i have put
 into it1 not only an exposition1 as    
practical as ,i can make  it1 of the    
technic of the method as far as it lies 
within the powers  of any one of us     
fathers and mothers to apply it1 but in 
addition ,i  have set down all the new  
ideas1 hopes1 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 founder4 ,for
 ideas1 hopes1 and visions are  as      
important elements in a comprehension of
 this new philosophy as an  accurate    
knowledge of the use of the 8geometric  
insets10 and my talks  with ,dr4        
,montessori lead me to think that she   
feels them to be much  more essential4  
,contact with the new ideas is not doing
 for us what it  ought1 if it does not  
act as a powerful stimulant to the whole
 body  of our thought about life4 ,it   

should make us think1 and think hard1   
not only about how to teach our children
 the alphabet more easily1 but  about   
such fundamental matters as what we     
actually mean by moral life2  whether we
 really honestly wish the spiritually   
best for our children1  or only the     
materially best2 why we are really in   
the world at all4  ,in many ways1 this  
8,montessori ,system0 is a new religion 
which we are  called upon to help bring 
into the world1 and we cannot aid in so 
great  an undertaking without           
considerable spiritual as well as       
intellectual  travail4    ,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 lives4 ,i have  set    
down1 without apology1 my own           
,americanized meditations on ,dr4       
,montessori's ,italian text1 simply     

because ,i chance to be one of the      
first ,american mothers to come into    
close contact with her and her  work1   
and as such may be of value to my       
fellows4 ,i have1 however1  honestly    
labeled and pigeon-holed these          
meditations on the general  philosophy  
of the system1 and set them in separate 
chapters so that it  should not be      
difficult for the most casual reader to 
select what he  wishes to read1 without 
being forced into social1 philosophical1
 or  ethical considerations4 ,i confess 
that ,i shall be greatly disappointed   
if he takes too exclusive advantage of  
this opportunity1 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   
all4    ,finally1 in spite of all my    
excuses for the undertaking1 ,i seem to 
myself1 now that ,i am fairly embarked  
upon it1 very presumptuous  in speaking 
at all upon such high and grave matters1

 fit only for  the sure and enlightened 
handling of the specialist4 ,but this is
  a subject differing from biology1     
physiological psychology1 and           
philosophy 7although the foundations of 
the system are laid deep in  those      
sciences71 inasmuch as its usefulness to
 the race depends upon  its             
comprehension by the greatest possible  
number of ordinary human  beings4 ,i    
hearten myself by remembering that if it
 is not to remain an  interesting and   
futile theory1 it must be1 in its broad 
outlines at  least1 understood and      
practised by just such people as ,i am4 
,we must  all collaborate4 ,and here is 
the place to say that ,i consider this  
book  a very tentative performance2 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 complete4    ,this      
volume of impressions1 therefore1 lays  
no claim to erudition4 ,it  is not      
written by a biologist for other        

biologists1 by a philosopher  for an    
audience of college professors1 or by a 
professional pedagogue  to enlighten    
school-superintendents4 ,an ordinary    
,american parent1  desiring above all   
else the best possible chance for her   
children1  addresses this message to the
 innumerable legion of her companions in
  that desire4    ,grateful             
acknowledgment is made to ,miss ,m4 ,i4 
,batchelder and ,miss ,mary  ,g4        
,gillmore1 both of the ,horace ,mann    
,school1 for helpful suggestions2  to   
,miss ,anne ,e4 ,george1 who also read  
the manuscript2 to ,dr4 ,maria          
,montessori's book 8,the ,montessori    
,method0 7,frederick ,a4 ,stokes        
,company1  ,new ,york72 and to the      
,house of ,childhood1 ,inc41 #bjj ,fifth
 ,avenue1 ,new  ,york1 for the use of   
illustrations4 ,dr4 ,montessori's       
didactic apparatus  is manufactured and 
distributed by the ,house of ,childhood1
 ,inc4          ,,contents              
,,chapter                               

,,page            ,,preface             
v         ,i4 ,,some ,,introductory     
,,remarks ,,about ,,parents             
#a        ,,ii4 ,a ,,day ,,in ,a ,,casa 
,,dei ,,bambini                         
#g       ,,iii4 ,,more ,,about ,,what   
,,happens ,,in ,a ,,casa ,,dei ,,bambini
                 #bi        ,,iv4       
,,something ,,about ,,the ,,apparatus   
,,and ,,about            ,,the ,,theory 
,,underlying ,,it                       
#dh         ,v4 ,,description ,,of ,,the
 ,,rest ,,of ,,the ,,apparatus ,,and    
,,the ,,method ,,for ,,writing ,,and    
,,reading                          #fg  
,,vi4 ,,some ,,general ,,remarks ,,about
 ,,the ,,montessori                     
,,apparatus ,,in ,,the ,,american ,,home
                              #ia       
,,vii4 ,,the ,,possibility ,,of         
,,american ,,adaptations ,,of1          
,,or ,,additions ,,to1 ,,the            
,,montessori ,,apparatus                
#aje      ,,viii4 ,,some ,,remarks ,,on 
,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,the ,,system  

#aag        ,,ix4 ,,application ,,of    
,,this ,,philosophy ,,to ,,american     
,,home ,,life         #abg         ,x4  
,,some ,,considerations ,,on ,,the      
,,nature ,,of 8,,discipline0            
#ada        ,,xi4 ,,more ,,about        
,,discipline1 ,,with ,,special ,,regard 
,,to ,,obedience      #aec       ,,xii4 
,,difficulties ,,in ,,the ,,way ,,of ,a 
,,universal ,,adoption            ,,of  
,,the ,,montessori ,,ideas              
#afe      ,,xiii4 ,,is ,,there ,,any    
,,real ,,difference ,,between ,,the     
,,montessori ,,system ,,and ,,the       
,,kindergarten8                    #aga 
,,xiv4 ,,moral ,,training               
#aie        ,,xv4 ,,dr4 ,,montessori',s 
,,life ,,and ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,the  
,,casa ,,dei ,,bambini                  
#baj       ,,xvi4 ,,some ,,last         
,,remarks                               
#bcb            ,,index                 
#bci          ,,illustrations           
,maria ,montessori                      
,frontispiece      ,the schoolroom in   

the convent of the ,franciscan      nuns
 in the ,via ,giusti                    
page   #h      ,the meal hour           
8   #bb      ,the morning clean-up      
8   #bf      ,waiter carrying soup      
8   #bf      ,exercises in practical    
life                                    
8   #ef      ,building 8the ,tower0     
8   #ef      ,buttoning-frames to       
develop co-ordinated movements      of  
the fingers and prepare the children for
 exercises      of practical life       
8   #fh      ,solid geometrical insets  
8   #gj      ,the broad stair           
8   #gd      ,the long stair            
8   #gd      ,insets which the child    
learns to place both by sight      and  
touch                                   
8   #gh      ,tracing sandpaper letters 
8   #hf      ,tracing geometrical design
                                      8 
#hf      ,training the 8stereognostic   
sense0--combining      motor and tactual
 images                                 
8  #ajj      ,color boxes comprising    

spools of eight colors and      eight   
shades of each color                    
8  #aaf      ,materials for teaching    
rough and smooth                        
8  #ach      ,counting boxes            
8  #afb      ,insets around which the   
child draws1 and then fills      in the 
outline with colored crayons            
8  #ahh      ,word building with cut-out
 alphabet                             8 
#bbd          ,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       
underestimated4 ,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 generation1 but
 no one  can deny that it determines to 
a considerable extent the character of  
the next generation1 and character      

determines practically everything  worth
 considering in the world of men4 ,yet  
the mind of the average  community      
admits this but haltingly4 ,the teachers
 of small children are  paid more than  
they were1 but still far less than the  
importance of  their work deserves1 and 
they are still regarded by the          
unenlightened  majority as insignificant
 compared to those who impart           
information to  older children and      
adolescents1 a class of pupils which1 in
 the nature  of things1 is vastly more  
able to protect its own individuality   
from  the character of the teacher4     
,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 difficult8
 ,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 service4 ,it     
cannot be denied that every pair of     

fiancs know that probably they  will    
have children1 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 person3  there is as little       
conscious preparation for the coming    
event in the  one case as in the other4 
,no1 we have some right on our side1    
under the  prevailing conditions of     
education about the facts of life1 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 blood4 ,we might      
conceivably have undertaken to build    
railway bridges1 even though the  lives 
of multitudes depended on them2 we might
 have become lawyers and  settled       
people's material affairs for them or   
even1 as doctors1 settled  the matter of
 their physical life or death2 but to be

 responsible to  ,god1 to society1 and  
to the soul in question for the health1 
happiness1  moral growth1 and usefulness
 of a human soul1 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  
do8    ,i say 8moments0 advisedly1 for  
it must be admitted that most of us     
manage to forget pretty continually the 
alarming possibilities of our           
situation4 ,in this we are imitating the
 curious actual indifference to  peril  
which1 from time immemorial1 has been   
observed among those who  are exposed to
 any danger which is very long          
continued4 ,the incapacity  of human    
nature to feel any strong emotion for a 
considerable length  of time1 even one  
connected with the supposedly sacrosanct
 instinct  for self-preservation1 is to 
be observed in the well-worn examples   
of people living on the sides of        
volcanoes1 and of workers among         
machinery1 who will not take the most   

elementary precautions against          
accidents if the precautions consume    
much time or thought4 ,consequently  it 
is not surprising that1 as a whole1     
parents are not only not  stricken to   
the earth by the responsibilities of    
their situation1 but  as a class are    
singularly blind to their duties1 and   
oddly difficult to  move to any serious1
 continued consideration of the task    
before them4  ,this attitude bears a    
close relation to the axiom which has   
only to be  stated to win instant       
recognition from any self-analyzing     
human being1  8,we would rather lie down
 and die than think60 ,we cannot1 as a  
rule1  be forced to think really1       
seriously1 connectedly1 logically about 
the  form of our government1 about our  
social organization1 about how we  spend
 our lives1 even about the sort of      
clothes we wear or the food  we         
eat1--questions affecting our comfort so
 cruelly that they would  make us       
reflect if anything could4 ,but we      

ourselves are the only ones  to suffer  
from our refusal to use our minds fully 
and freely on such  subjects4 ,it is    
intolerable that our callous            
indifference and incurable  triviality  
should wreak themselves upon the        
helpless children committed  to our     
care4 ,the least we can do1 if we will  
not do our own thinking1  is to accept1 
with all gratitude1 the thinking that   
someone else has  done for us4    ,for  
there is one loop-hole of escape in our 
modern world from this                  
self-imprisonment in shiftless ways of  
mental life1 and that is  the creation  
and wide diffusion of the scientific    
spirit4 ,there is  apparently in human  
nature1 along with this invincible      
repugnance  to use reason on matters    
closely connected with our daily life1 a
  considerable pleasure in ratiocination
 if it is exercised on subjects         
sufficiently removed from our personal  
sphere4 ,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 suffering1 may be1  often is1 in his 
chemical laboratory1 or his surgical    
practice1 or his  biological research1  
an investigator of the strictest        
integrity of  reasoning4    ,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 families1   
and a large proportion of them have     
been childless4 ,this but follows the   
usual eccentric route taken by          
discoveries leading to the amelioration 
of conditions surrounding  man4 ,it was 
not an inhabitant of a malarial         
district1 driven to  desperation by the 
state of things1 who discovered the     
crime of the  mosquito4 ,that discovery 
was made by men working in laboratories 
not  in the least incommoded by malaria4
 ,hundreds of generations of devoted    

mothers1 ready and willing to give the  
last drop of their blood for  their     
children's welfare1 never discovered    
that unscalded milk-bottles  are like   
prussic acid to babies4 ,childless      
workers in white laboratory  aprons1    
standing over test-tubes1 have          
revolutionized the physical  hygiene of 
infancy and brought down the death-rate 
of babies beyond  anything ever dreamed 
of by our parents4    ,but let it be    
remembered as comfort1 exhortation1 and 
warning to  us that the greatest army of
 laboratory workers ever financed by a  
twentieth-century millionaire1 would    
have been of no avail if the  parents of
 the babies of the world had not taken  
to scalding the  milk-bottles4 ,let us  
insist upon the recognition of our      
merit1 such as  it is4 ,we will not1    
apparently we cannot1 do the hard1      
consecutive1  logical1 investigating    
thinking which is the only thing        
necessary in  many cases to better the  
conditions of our daily life2 but we are

  not entirely impervious to reason1    
inasmuch as the world has seen us  in   
this instance following1 with the most  
praiseworthy docility1 the  teachings of
 those who have thought for us4 ,the    
milk-bottles in by  far the majority of 
,american homes are really being scalded
 to-day2  and 8cholera morbus10 8second 
summers10 8teething fevers10 and the    
like are becoming as out-of-date as     
8fever 'n' ague10 8galloping            
consumption10 and the like4    ,the     
lessened death-rate among babies is not 
only the most heartening  spectacle for 
lovers of babies1 but for hopers and    
believers in the  general advancement of
 the race4 ,this miraculous revolution  
in the  care of infants under a year of 
age has taken place in less than a      
human generation4 ,the grandparents of  
our children are still with us  to      
pooh-pooh our sterilizings1 and to look 
on with bewilderment while  we treat our
 babies as intelligently as             
stock-breeders treat their  animals4    

,let us take heart of grace4 ,if        
scientific methods of physical  hygiene 
in the care of children can be thus     
quickly inculcated1 it is  certainly    
worth while to storm the age-old        
redoubts sheltering the no  less hoary  
abuses of their intellectual and        
spiritual treatment4    ,a scientist of 
another race1 taking advantage of the   
works of all the  other investigators   
along the same line 7works which nothing
 could have  induced us to study71      
laboring in a laboratory of her own     
invention1  has been doing our hard1    
consecutive1 logical1 investigating     
thinking  for us4 ,let us have the grace
 to take advantage of her discoveries1  
many of which have been stumbled upon   
from time to time in a haphazard1       
unformulated way by the instinctive     
wisdom of experience1 but the  synthesis
 of which into a coherent1 usable       
system1 with a consistent  philosophical
 foundation1 has been left to a         
childless scientific  investigator4     

,,chapter ,,ii    ,a ,,day ,,in ,a      
,,casa ,,dei ,,bambini      ,i had not  
seen a ,montessori school when ,i first 
read through ,dr4  ,montessori's book4  
,i laid it down with the mental         
comments1 8,all very  well to write     
about6 ,but1 of course1 it can't work   
anything like that  in actual practice4 
,everyone knows that a child's party of 
only five or  six children of that age  
7from two and a half to six7 is seldom  
carried  through without some sort of   
quarrel1 even though an equal number of 
mothers are present1 devoting themselves
 to giving the tots exactly  whatever   
they want4 ,it stands to reason that    
twenty or thirty children  of that      
tender age1 shut up together all day    
long and day after day1  must1 if they  
are normal children1 have a great many  
healthy normal  battles with each       
other60    ,after putting myself in a   
dispassionate and judicial frame of mind
 by  laying down these fixed            
preconceptions1 ,i went to visit the    

,casa dei  ,bambini in the ,franciscan  
,nunnery on the ,via ,giusti4    ,i half
 turn away in anticipatory              
discouragement from the task of         
attempting1 for the benefit of ,american
 readers1 any description of  what ,i   
saw there4 ,they will not believe it4 ,i
 know they will not1  because ,i myself1
 before ,i saw it with my own eyes1     
would have  discounted largely the most 
moderate statements on the subject4 ,but
  even though stay-at-home people in    
other centuries may have salted         
liberally the tall stories of old-time  
travelers1 they certainly had  a taste  
for hearing them2 and so possibly my    
plain account of what ,i  saw that day  
may be read1 even though it be to the   
accompaniment of  incredulous           
exclamations4    ,my first glimpse was  
of a gathering of about twenty-five     
children1  so young that several of them
 looked like real babies to me4 ,i found
  afterwards that the youngest was just 
under three1 and the oldest just  over  

six4 ,they were scattered about over a  
large1 high-ceilinged1 airy  room1      
furnished with tiny1 lightly-framed     
tables and chairs which1  however1 by no
 means filled the floor4 ,there were big
 tracts of open  space1 where some of   
the children knelt or sat on light rugs4
 ,one was  lying down on his back1      
kicking his feet in the air4 ,a low1    
cheerful  hum of conversation filled the
 air4    ,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 8visitors0 in
 our own schoolrooms4 ,most of the      
children1  absorbed in various          
queer-looking tasks1 did not even glance
 up as we  entered4 ,others1 apparently 
resting in the intervals between games1 
looked over across the room at us1      
smiled welcomingly as ,i would at  a    
visitor entering my house1 and a little 
group near us ran up with  outstretched 
hands1 saying with a pleasant accent of 

good-breeding1  8,good-morning6         
,good-morning60 ,they then instantly    
went off about their  own affairs1 which
 were evidently of absorbing interest1  
for after  that1 except for an          
occasional friendly look or smile1 or a 
momentary  halt by my side to show me   
something1 none of the little scholars  
paid  the least attention to me4        
,illustration3 ,,the ,,school ,,room    
,,in ,,the ,,convent ,,of ,,the         
,,franciscan ,,nuns ,,in  ,,the ,,via   
,,giusti4                               
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,now ,i myself1 like all the ,american  
matrons of my circle of  acquaintances1 
am laboring conscientiously to teach my 
children  8good manners10 but ,i        
decided1 on the instant1 nothing would  
induce  me to collect twenty children of
 our town and have a ,montessori        
teacher enter the room to be greeted by 
them4 ,the contrast would be  too       
painful4 ,these were mostly children of 
very poor1 ignorant1 and  utterly       

untrained parents1 and ours are children
 of people who flatter  themselves that 
they are the opposite of all that2 but  
,i shuddered  to think of the long      
silent1 discourteous stare which is the 
only  recognition of the presence of a  
visitor in our schools4 ,and yet ,i     
felt at once that ,i was attaching too  
much importance to a detail1 the  merest
 trifle1 the slightest1 most superficial
 indication of the life  beneath4 ,we   
,anglo-,saxons notice too acutely1 ,i   
thought1 these surface  differences of  
manner4    ,but1 on the other hand1 ,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     
sincerity1 and that it is  practically  
impossible to make them1 with any       
certainty of the result1  go through a  
form of courtesy which they do not feel 
genuinely4 ,also  ,i observed that no   
one had pushed the children towards us1 
as ,i push  mine1 toward a chance       

visitor1 with the command accompanied by
 an  inward prayer for obedience1 8,go  
and shake hands with ,mrs4 ,blank40     
,in fact1 ,i noticed it for the first   
time1 there seemed no one there  to push
 the children or to refrain from doing  
it4 ,that collection of  little tots1   
most of them too busy over their        
mysterious occupations  even to talk1   
seemed1 as far as a casual glance over  
the room went1  entirely without        
supervision4 ,finally1 from a corner1   
where she had  been sitting 7on the     
floor apparently7 beside a child1 there 
rose up a  plainly-dressed woman1 the   
expression of whose quiet face made     
almost  as great an impression on me as 
the children's greetings had4 ,i had    
always joined with heartfelt sympathy in
 the old cry of 8,heaven help  the poor 
teachers60 and in our town1 where we all
 know and like the  teachers personally1
 their exhausted condition of almost    
utter nervous  collapse by the end of   
the teaching year is a painful element  

in our  community life4 ,but ,i felt no 
impulse to sympathize with this woman   
with untroubled eyes who1 perceiving us 
for the first time1 came over  to shake 
hands with us4 ,instead1 ,i felt a      
curious pang of envy1 such as  once or  
twice in my sentimental and stormy      
girlhood ,i felt at the sight  of the   
peaceful face of a nun4 ,i am now quite 
past the possibility of  envying the    
life of a nun1 but ,i must admit that it
 suddenly occurred  to me1 as ,i looked 
at that quiet1 smiling ,italian woman1  
that somehow  my own life1 for all its  
full happiness1 must lack some element  
of  orderliness1 of discipline1 of      
spiritual economy which alone could have
  put that look of calm certainty on her
 face4 ,it was not the passive1         
changeless peace that one sees in the   
eyes of some nuns1 but a sort of  rich1 
full-blooded confidence in life4    ,she
 lingered beside us some moments1       
chatting with my companion1  who was an 
old friend of hers1 and who introduced  

her as ,signorina  ,ballerini4 ,i       
noticed that she happened to stand all  
the time with her  back to the children1
 feeling apparently none of that        
lion-tamer's  instinct to keep an       
hypnotic eye on the little animals which
 is so  marked in our instructors4 ,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 us1  as in a     
suddenly rarefied atmosphere1 giddy with
 the removal of the  pressure of her    
eye2 but when this teacher turned about 
casually to  face the room again1 these 
children did not seem to notice either  
that  she had stopped looking at them or
 that she was now doing it again4    ,we
 used to know1 as by a sixth sense1     
exactly where1 at any moment1  the      
teacher was1 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 444 and this1 although we were    
often very fond  indeed of our teachers4
 ,remembering this1 ,i noticed with     
surprise that  often1 when one of these 
little ones lifted his face from his    
work to  ask the teacher a question1 he 
had been so unconscious of her presence 
during his concentration on his         
enterprise that he did not know in  the 
least where to look1 and sent his eager 
eyes roving over the big  room in a     
search for her1 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 have4    ,what could be
 these 8games0 which so absorbed these  
children1 far  too young for any        
possibility of pretense on their part8  
,moving with  the unhampered1 unobserved
 ease which is the rule in a ,montessori
  schoolroom1 ,i began walking about1   
looking more closely at what the        

children were holding1 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 444 if ,i had  
not been ready  to cry at my own        
stupidity for not thinking of them      
myself4 ,one little  boy about three and
 a half years old had been intent on    
some operation  ever since we had       
entered the room1 and even now as ,i    
drew near his  little table and chair1  
he only glanced up for an instant's     
smile  without stopping the action of   
his fingers4 ,i leaned over him1 hoping 
that the device which so held his       
attention was not too complicated  for  
my inexperienced1 unpedagogical mind to 
take in4 ,he was holding  a light wooden
 frame about eighteen inches square1 on 
which were  stretched two pieces of     
cotton cloth1 meeting down the middle   
like the  joining of a garment4 ,on one 
of these edges was a row of buttonholes 
and on the other a row of large bone    

buttons4 ,the child was absorbed in     
buttoning and unbuttoning those two     
pieces of cloth4    ,he was new at the  
game1 that was to be seen by the clumsy1
 misdirected  motions of his baby       
fingers1 but the process of his         
improvement was so  apparent as1 his    
eyes shining with interest1 he buttoned 
and unbuttoned  steadily1 slowly1       
without an instant's interruption1 that 
,i watched  him1 almost as fascinated as
 he4 ,a child near us1 apparently       
playing  with blocks1 upset them with a 
loud noise1 but my buttoning boy1       
wrapped in his magic cloak of           
concentration1 did not so much as raise 
his eyes4 ,i myself could not look away1
 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 ,i1  with the kindest  
impulse in the world1 had stopped her   
fumbling little  fingers saying1 8,no1  
dear1 ,mother can do that so much       

better4 ,let  ,mother do it40 ,it       
occurred to me now that the situation   
was very much  as if1 in the midst of a 
fascinating game of billiards1 a        
professional  player had snatched the   
cue from my husband's hands1 saying1    
8,you just  stand and watch me do this4 
,i can do it much better than you40     
,the child before me stopped his work a 
moment and looked down at his  little   
cotton waist4 ,there was a row of       
buttons there1 smaller but of  the same 
family as those on the frame4 ,as he    
gazed down1 absorbed1 at  them1 ,i could
 see a great idea dawn in his face4 ,i  
leaned forward4  ,he attacked the middle
 button1 using with startling exactitude
 of  imitation the same motion he had   
learned on his frame4 ,but this button  
was not so large or so well placed4 ,he 
had to bend his head over1 his  fingers 
were cramped1 he made several movements 
backward4 ,but then  suddenly the first 
half of his undertaking was             
accomplished4 ,the button  was on one   

side1 the buttonhole on the other4 ,i   
held my breath4 ,he set  to work again4 
,the cloth slipped from his boneless    
little fingers1 the  button twisted     
itself awry1 ,i fairly ached with the   
idiotic habit of  years of interference 
to snatch it and do it for him4 ,and    
then ,i saw  that he was slowly forcing 
it into place4 ,when the bone disk      
finally  shone out1 round and whole1 on 
the far side of the buttonhole1 the     
child drew a long breath and looked up  
at me with so ecstatic a face  of       
triumph that ,i could have shouted1     
8,hurrah60 ,then1 without paying  any   
more attention to me1 he rose1 sauntered
 over to a corner of the  room where a  
thick piece of felt covered the floor1  
and lay down on his  back1 his hands    
clasped under his head1 gazing with     
tranquil1 reposeful  vacuity at the     
ceiling4 ,he was resting himself after  
accomplishing  a great step forward4 ,i 
did not fail to notice that1 except for 
my  entirely fortuitous observation of  

his performance1 nobody had seen his    
absorption any more than they now saw   
his apparent idleness4    ,i tucked all 
these observations away in a corner of  
my mind for future  reflection1 and     
moved on to the nearest child1 a little 
girl1 perhaps  a year older than the    
boy1 who was absorbed as eagerly as he  
over a  similar light wooden frame1     
covered with two pieces of cloth4 ,but  
these  were fastened together with      
pieces of ribbon which the child was    
tying  and untying4 ,there was no       
fumbling here4 ,as rapidly1 as deftly1  
with  as careless a light-hearted ease  
as a pianist running over his scales1   
she was making a series of the flattest1
 most regular bow-knots1 much  better1  
,i knew in my heart1 than ,i could      
accomplish at anything like  that speed4
 ,although she had advanced beyond the  
stage of intent  struggle with her      
material1 her interest and pleasure in  
her own skill  was manifest4 ,she looked
 up at me1 and then smiled proudly down 

at her  flying fingers4    ,beyond her  
another little boy1 with a              
leather-covered frame1 was  laboriously 
inserting shoe-buttons into their       
buttonholes with the  aid of an ordinary
 button-hook4 ,as ,i looked at him1 he  
left off1 and  stooping over his shoes1 
tried to apply the same system to their 
buttons4 ,that was too much for him4    
,after a prolonged struggle he gave  it 
up for the time1 returning1 however1 to 
the buttons on his frame  with entirely 
undiminished ardor4    ,next to him sat 
a little girl1 with a pile of small     
pieces of money  before her on her tiny 
table4 ,she was engaged in sorting these
 into  different piles according to     
their size1 and1 though ,i stood by her 
some time1 laughing at the passion of   
accuracy which fired her1 she  was so   
absorbed that she did not even notice my
 presence4 ,as ,i turned  away ,i almost
 stumbled over a couple of children     
sitting on the floor1  engaged in some  
game with a variety of blocks which     

looked new to me4  ,they were ten       
squared rods of equal thickness1 of     
which the shortest  looked to be a tenth
 the length of the longest1 and the     
others of  regularly diminishing lengths
 between these two extremes4 ,these were
  painted in alternate stripes of red   
and blue1 these stripes being  the same 
width as the shortest rod4 ,the children
 were putting these  together in        
consecutive order so as to make a sort  
of series1 and  although they were      
evidently much too young to count1 they 
were aiding  themselves by touching with
 their fingers each of the painted      
stripes1  and verifying in this way the 
length of the rod4 ,i could not follow  
this process1 although it was plainly   
something arithmetical1 and  turned to  
ask the teacher about it4    ,i saw her 
across the room engaged in tying a      
bandage about a child's  eyes4          
,wondering if this were some new1       
scientific form of punishment1  ,i      
stepped to that part of the room and    

watched the subsequent  proceedings4    
,the child1 his lips curved in an       
expectant smile1 even  laughing a little
 in pleasant excitement1 turned his     
blindfolded face  to a pile of small    
pieces of cloth before him4 ,several    
children1  walking past1 stopped and    
hung over the edge of his desk with     
lively  interest4 ,the boy drew out from
 the pile a piece of velvet4 ,he felt   
of this intently1 running the sensitive 
tips of his fingers lightly  over the   
nap1 and cocking his head on one side in
 deep thought4 ,the  child-spectators   
gazed at him with sympathetic attention4
 ,when he gave  the right name1 they all
 smiled and nodded their heads in       
satisfaction4  ,he drew out another     
piece from the big pile1 coarse cotton  
cloth this  time1 which he instantly    
recognized2 then a square of satin over 
which his little finger-tips wandered   
with evident sensuous pleasure4  ,his   
successful naming of this was too much  
for his envious little  spectators4     

,they turned and fled toward the teacher
 and when ,i reached  her1 she was the  
center of a little group of children1   
all clamoring to  be blindfolded4       
8,how they do love that exercise60 she  
said1 looking after them with  shining  
eyes 444 ,i could have sworn1 with      
mother's eyes6    8,are you too busy and
 hurried10 ,i asked1 8to explain to me  
the game  those children are playing    
with the red and blue rods80    ,she    
answered with some surprise1 8,oh1 no1  
,i'm not busy and hurried at  all60     
7quite as though we were not all living 
in the twentieth century7  and went on1 
8,the children can come and find me if  
they need me40    ,so ,i had my first   
lesson in the theory of self-education  
and  self-dependence underlying the     
,montessori apparatus1 to the           
accompaniment of occasional requests for
 aid1 or demands for sympathy  over an  
achievement1 made in clear1 baby treble4
 ,that theory will be  taken up later in
 this book1 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
 school4    ,after a time ,i noticed    
that four little girls were sitting at a
  neatly-ordered small table1 spread    
with a white cloth1 apparently  eating  
their luncheons4 ,the teacher1 in answer
 to my inquiring glance  at them1       
explained that it was their turn to be  
the waitresses that  day1 for the       
children's lunch1 and so they ate their 
own meal first4    ,she was called away 
just then1 and ,i sat looking at the    
roomful of busy  children1 listening to 
the pleasant murmur of their chats      
together1  watching them move freely    
about as they liked1 noting their       
absorbed1  happy concentration on their 
tasks4 ,already some of the sense of the
  miraculous which had been so vivid in 
my mind during my first survey  of the  
school was dulled1 or rather1 explained 
away4 ,now that ,i had  seen some of the
 details composing the picture1 the     

whole seemed more  natural4 ,it was not 
surprising1 for instance1 that the      
little girl  sorting the pieces of money
 should not instead be pulling another  
child's hair1 or wandering in aimless   
and potentially naughty idleness  about 
the room4 ,it was not necessary either  
to force or exhort her to  be a quiet   
and untroublesome citizen of that little
 republic4 ,she  would no more leave her
 fascinating occupation to go and 8be   
naughty0  than a professor of chemistry 
would leave an absorbing experiment in  
his laboratory to go and rob a          
candy-store4 ,in both cases it would  be
 leaving the best sort of a 8good time0 
for a much less enjoyable  undertaking4 
,in the midst of these reflections 7my  
first glimmer of understanding of  what 
it was all about71 a lively march on the
 piano was struck up4 ,not  a word was  
spoken by the teacher1 indeed ,i had not
 yet heard her voice  raised a single   
time to make a collective remark to the 
whole body of  children1 but at once1   

acting on the impulse which moves us all
 to run  down the street towards the    
sound of a brass band1 most of the      
children  stopped their work and ran    
towards the open floor-space near the   
piano4  ,some of the older ones1 of     
five1 formed a single-file line1 which  
was  rapidly recruited by the           
monkey-like imitativeness of the little 
ones1  into a long file4 ,the music was 
martial1 the older children held their  
heads high and stamped loudly as they   
marched about1 keeping time very        
accurately to the strongly marked rhythm
 of the tune4 ,the little tots  did     
their baby best to copy their big       
brothers and sisters1 some of  them     
merely laughing and stamping up and down
 without any reference  to the time1    
others evidently noticing a difference  
between their  actions and those of the 
older ones1 and trying to move their    
feet more  regularly4    ,no one had    
suggested that they leave their         
work-tables to play in  this way 7indeed

 a few too absorbed to heed the call of 
the music  still hung intently over     
their former occupations71 no one       
suggested  that they step in time to the
 music1 no one corrected them when they 
did not4 ,the music suddenly changed    
from a swinging marching air to a  low1 
rhythmical croon4 ,the older children   
instantly stopped stamping  and began   
trotting noiselessly about on their     
tiptoes1 imitated again  as slavishly as
 possible by the admiring smaller ones4 
,the uncertain  control of their        
equilibrium by these littler ones1 made 
them stagger  about1 as they practised  
this new exercise1 like the little      
bacchantes1  intoxicated with rhythm1   
which their glowing faces of delight    
seemed to  proclaim them4    ,i was     
penetrated with that poignant1 almost   
tearful sympathy in their  intense      
enjoyment which children's pleasure     
awakens in every adult  who has to do   
with them4 8,ah1 what a good time they  
are having60 ,i  cried to myself1 and   

then reflected that they had been having
 some sort  of very good time ever since
 ,i had come into the room4 ,and yet    
even  my unpractised eye could see a    
difference between this good time and   
the kindergarten1 charming as that is to
 watch4 ,no prettily-dressed1           
energetic1 thoroughgoing young lady had 
beckoned the children away  from their  
self-chosen occupations4 ,there was no  
set circle here with  the lovely teacher
 in the middle1 and every child's eyes  
fastened  constantly on her nearly      
always delightful but also              
overpoweringly  developed adult         
personality4 ,there was no set 8game0   
being played1  the discontinuation of   
which depended on the teacher's more or 
less  accurate guess at when the        
children were becoming tired4 ,indeed1  
as ,i reflected on this1 ,i noticed     
that1 although the bigger ones  were    
continuing their musical march with     
undiminished pleasure1 the  younger ones
 had already exhausted the small amount 

of consecutive  interest their infant   
organisms are capable of1 and1 without  
spoiling  the fun for the others1 indeed
 without being observed1 had suddenly   
stopped dancing and prancing as suddenly
 as they began and1 with the            
kitten-like fitfulness of their age1    
were wandering away in groups of  two   
and three out to the great1 open        
courtyard4    ,i suppose they went on   
playing quieter games there1 but ,i did 
not  follow them1 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 children4 ,they    
were about four and a half  and five    
years old1 an age at which ,i would have
 thought children as  capable of solving
 a problem in calculus as of            
undertaking1 without  supervision1 to   
set tables for twenty other babies4     
,they went at their  undertaking with no
 haste1 indeed with a slowness which my 
racial  impatience found absolutely     

excruciating4 ,they paused constantly   
for  prolonged consultations1 and to    
verify and correct themselves as  they  
laid the knife1 fork1 spoon1 plate1 and 
napkin at each place4  ,interested as ,i
 was1 and beginning1 as ,i did1 to      
understand a little  of the ideas of the
 school1 ,i still was so under the      
domination of my  lifetime of           
over-emphasis on the importance of the  
immediate result  of an action1 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 tables4    ,but then  
,i noticed that the clock showed only a 
little after eleven1  and that evidently
 the routine of the school was planned  
expressly so  that there would be no    
need for haste4    ,the phrase struck my
 mental ear curiously1 and arrested my  
attention4  ,i reflected on that        
condition with the astonished awe of a  
modern1  meeting it almost for the first

 time4 8,no need for haste0--it was like
  being transported into the timeless   
ease of eternity4    ,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 children8 ,was it1 after 
all1  so necessary8 ,what were we       
hurrying so to accomplish8 ,i remembered
 my  scorn of the parties of ,cook's    
tourists1 clattering into the ,sistine  
,chapel for a momentary glance at the   
achievement of a lifetime of  genius1   
painted on the ceiling1 and then        
galloping out again for a               
hop-skip-and-jump race down through the 
,stanze of ,raphael4 ,it occurred  to   
me1 disquietingly1 that possibly1       
instead of really training my  children1
 ,i might be dragging them headlong on a
 ,cook's tour through  life4 ,it also   
occurred to me that if the ,montessori  
ideas were taken  up in my family1 the  
children would not be the only ones to  
profit by  them4    ,illustration3 ,,the
 ,,meal ,,hour4                         

,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,when ,i emerged from this brown study1 
the little girls had finished  their    
task and there stood before me tables   
set for twenty little  people1 set      
neatly and regularly1 without an item   
missing4 ,the  children1 called in from 
their play in the courtyard1 came       
marching  along 7they do take collective
 action when collective interests       
genuinely demand it7 and sat down       
without suggestions1 each1 ,i suppose1  
at the place he had occupied while      
working at those same tiny tables4  ,i  
held my breath to see the four little   
waitresses enter the room1  each        
carrying a big tureen full of hot soup4 
,i would not have trusted  a child of   
that age to carry a glass of water      
across a room4 ,the  little girls       
advanced slowly1 their eyes fixed on the
 contents of  their tureens1 their      
attention so concentrated on their      
all-important  enterprise that they     
seemed entirely oblivious of the outer  

world4 ,a  fly lighted on the nose of   
one of these solemnly absorbed babies4  
,she  twisted the tip of that feature1  
making the most grotesque grimaces in   
her effort to dislodge the tickling     
intruder1 but not until she had  reached
 a table and set down her sacred tureen 
in safety1 did she raise  her hand to   
her face4 ,i revised on the instant all 
my fixed convictions  about the innate  
heedlessness and lack of self-control of
 early  childhood2 especially as she    
turned at once to her task of ladling   
out  the soup into the plates of the    
children at her table1 a feat which she 
accomplished as deftly as any adult     
could have done4    ,the napkins were   
unfolded1 the older children tucked them
 under  their chins and began to eat    
their soup4 ,the younger ones imitated  
them more or less handily1 though with  
some the process meant quite a  struggle
 with the napkin4 ,one little boy1 only 
one in all that company1  could not     
manage his4 ,after wrestling with it1 he

 brought it to the  teacher1 who had    
dropped down on a chair near mine4 ,so  
sure was ,i of  what her action         
inevitably would be1 that ,i fairly felt
 my own hands  automatically follow hers
 in the familiar motions of tucking a   
napkin  under a child's round chin4     
,i cannot devise any way to set down on 
paper with sufficient emphasis  the fact
 that she did not tuck that napkin in4  
,she held it up in her  hands1 showed   
the child how to take hold of a larger  
part of the  corner than he had been    
grasping1 and1 illustrating on herself1 
gave  him an object-lesson4 ,then she   
gave it back to him4 ,he had caught the 
idea evidently1 but his undisciplined   
little fingers1 out of sight  there1    
under his chin1 would not follow the    
direction of his brain1  though that was
 evidently1 from the grave intentness of
 his baby face1  working at top speed4  
,with a sigh1 that irresistible sigh of 
the little  child1 he took out the      
crumpled bit of linen and looked at it  

sadly4 ,i  clasped my hands together    
tightly to keep them from flying at him 
and  accomplishing the operation in a   
twinkling4 ,why1 the poor child's soup  
was getting cold6    ,again ,i wish to  
reiterate the statement that the teacher
 did not tuck  that napkin in4 ,she took
 it once more and went through very     
slowly  all the necessary movements4    
,the child's big1 black eyes fastened on
  her in a passion of attention1 and ,i 
noticed that his little empty  hands    
followed automatically the slow1        
distinctly separated1 analyzed          
movements of the teacher's hands4 ,when 
she gave the napkin back to him1  he    
seized it with an air of resolution     
which would have done honor  to         
,napoleon1 grasping it firmly and       
holding his wandering baby-wits         
together with the aid of a determined   
frown4 ,he pulled his collar away  from 
his neck with one hand and1 still       
frowning determinedly1 thrust  a large  
segment of the napkin down with the     

other1 spreading out the  remainder on  
his chest1 with a long sigh of utter    
satisfaction1 which  went to my heart4  
,as he trotted back to his place1 ,i    
noticed that the  incident had been     
observed by several of the children near
 us1 on whose  smiling faces1 as they   
looked at their triumphant little       
comrade1 ,i  could see the reflection of
 my own gratified sympathy4 ,one of them
  reached out and patted the napkin as  
its proud wearer passed4    ,but ,i had 
not been all the morning in that        
children's home1 perfect1  though not   
made with a mother's hands1 without     
having my mother's  jealousy sharply    
aroused4 ,a number of things had been   
stirring up  protests in my mind4 ,i was
 alarmed at the sight of all these      
babies1  happy1 wisely occupied1        
perfectly good1 and learning            
unconsciously the  best sort of lessons1
 and yet in an atmosphere differing so  
entirely  from all my preconceived ideas
 of a home4 ,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 living2  or for ,english
 mothers1 who expect as a matter of     
course that their  little children shall
 spend most of their time with          
nurse-maids and  governesses4 ,but ,i   
could not spare my children1 ,i told    
myself4 ,i asked  nothing better than to
 have them with me every moment they    
were awake4  ,what was to be done about 
this ominously excellent institution    
which  seemed to treat the children more
 wisely than ,i1 for all my efforts8  ,i
 felt an uneasy1 apprehensive hostility 
towards these methods1  contrasting so  
entirely with mine1 for mine were1 ,i   
assured myself  hotly1 based on the most
 absolute1 supreme mother's love for the
 child4    ,i now turned to the teacher 
and said protestingly1 8,that would have
  been a very little thing to do for a  
child40    ,she laughed4 8,i'm not his  
nurse-maid4 ,i'm his teacher10 she      

replied4    8,that's all very well1 but 
his soup will be cold1 you know1 and he 
will be late to his luncheon60    ,she  
did not deny this1 but she did not seem 
as struck as ,i was by  the importance  
of the fact4 ,she answered whimsically1 
8,ah1 one must  remember not to obtrude 
one's adult materialism into the        
idealistic  world of children4 ,he is so
 happy over his victory over himself    
that he  wouldn't notice if his soup    
were iced40    ,illustration3 ,,the     
,,morning ,,clean-,,up4                 
,illustration3 ,,waiter ,,carrying      
,,soup4                                 
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
8,but warm soup is a good thing1 a very 
good thing10 ,i insisted1 8and  you have
 literally robbed him of his4 ,more than
 that1 ,i seem to see  that all this    
insistence on self-dependence for       
children must interfere  with a great   
many desirable regularities of family   
life40    ,she looked at me indulgently4
 8,yes1 warm soup is a good thing1 but  

is  it such a very important thing8     
,according to our adult standards it  is
 more palatable1 but it's really about  
as good food if eaten cold1  isn't it8  
,and1 anyhow1 he eats it cold only this 
once4 ,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 cold4 ,isn't his moral  
health as  important as his physical80  
8,but it might be very inconvenient for 
someone else1 in an ordinary  home1 to  
wait so interminably for him to learn to
 wait on himself40    ,her answer was a 
home-thrust4 8,if it's too much trouble 
to give him  the best conditions at     
home1 wouldn't he be better sent to a   
,casa dei  ,bambini1 which has no other 
aim than to have things just right for  
his  development80    ,this silenced me 
for a time4 ,i turned away1 but was     
recalled by her  remarking1 8,besides1  
,i've put him more in the way of getting
 his soup  hot from now on1 than you    
would1 by tucking in his napkin and     

sending  him back at once4 ,to-day's    
plateful would have been warm2 but how  
about  to-morrow and the day after1 and 
so on1 unless you1 or some other        
grown-up happened to be at hand to wait 
on him4 ,and on my part1 what  could ,i 
do1 if all twenty-five of the children  
were helpless80    ,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 morning1 8,if you    
didn't keep such an octopus clutch on   
the  children1 separating them all day  
in this way from their own families1  if
 they were sent home to eat their       
luncheons1 why1 there would be  mothers 
enough to go around4 ,they would be only
 too glad to tuck the  little napkins   
in60    ,the teacher looked at me1      
level-browed1 and said1 with a dry1     
enigmatic  accent which made me reflect 
uneasily1 long afterwards1 on her       
words1 8,they certainly would4 ,do you  
really think that would be an           

improvement80          ,,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 school1 and this      
chapter is intended  to supplement      
somewhat the very incomplete survey of  
the last and to  touch at least1 in     
passing1 upon some of the other         
important activities  in which the      
children are engaged4 ,if this          
description seems lacking in  continuity
 and uniformity1 it represents all the  
more faithfully the  impressions of an  
observer of a ,casa dei ,bambini4 ,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              
kindergartens4  ,you need not expect at 
ten o'clock to hear the 8ten-o'clock    
class in  reading10 for possibly on that
 day no child will happen to feel like  
reading4 ,you need not think that the   

teacher will call up the star  pupil to 
have him write for you4 ,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 direction1  taken for  
the moment by the self-educating        
instincts of her children4    ,in       
planning a visit to a ,casa dei         
,bambini1 you can be sure of only one   
thing1 not1 however1 an inconsiderable  
thing1 and that is that all  the        
children will be happily absorbed in    
some profitable undertaking4  ,it never 
fails4 ,there are no 8blue ,mondays40   
,rain or shine outdoors1  inside the big
 room there always blows across the     
heart of the visitor  a fine1 tonic     
breath of free1 and hence1 never        
listless life4 ,on days  in winter when 
the sirocco blows1 the debilitating wind
 from ,africa1  which reduces the whole 
population of ,rome to inert and        
melancholy  passivity1 the children in  

the ,casa are perhaps not quite so      
briskly  energetic as usual in their    
self-imposed task of teaching and       
governing  themselves1 but they are by  
far the most briskly energetic ,romans  
in  the city4    ,it is all so          
interesting to them1 they cannot stop to
 be bored or  naughty4 ,just as one of  
our keen1 hungry-minded ,yankee         
school-teachers1  turned loose for the  
first time in an historic ,european     
city1 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 known1 so these equally    
hungry-minded1 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 long1 happy  
day is done4    ,the freedom accorded   
them is absolute1 the only rule being   
that they  must not hurt or annoy       

others1 a rule which1 after the first   
brief  chaos at the beginning1 when the 
school is being organized1 is always    
respected with religious care by these  
little citizens2 although to  call a    
,montessori school a 8little republic0  
and the children 8little  citizens10    
gives much too formal an idea of the    
free-and-easy1 happily  unforced and    
natural relations of the children with  
each other4 ,the  phrase ,casa dei      
,bambini is being translated everywhere 
nowadays by  ,english-speaking people as
 8,the ,house of ,childhood10 whereas   
its real  meaning1 both linguistic and  
spiritual1 is1 8,the ,children's ,home40
    ,that is what it is1 a real home for
 children1 where everything is  arranged
 for their best interests1 where the    
furniture is the right  size for them1  
where there are no adult occupations    
going on to be  interrupted and hindered
 by the mere presence of the children1  
where  there are no rules made solely to
 facilitate life for grown-ups1 where   

children1 without incurring the reproach
 7expressed or tacit7 of  disturbing    
their elders1 can freely and joyously1  
and if they please1  noisily1 develop   
themselves by action from morning to    
night4 ,with the  removal by this simple
 means of most of the occasions for     
friction  in the life of little         
children1 it is amazing to see how few1 
how  negligibly few occasions there are 
for naughtiness4 ,the great question  of
 discipline which so absorbs us all1    
solves itself1 melts into thin  air1    
becomes non-existent4 ,each child gives 
himself the severest sort  of           
self-discipline by his interest in his  
various undertakings4 ,he  learns       
self-control as a by-product of his     
healthy absorption in some  fascinating 
pursuit1 or as a result of his          
instinctive imitation of  older         
children4    ,for instance1 no adult was
 obliged to shout commandingly to the   
little-girl waitress not to drop her    
soup-tureen to brush the fly from  her  

nose4 ,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-sacrifice4 ,on the other hand1 the 
buttoning boy did  not refrain by a     
similar1 violent effort of his will from
 snatching the  blocks from the         
arithmetical children4 ,it simply never 
occurred to him1  so happily absorbed   
was he in his own task4    ,i asked1 of 
course1 the question which obsesses     
every new observer in  a ,children's    
,home1 8,but what do you do1 with all   
this fine theory of  absolute freedom1  
when a child is naughty8 ,sometimes1    
even if not  often1 you surely must     
encounter the kicking1 screaming1       
snatching1  hair-pulling #8bad' child60 
,i was told then that the health of such
 a  child is looked into at once1 such  
perverted violence being almost         
certainly the result of deranged        
physical condition4 ,if nothing         
pathological can be discovered1 he is   

treated as a morally sick child1  given 
a little table by himself1 from which he
 can look on at the  cheerful1 ordered  
play of the schoolroom1 allowed any and 
all toys he  desires1 petted1 soothed1  
indulged1 pitied1 but 7of course this is
 the  vital point7 severely let alone by
 the other children1 who are told  that 
he is 8sick0 and so cannot play with    
them until he gets well4  ,this quiet   
isolation1 with its object-lesson of    
good-natured play among  the other      
children1 has a hypnotically calming    
effect1 the child's  8naughtiness0 for  
very lack of food to feed upon1 or      
resistance to blow  its flames1         
disappears and dies away4    ,this1 ,i  
say1 was the explanation given me at    
first1 but later1 when ,i  came to know 
more intimately the little group of     
,montessori enthusiasts  in ,rome1 ,i   
learned more about the matter4 ,one of  
my ,montessori friends  told me         
laughingly1 8,we found that nobody would
 believe us at all when  we told the    

simple truth1 when we said that we      
never1 literally never1  do encounter   
that hypothetical1 ferociously naughty1 
small child4 ,they  look at us with such
 an obvious incredulity that1 for the   
honor of the  system1 we had to devise  
some expedient4 ,so we ransacked our    
memories  for one or two temporary      
examples of #8badness' which we met at  
first  before the system was well       
organized1 and remembered how we had    
dealt  with them4 ,now1 when people ask 
us what we do when the children begin   
to scratch and kick each other1 instead 
of insisting that children as  young as 
ours1 when properly interested1 never do
 these things1 we tell  them the old    
story of our device of years ago40    ,i
 have said that the real translation for
 ,casa dei ,bambini is ,the  ,children's
 ,home1 and ,i feel like insisting upon 
this rendering1 which  gives us so much 
more idea of the character of the       
institution4 ,at  least1 from now on1 in
 this book1 that ,english phrase will be

 used from  time to time to designate a 
,montessori school4 ,it is1 for         
instance1  their very own home not only 
in the sense that it is a place arranged
  specially for their comfort and       
convenience1 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-house1 a  moral advantage of
 home life which children in ordinary   
circumstances  are rarely allowed to    
share with their elders4 ,they are      
boarders  7though gratuitous ones7 with 
their father and mother1 and1 as a      
natural consequence1 they have the      
remote1 detached1 unsympathetic         
aloofness from the problem of running   
the house which is characteristic  of   
the race of boarders4    ,in the ,casa  
dei ,bambini this is quite different4   
,because it is their  home and not a    
school1 the hours are very long1        
practically all the day  being spent    
there4 ,the children have the           

responsibility not only for  their own  
persons1 but for the care of their      
,home4 ,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 handle4  ,here they make as     
complete a morning toilet as anyone     
could wish1  washing their faces1 necks1
 hands1 and ears 7and behind the ears671
  brushing their teeth1 making manful   
efforts to comb their hair1  cleaning   
their finger-nails with scrupulous care1
 and helping each  other with fraternal 
sympathy4 ,it is astonishing 7for anyone
 who had  the illusion that she knew    
child-nature7 to note the contrast      
between  the vivid purposeful attention 
they bestow on all these processes when 
they are allowed to do them for         
themselves1 and the bored1 indifferent  
impatience we all know so well when it  
is our adult hands which are  doing all 
the work4 ,the big ones 7of five and    
six7 help the little  ones1 who1 eager  

to be 8big ones0 in their turn1 struggle
 to learn as  quickly as possible how to
 do things for themselves4    ,after the
 morning toilet of the children is      
finished1 it is the turn of  the        
schoolroom4 ,the fresh-faced1           
shining-eyed children scatter about  the
 big room1 with tiny brushes and        
dust-pans and little brooms4 ,they      
attack the corners where dust lurks1    
they dust off all the furniture  with   
soft cloths1 they water the plants1 they
 pick up any litter which  may have     
accumulated1 they learn the habit of    
really examining a room  to see if it is
 in order or not4 ,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 day1 a
 result the importance of which can be  
certified by any mother who has to 8pick
 up0 after a family of small  children4 
,after the room is fresh and clean1 the 
8order of exercises0 is very  flexible1 
varying according to circumstances1 the 

weather1 the  desire of the children4   
,they may perhaps sing a hymn together  
before  dispersing to their different   
self-chosen exercises with the          
apparatus4  ,sometimes the teacher gives
 them some exercises in manners1 showing
  them how to rise gracefully and       
quietly from their little chairs1 how   
to say good-morning2 how to give and    
receive politely some object2  how to   
carry things safely across the room1    
etc41 etc4 ,sometimes they  all sit     
about the teacher and have a talk with  
her1 an exercise in  ordinary well-bred 
conversation which is sadly needed by   
our ,american  children1 who are seldom1
 at least as young as this1 trained to  
express  themselves in any but trivial  
requests1 or1 as in the kindergarten1   
in repeating stories4 ,the teacher      
questions the children about the        
happenings of their lives1 about        
anything of more general interest  which
 they may have observed1 or on any topic
 which excites a general  interest which

 they may have observed4 ,of course1    
because she is a  ,montessori teacher   
she does as little of this talking as   
possible  herself1 confining herself to 
brief remarks which may draw out the    
children4 ,such conversation is of the  
greatest help to the fluency and        
correctness of speech and to an early   
enriching of the vocabulary1 all        
important factors in the release of the 
child from the prison of his  baby      
limitations4 ,the habit of listening    
while others talk acquired in  these    
general morning conversations is also of
 incalculable value1 as  is attested by 
the proverbial rarity of the good       
listener even among  adults4    ,of     
course the main business of the day is  
the use of the apparatus1 the  different
 ,montessori exercises1 and these soon  
occupy the attention  of all the        
children4 ,with intervals of outdoor    
play in the courtyard  garden1 care of  
the plants there1 the morning progresses
 till the lunch  hour1 which has been   

described4 ,after this1 or indeed1      
whenever they  feel sleepy1 the smaller 
children take their naps1 and they do   
not go  home until five or six o'clock  
in the afternoon1 having back of them  a
 peaceful1 harmonious day1 every instant
 of which has been actively1  happily1  
and profitably employed1 and which has  
been full from morning  till night of   
goodwill and comradeship4    ,from time 
to time it happens that a new brother or
 sister is  introduced into this big    
family1 with its rgime of perfect       
freedom  from unnecessary restraint4    
,the behavior of children who are       
brought  into the school after the      
beginning of the school-year is         
naturally  extremely various1 since they
 are allowed then1 as always1 to express
  with perfect liberty their own        
individualities4 ,some join at once1 of 
their own accord1 in one or another of  
the interesting 8games0 they see  being 
played by the other children already    
initiated1 and in half an  hour are     

indistinguishable from the older        
inhabitants of that little  world1      
drawing their fingers alternately over  
sandpaper and smooth wood  to learn the 
difference between 8rough0 and 8smooth10
 or delightedly  matching the           
different-colored spools of silk4       
,others1 naturally shy  ones1 naturally 
reserved ones1 those who have been      
rendered suspicious  by injudicious home
 treatment1 or those who have naturally 
slow mental  machines1 hold aloof for a 
time4 ,they are allowed to do this as   
long as  they please4 ,they are welcomed
 once smilingly1 and then left to their 
own devices4    ,i remember1 in the ,via
 ,giusti school1 seeing for several days
 in  succession a tiny girl1 not more   
than three1 with wide1 shy1 fawn-eyes1  
sitting idle at a little table1 in the  
middle of the morning1 with all  her    
wraps on4 ,when ,i inquired the meaning 
of this very unusual sight1  the        
,directress told me that1 apparently1   
the child had something of  the         

wild-animal terror of being caught in a 
trap1 and had indicated1  terrified1    
when her mother1 on the first morning1  
tried to take off  her cap and cloak1   
that she wished to be free at any moment
 to make  her escape from these new and 
untried surroundings4 ,so her wraps     
were not removed1 she was allowed to sit
 near the door1 which was  kept ajar1   
and not a look or gesture from the      
,directress disturbed  the reassuring   
isolation in which that baby1 by slow   
degrees1 found  herself and learned her 
first lesson of the big world4 ,i think 
she  sat thus for three whole days1 at  
first starting nervously if anyone      
chanced to approach her1 with the       
painful1 apprehensive glare of the      
constitutionally timid child1 but little
 by little conquering herself4    ,one  
day she reached over shyly for a        
buttoning frame1 left on the next  table
 by a child who had wandered off to     
other joys4 ,she sat with  this some    
time1 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 personality4 ,no one
 noticed her4 ,still glancing up with   
frequent suspicious starts1 she began   
trying to insert the buttons in  the    
buttonholes1 and then1 by degrees1 lost 
herself1 forgot entirely  the tragic    
self-consciousness which had embittered 
her little life1  and with a real       
8,montessori face10 a countenance of    
ardent1 happy1  self-forgetting interest
 in overcoming obstacles1 she set       
definitely  to work4 ,after a time1     
finding that her cape impeded her       
motions1 she  flung it off1 taking      
unconsciously the step into which1 three
 days  before1 only superior physical   
force could have coerced her4    ,i     
watched her through the winter with much
 interest1 her reticent1  self-contained
 nature always marking her off from the 
other little ones  more or less1 and ,i 

rejoiced to see that all the natural    
manifestations  of her differing        
individuality were religiously respected
 by the wise  ,directress4 ,it was not  
long before she was trotting freely     
about the  room choosing her activities 
with lively delight1 and looking on with
  friendly1 though never very intimate1 
interest at the doings of the  other    
children4 ,but it was months before she 
cared to join at all in  enterprises    
undertaken in common by the majority of 
the pupils1 the  rollicking file1 for   
instance1 which stamped about lustily in
 time  to the music4 ,she watched them1 
half-astonished1 half-disapproving1     
wholly contented with her own permitted 
aloofness1 like a slim little  greyhound
 watching the light-hearted1            
heavy-footed antics of a litter  of     
,newfoundland puppies4 ,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 pattern4 ,hers  was a rare
 individuality1 the integrity of which  
was being preserved  entire for the     
future leavening of an all-too-uniform  
civilization4 ,for  although the        
,montessori school furnishes the best   
possible practical  training for        
democracy1 inasmuch as every child      
learns speedily first  the joys of      
self-dependence and then the            
self-abnegating pleasure of  serving    
others1 it is also preparing the        
greatest possible amelioration  of our  
present-day democracy1 by counteracting 
that bad1 but apparently  not           
inevitable1 tendency of democracy to a  
dead level of uniform  and characterless
 mediocrity4 ,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 mould1 but only guided into  
the higher forms of their own  natural  
activities4    ,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 
him4 ,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 inertia1 our           
short-sightedness1 our lack of          
confidence  in human nature1 and our    
deep-rooted and unfounded prejudice     
about  childhood1 our instinctive1      
mistaken1 harsh conviction that it will 
be  industrious1 law-abiding1 and       
self-controlled only under pressure from
  the outside4    ,it must be admitted  
that there is one variety of child who  
is the  mortal terror of ,montessori    
teachers4 ,this is not the violently    
insubordinate child1 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    
life4 ,no1 what reduces  a ,montessori  
teacher to despair is a child like one  
,i saw in a school  for the children of 
the wealthy1 a beautiful1 exquisitely   
attired  little fairy of four1 whose    
lovely1 healthful body had been cared   
for  with the most scientific exactitude
 by trained nurses1 governesses1  and   
nurse-maids1 and the very springs of    
whose natural initiative and  invention 
seemed to have been broken by the       
debilitating ministrations  of all those
 caretakers4 ,it is significant that the
 teacher of this  school admitted to me 
that she found her carefully-reared     
pupils  generally more listless1 more   
selfish1 harder to reach1 and harder  to
 stimulate than poor children2 but the  
least prosperous of us need  not think  
that because we cannot afford           
nurse-maids our children will  fare     

better than those of millionaires1 for  
one too devoted mother can  equal a     
regiment of servants in crushing out a  
child's initiative1 his  natural desire 
for self-dependence1 his self-respect1  
and his natural  instinct for           
self-education4    ,the great point of  
vantage of a ,montessori school over an 
ordinary  school in dealing with these  
morally starved children of too         
prosperous  parents1 is that it catches 
them younger1 before the pernicious     
habit  of passive dependence has        
continued long enough entirely to wreck 
their  natural instincts4 ,beside the   
beautiful child of four with the sapped 
and weakened will-power mentioned above1
 was an equally beautiful1  exquisitely 
dressed little tot of just three1 whose 
glowing face of  happy energy provided  
the most welcome contrast to the        
saddening mental  torpor of the older   
child1 who1 though naturally in every   
way a normal  little girl1 stood        
hopelessly apathetic before all the     

fascinating  lures to her invention     
which the ,montessori apparatus spread  
before  her4 ,the little girl of three1 
without a word from the teacher1        
regulated for herself a busy1           
profitable1 happy1 purposeful life1     
getting out one piece of apparatus after
 another1 8playing0 with it  until her  
fresh interest was gone1 putting it     
away1 and falling with  equal ardor upon
 something else4 ,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 themselves4 ,she was     
given a choice of geometric insets1 and 
provided with colored pencils and a big 
sheet of paper1 baits which not  even an
 idiot child can resist1 and1 sitting   
uninventive before this  delightful     
array1 remarked with a polite           
indifference that she was used  to      

having people draw pictures for her4    
,the poor child had acquired  the habit 
of having somebody else do even her     
playing4    ,in the face of this        
melancholy sight1 ,i was comforted by   
the teacher's  hopeful assurance that   
the child had made some advance since   
the  beginning of the school1 and showed
 some signs that intellectual  activity 
was awakening naturally under the       
well-nigh irresistible  stimulus of the 
,montessori apparatus4    ,one exception
 to the general truth that the children 
in a ,montessori  school do not take    
concerted action is in the 8lesson of   
silence40 ,this  is often mentioned in  
accounts of the ,casa dei ,bambini1 but 
it is so  important that it may perhaps 
be here described again4 ,it originated 
as  a lesson for one of the senses1     
hearing1 but though it undoubtedly is   
an excellent exercise for the ears it   
has a moral effect which is more        
important4 ,it is certainly to visitors 
one of the most impressive of  all the  

impressive sights to be seen in the     
,children's ,home4    ,one may be moving
 about between the groups of busy       
children1 or sitting  watching their    
lively animation or listening to the    
cheerful hum of  their voices1 when one 
feels a curious change in the atmosphere
 like  the hush which falls on a forest 
when the sun suddenly goes behind a     
cloud4 ,if it is the first time one has 
seen this 8lesson10 the effect  is      
startling4 ,a quick glance around shows 
that the children have  stopped playing 
as well as talking1 and are sitting     
motionless at their  tables1 their eyes 
on the blackboard where in large letters
 is written  8,silenzio0 7,silence74    
,even the little ones who cannot read1  
follow  the example of the older ones1  
and not only sit motionless1 but look   
fixedly at the magic word4 ,the         
,directress is visible now1 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  priest4 ,the
 silence becomes more and more intense4 
,to untrained ears it  seems absolute1  
but an occasional faint gesture or      
warning smile from  the ,directress     
shows that a little hand has moved      
almost but not quite  inaudibly1 or a   
chair has creaked4    ,at first the     
children smile in answer1 but soon1     
under the hypnotic  peace of the hush   
which lasts minute after minute1 even   
this silent  interchange of loving      
admonition and response ceases4 ,it is  
now evident  from the children's        
trance-like immobility that they no     
longer need  to make an effort to be    
motionless4 ,they sit quiet1 rapt in a  
vague1  brooding reverie1 their busy    
brains lulled into repose1 their very   
souls looking out from their wide1      
vacant eyes4 ,this expression of  utter 
peace1 which ,i never before saw on a   
child's face except in  sleep1 has in it
 something profoundly touching4 ,in that
 matter-of-fact1  modern schoolroom1 as 

solemnly as in shadowy cathedral aisles1
 falls  for an instant a veil of        
contemplation1 between the human soul   
and the  external realities of the      
world4    ,and then a real veil of      
twilight falls to intensify the effect4 
,the  ,directress goes quietly about    
from window to window1 closing the      
shutters4 ,in the ensuing twilight1 the 
children bow their heads on  their      
clasped hands in the attitude of prayer4
 ,the ,directress steps  through the    
door into the next room and a slow      
voice1 faint and clear1  comes floating 
back1 calling a child's name4           
8,el444e444na60    ,a child lifts her   
head1 opens her eyes1 rises as silently 
as a little  spirit1 and with a glowing 
face of exaltation1 tiptoes out of the  
room1  flinging herself joyously into   
the waiting arms4    ,the summons comes 
again1 8,vit444to444ri444o60    ,a      
little boy lifts his head from his desk1
 showing a face of sweet1  sober content
 at being called1 and goes silently     

across the big room1  taking his place  
by the side of the ,directress4 ,and so 
it goes until  perhaps fifteen children 
are clustered happily about the teacher4
  ,then1 as informally and naturally as 
it began1 the 8game0 is over4 ,the      
teacher comes back into the room with   
her usual quiet1 firm step2 light  pours
 in at the windows2 the mystic word is  
erased from the blackboard4  ,the       
visitor is astonished to see that only  
six or seven minutes have  passed since 
the beginning of this new experience4   
,the children smile  at each other1 and 
begin to play again1 perhaps a little   
more quietly  than before1 perhaps more 
gently1 certainly with the shining eyes 
of  devout believers who have blessedly 
lost themselves in an instant of  rapt  
and self-forgetting devotion4    ,and1  
in a sense1 they too have been to       
church4 ,this modern scientific  ,roman 
woman-doctor1 who probably never heard  
of ,william ,penn1 has  rediscovered the
 mystic joys of his sect1 and has       

appropriated to her  system one of the  
most beneficial elements of the ,quaker 
,meeting4    ,before seeing this 8lesson
 of silence0 one does not realize that  
there  is a lack in the world of the    
,casa dei ,bambini4 ,after seeing it one
  feels instantly that it is an         
essential element1 this brief period of 
perfect repose from the mental activity 
which1 though unstimulated1 is          
practically incessant2 this brief       
excursion away from all the restless1   
shifting1 rapid things of the world into
 the region of peace and calm  and      
immobility4 ,and yet who of us1 without 
seeing this in actual  practice1 would  
ever have dreamed that little children  
would care for  such an exercise1 would 
submit to it for an instant1 much less  
throw  themselves into it with all the  
ardor of little ,yogis1 and emerge from 
it sweeter1 more obedient1 calmed1 and  
gentler as from a tranquilizing  prayer8
 ,sometimes1 once in a day is not enough
 for them1 and later  they ask of their 

own accord to have this experience      
repeated4 ,their  pleasure in it is     
inexpressible4 ,the expression which    
comes over their  little faces when1 in 
the midst of their busy play1 they feel 
the first  hush fall about them is      
something never to be forgotten4    ,it 
makes one feel a sort of envy of these  
children who are so much  better        
understood than we were at their age4   
,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 there1 to profit by the 
adaptation to our adult existence of    
some of the principles underlying  this 
scheme of education for babies4         
,,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 it1  the sight of   
the word 8,theory0 makes me             

apprehensively aware that ,i  am        
stepping down into very deep water      
without any great confidence in  my     
powers as a swimmer4 ,but ,i recall     
again the reflection which has  buoyed  
me up more than once in the composition 
of these unscientific  impressions1     
namely that ,i am addressing an audience
 no more scientific  than ,i am1 an     
audience of ordinary1 fairly well       
educated ,american  parents4            
,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 ,dr4      
,montessori's  own carefully written    
treatise4    ,it is always1 ,i believe1 
essential to an understanding of any    
educational system to comprehend first  
of all the underlying principle  before 
going on to its adaptation to actual    
conditions4 ,this adaptation  naturally 
varies as the actual conditions vary1   
and should change in  many details if it

 is to embody faithfully1 under         
differing conditions1  the fundamental  
principle4 ,but the master idea in every
 system is  unvarying1 eternal1 and it  
should be stated1 studied1 and grasped1 
before any effort is made to learn the  
details of its practical  application4  
,a statement of this fundamental        
principle will be found in  different   
phrasings1 several times in the course  
of this book1 because  it is essential  
not only to learn it once1 but to bear  
it constantly  in mind4 ,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 idea1 results inevitably in a  
grotesque1 tragic caricature of  the    
method1 such a farcical spectacle as we 
now see the attempt to  ,christianize   
people by forcible baptism to have been4
    ,the central idea of the ,montessori
 system1 on which every smallest  bit of
 apparatus1 every detail of technic     
rests solidly1 is a full  recognition of

 the fact that no human being can be    
educated by anyone  else4 ,he must do it
 himself or it is never done4 ,and this 
is as true at  the age of three as at   
the age of thirty2 even truer1 for the  
man of  thirty is at least as physically
 strong as any self-proposed mentor is  
apt to be1 and can fight for his own    
right to chew and digest his own        
intellectual food4    ,it can be readily
 seen how this dominating idea changes  
completely  the old-established         
conditions in the schoolroom1 turning   
the high  light from the teacher to the 
pupil4 ,since the child can really be   
taught nothing by the teacher1 since he 
himself must do every scrap  of his own 
learning1 it is upon the child that our 
attention centers4  ,the teacher should 
be the all-wise observer of his natural 
activity1  giving him such occasional   
quick1 light-handed guidance as he may  
for a  moment need1 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 mistakes2 but1 by no    
means1 as has been our  old-time notion1
 taking his hand in hers and leading him
 constantly  along a fixed path1 which  
she or her pedagogical superiors have   
laid  out beforehand1 and into which    
every childish foot must be either      
coaxed or coerced4    ,we have admitted 
the entire validity of this theory in   
physical life4  ,we no longer send our  
children for their outdoor exercise     
bidding them  walk along the street1    
holding to ,nurse's hand like little    
ladies and  gentlemen4 ,if we can       
possibly manage it we turn them loose   
with a  sandpile1 a jumping-rope1 hoops1
 balls1 bats1 and other such stimuli to 
their natural instinct for vigorous     
body-developing exercise4 ,and we  have 
a 8supervisor0 in our public playgrounds
 only to see that children  are rightly 
started in their use of the different   
games1 not at all to  play every game   
with them4 ,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   
them4 ,the ,montessori child1           
analogously1 is allowed and encouraged  
to  let go the hand of his mental nurse1
 to walk and run about on his own  feet1
 and an almost endless variety of       
stimuli to his natural instinct  for    
vigorous mind-developing1 intellectual  
exercise is placed within  his reach4   
,the teacher1 under this system1 is the 
scientific1 observing supervisor  of    
this mental 8playground0 where the      
children acquire intellectual  vigor1   
independence1 and initiative as         
spontaneously1 joyfully1  and tirelessly
 as they acquire physical independence  
and vigor as  a by-product of physical  
play4 ,we have long realized that       
children  do not need to be driven by   
force1 or even persuaded1 to take the   
amount of exercise necessary to develop 
their growing bodies4 ,indeed  the      

difficulty has been to keep them from   
doing it so continuously  as to         
interfere with our sedentary adult      
occupations and tastes4 ,we  have       
learned that all we need to do is to    
provide the jumping-rope  and then leave
 the child alone with other children4   
,the most  passionately inspired        
pedagogue can never learn to skip rope  
for a  child1 any more than in after    
years he can ever learn the conjugation 
of a single irregular verb for a pupil4 
,the learner must do his own  learning1 
and1 this granted1 it follows naturally 
that the less he  is interfered with by 
arbitrary restraint and vexatious1      
unnecessary  rules1 the more quickly and
 easily he will learn4 ,an observation  
of  the typical1 joyfully busy child in 
a ,casa dei ,bambini furnishes more     
than sufficient proof that he enjoys    
acquiring mental as well as  physical   
agility and strength1 and asks nothing  
better than a fair and  unhindered      
chance at this undertaking4    ,but even

 when this deep-laid foundation         
principle of self-education  has been   
grasped1 all is not plain sailing for   
the adventurer on the  ,montessori      
ocean4 ,a set of theories relating to   
such complicated  organisms as human    
beings1 cannot in the nature of things  
be of  primer-like simplicity4 ,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 idea4 
,one division1 the  practical1 is made  
up of theories based on acute1          
scientific knowledge  of the child's    
body1 his muscles1 brain1 and nerves1   
such as only a  doctor and a            
physiological psychologist combined can 
have4 ,the second  division is made up  
of theories based on the spiritual      
nature of man1  as disclosed by the     
study of history1 by unbiased direct    
observation  of present-day society1 and
 by that divining fervor of enthusiastic
  reverence for the element of          

perfectibility in human nature which has
  always characterized founders of new  
religions4    ,this chapter is to be    
devoted to the narration of what a      
person1  neither a doctor nor a         
physiological psychologist1 was able to 
understand of the first division4    ,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 
bodies4 ,we all know  how much more     
fascinating a place our kitchens seem to
 be for our  little children than our   
drawing-rooms4 ,i have heard this       
inevitable  gravitation towards those   
back regions of the house accounted for 
on  the theory the 8children seem to    
like servants better than other  people4
 ,there seems to be some sort of natural
 affinity between a child  and a cook40 
,one morning spent in the ,casa dei     
,bambini showed me the  true reason4    
,children like cooks and chamber-maids  

better than callers  in the parlor1     
because servants are always doing       
something imitable2  and they like      
kitchens and pantries better than       
drawing-rooms because  the drawing-room 
is a museum full of objects1 interesting
 it is true1  but inclosed in the       
padlocked glass-case of the command1    
8,now1 don't  touch60 while the kitchen 
is a veritable treasure-house of        
,montessori  apparatus4    ,the         
three-year-old child who1 eluding       
pursuit from the front of  the house1   
sits down on the kitchen floor with a   
collection of  cookie-cutters of        
different shapes in his lap1 and amuses 
himself  by running his fingers around  
their edges1 is engaged in a true       
8stereognostic exercise0 as it is       
alarmingly dubbed in scientific         
nomenclature4 ,if there is a closet of  
pots and pans1 and he has  time before  
he is dragged off to clean clothes and  
the vacuity of  adult-invented toys1 to 
fit the right covers to the pots and see

  which pan goes inside which1 he has   
gone through a 8sensory exercise  for   
developing his sense of dimension40 ,if 
he is struck by the fact  that the      
package of oatmeal1 although so large1  
weighs less than the  smaller bag of    
salt1 he has been initiated into a      
8baric exercise02  while if there are   
some needles of ice left on the floor by
 a careless  iceman1 with these and a   
permitted dabbling in warm dishwater1 he
  unconsciously invents for himself a   
8thermic exercise40 ,if the cook is     
indulgent or too busy to notice1 there  
may be added to these interests  the    
creative rapture to be evolved from a   
lump of dough1 or a fumbling  attempt to
 fathom the mysterious inwardness of a  
,dover egg-beater4    ,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
  person4 ,it seems to me that is about 

like denying any novelty to  the        
discovery that pure air will cure       
consumption4 ,the pure air has  always  
been there1 consumptives have had       
nothing to do but to breathe  it to get 
well1 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 windows4 
,children from time immemorial have     
always done their best1 struggling      
bravely against the tyranny of adult    
good intentions1 to educate  themselves 
by training their senses in all sorts of
 sense exercise4  ,they have always been
 7generations of exasperated mothers can
 bear  witness to it67 8possessed0 to   
touch and handle all objects about      
them4 ,what ,dr4 ,montessori has done is
 to appear suddenly1 like the           
window-breaking doctors1 and to cry to  
us1 8,let them do it60 ,or rather1  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      
,svres vase or on a  more or less greasy
 cooking utensil4 ,nor has he that      
perverse fondness  for the grease of the
 kettle1 or that wicked joy in the      
destruction of  valuable bric--brac     
which our muddle-headed observation has 
led us to  attribute to him4 ,those are 
merely fortuitous1 and for him          
negligible1  accompaniments to the      
process of learning how to distinguish  
accurately  different forms4 ,dr4       
,montessori assures us1 and proves her  
assertion1  that his sole interest is in
 the varying shapes of the utensils he  
handles1 and that if he is given        
cleaner1 lighter articles with more     
interesting shapes1 he requires no      
urging to turn to them from his  greasy 
and heavy pots and pans4    ,bearing in 
mind1 therefore1 the humble and familiar
 relatives of the  ,montessori apparatus

 to be found in our own kitchens and    
dining-rooms1  let us look at it a      
little more in detail4    ,the          
buttoning-frames have been described    
7page #ac74 ,one's invention  can vary  
them nearly to infinity4 ,in the ,casa  
dei ,bambini there are  these frames    
arranged for buttons and buttonholes1   
for hooks and eyes1  for lacings1 patent
 snap-fasteners1 ribbon-ends to tie1    
etc41 etc4  ,the aim of this exercise is
 so apparent that it is scarcely        
necessary  to mention it1 except for the
 constant temptation of a child-lover   
before the ,montessori apparatus to see 
in it only the most enchanting          
diversion for a child1 which amuses him1
 though so simply1 far more  than the   
most elaborate of mechanical toys4 ,but1
 and here is where our  wool-gathering  
wits must learn a lesson from purposeful
 forethought3 we  should never forget   
that there is no smallest item in the   
,montessori  training which is intended 
merely to amuse the child4 ,he is given 

these buttoning-frames not because they 
fascinate him and keep him out  of      
mischief1 but because they help him to  
learn to handle1 more rapidly  than he  
otherwise would1 the various devices by 
which his clothes and  shoes are held   
together1 on his little body4 ,as for   
the profound and  vitally important     
reason why he should be taught and      
allowed as soon as  possible to dress   
himself1 that will be treated in the    
discussion of  the philosophical side of
 this baby-training 7page #abi ff474    
,it is apparent1 of course1 that the    
blindfolded child who was  identifying  
the pieces of different fabrics was     
training his sense  of touch4 ,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 it2 for most of   
us1 by the enormity of our neglect of   
our five senses1 reduce them1  for all  
practical purposes to two1 sight and    

hearing1 and distrust  any information  
which comes to us by other means4 ,our  
complacency  under this self-imposed    
deprivation is astonishing4 ,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 two4  
,now1 it is apparent that  our five     
senses are our only means of conveying  
information to our  brains about the    
external world which surrounds us1 and  
it is equally  apparent that to act     
wisely and surely in the world1 the     
brain has need  of the fullest and most 
accurate information possible4 ,hence it
 is a  foregone conclusion1 once we     
think of it at all1 that the education  
of  all the senses of a child to        
rapidity1 agility1 and exactitude is of 
great importance1 not at all for the    
sake of the information acquired  at the
 time by the child1 but for the sake of 
the five1 finely accurate  instruments  
which this education puts under his     
control4 ,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 it1 as we often do1   
with his sight4    ,illustration3       
,,exercises ,,in ,,practical ,,life4    
,illustration3 ,,building 8,,the        
,,tower40                               
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,it may be well here to set down a few  
facts about the relative  positions of  
the senses of touch and of sight1 facts 
which are not  known to many of us1 and 
the importance of which is not realized 
by  many who happen to know them4       
,everyone knows1 to begin with1 that  a 
new-born baby's eyes1 while physically  
perfect1 are practically  useless1 and  
that the ability to see with them       
accurately comes very  gradually4 ,it   
seems that it comes much more gradually 
than the people  usually in charge of   
little children have ever known1 and    
that1 roughly  speaking1 up to the age  
of six1 children need to have their     

vision  reinforced by touch if1 without 
great mental fatigue1 they are to get   
an accurate conception of the objects   
about them4    ,it appears furthermore  
that1 as if in compensation for this    
slow  development of vision1 the sense  
of touch is extraordinarily developed   
in young children4 ,in short1 that the  
natural way for little ones to  learn   
about things is to touch them4 ,dr4     
,montessori found that the  finger-tips 
of little children are extremely        
sensitive1 and she claims  that there is
 no necessity1 granted proper training1 
why this valuable  faculty1 only        
retained by most adults in the event of 
blindness1 should  be lost so completely
 in later life4    ,now it is plain to  
be seen that we adults1 with our fixed  
habit of  learning about things from    
looking at them1 have1 in neglecting    
this means of approach to the           
child-brain1 been losing a golden       
opportunity4 ,if children learn more    
quickly and with less fatigue  through  

their fingers than through their eyes1  
why not take advantage  of this         
peculiarity--a peculiarity which extends
 even more vividly  to child-memory1 for
 it is established beyond question that 
a little  child can remember the 8feel0 
of a given object much more accurately  
and quickly than the look of it4 ,it is 
easy to understand1 once this           
explanation is given1 the great stress  
that is laid1 in ,montessori  training1 
on the different exercises for          
developing and utilizing the  sense of  
touch4    ,one of the first things a    
child just admitted to a ,casa dei      
,bambini is  taught is to keep his hands
 scrupulously clean1 because we can     
8touch  things better0 with clean       
finger-tips than with dirty ones4 ,and1 
of  course1 he is allowed to take the   
responsibility of keeping his own  hands
 clean1 and encouraged to do it by the  
presence of the little  dainty          
washstands1 just the right height for   
him1 supplied with bowl1  pitcher1 etc41

 just the right size for him to handle4 
,the joy of the  children in these      
simple little washstands1 and their     
deft1 delighted1  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 babies4    
,the education of the sense of touch1   
like all the ,montessori exercises  for 
the senses1 begins with a few simple and
 strongly contrasting  sensations and   
proceeds little by little1 to many only 
very slightly  differing sensations1    
following the growth of the child's     
ability to  differentiate4 ,the child   
with clean finger-tips begins1          
therefore1 with  the first broad        
distinction between rough and smooth4   
,he is taught to  pass his finger-tips  
lightly1 first over a piece of          
sandpaper1 and then  over a piece of    
smoothly polished wood1 or glossy       
enameled paper1 and  is told briefly1   
literally in two words1 the two names of
 those two  abstract qualities4         

,here1 in passing1 with the first       
mention of this sort of exercise1 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 right1 so  that a muscular 
habit will be established which will aid
 them greatly  later when they come to  
8feel0 their letters1 which are1 of     
course1  always written from left to    
right4    ,the children are encouraged  
to keep their eyes closed while they are
  8touching0 things1 because they can   
concentrate their attention in  this    
way4 ,and here another general          
observation should be made3 that in  the
 ,montessori language 8touching0 does   
not mean the brief haphazard  contact of
 hand with object which we usually mean1
 but a systematic  examination of an    
object by the finger-tips such as a     
blind person  might make4    ,after the 
first broad distinction is learned      
between rough and  smooth1 there are    
then to be conquered all the intervening

 shades and  refinements of those       
qualities4 ,the children take the       
greatest delight  in these exercises and
 almost at once begin to invent new ones
 for  themselves1 8feeling0 whatever    
materials are near them and giving  them
 their proper names1 or asking what     
their names are4 ,it is as if  their    
little minds were suddenly opened1 as   
our dully perceptive adult  minds seldom
 are1 to the infinite variety of        
surfaces in the world4  ,they notice the
 materials of their own dresses1 the    
stuffs used in  upholstering furniture1 
curtains1 dress fabrics1 wood1 smooth   
and  rough1 steel1 glass1 etc41 etc41   
with exquisitely fairy-light strokes  of
 their sensitive little finger-tips1    
which seem almost visibly to  grow more 
discriminating4    ,the 8technical      
apparatus0 for continuing this training 
is varied1 but  always simple4 ,a       
collection of slips of sandpaper of     
varying roughness  to be placed in order
 from fine to coarse by the child       

7blindfolded  or not1 as he seems to    
prefer72 other collections of bits of   
fabrics  of all sorts to be identified  
by touch only2 of slips of cardboard1   
enameled or rough2 blotting-paper1      
writing-paper1 newspaper1 etc41  etc42  
of objects of different shapes1 cubes1  
pyramids1 balls1  cylinders1 etc41 for  
the blindfolded child to identify2 later
 on of  very small objects like seeds of
 different shapes or sizes2 finally1 of 
any objects which the child knows by    
sight1 his playthings1 articles  around 
the house1 to be recognized by his touch
 only4    ,there is one result on the   
child's character of this sort of       
exercise  which ,dr4 ,montessori does   
not specifically mention but which has  
struck  me forcibly in practical        
experimentation with it4 ,i have found  
that  little hands and fingers trained  
by these fascinating 8games0 to light1  
attentive1 discriminating1 and unhurried
 handling of objects1 lose very  quickly
 that instinctive childish1 violent but 

very uncertain clutch  at things1 which 
has been for so many generations the    
cause of so much  devastation in the    
nursery4 ,little tots of four1 trained  
in this way1  can be trusted with       
glassware and other breakable objects1  
which would  go down to certain         
destruction in the fitfully governed    
hands of the  average undisciplined     
child of twelve4 ,in other words the    
child of four  has fitted himself by    
means of a highly enjoyable process to  
be1 in one  more respect1 an            
independent1 self-respecting1           
trustworthy citizen of  his world4      
,of course all these different exercises
 are much more entertaining  when1 like 
other fun-producing 8games10 they are   
8played0 with a crowd  of other         
children4 ,when one child of a group is 
blindfolded1 and as our  ,american      
children say 8,it10 while the others sit
 about1 watching his  identification of 
more and more difficult objects1 ready1 
all of them1  for a shout of applause at

 a success1 or at a failure for an      
instant  laughing pounce on the coveted 
blindfold and application of it to the  
child next in order1 of course there is 
much more jolly laughter1 the  interest 
is keener1 and the attention more       
concentrated by the contact  with other 
wits1 than can be the case with a single
 child1 even with an  audience of the   
most sympathetic mother or aunt4 ,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     
,bambini4 ,on the other hand1 those of  
us who live1 as we almost all do1 far   
from any variety of a ,montessori       
school1 can1 with the exercise of our   
ingenuity and mother-wit1 arrange  a    
great number of more or less adequate   
temporary expedients4 ,a large  number  
of the ,montessori devices1 if they were
 not called 8sensory  exercises10 would 
be recognized as merely fascinating new 

games for  children4 ,what is           
blind-man's buff but a 8sensory exercise
 for training  the ear10 since what the 
person who is 8,it0 does is to try to   
catch  the slight movements made by the 
other players accurately enough to      
pursue and capture them8 ,children have 
another game called1 for some           
mysterious reason of childhood1 8,still 
pond1 no more moving60 a  variety of    
blind-man's buff1 which trains still    
more finely the sense  of hearing1 since
 the players are required to stand      
perfectly still1  and the one who is    
8,it0 must detect their presence by such
 almost  imperceptible sounds as their  
breathing1 or the rustling caused by an 
involuntary movement4 ,if ,montessori   
herself had invented this game1 it      
could not be more perfectly devised for 
bodily control4 ,children who  wriggle  
about in ordinary circumstances without 
the slightest capacity  to control their
 bodies1 even in response to the        
sternest adult  commands for quiet1 will

 stand in some strained position without
 moving  a finger1 their concentration  
so intense that even their breathing is 
light and inaudible4 ,we must all have  
seen children happily playing  such     
games2 many of us have spent hours and  
hours of our childhood  over them2      
,froebel used them and others like them 
plentifully in his  system2 there are   
all sorts of more or less hit-or-miss   
imitations of  them being constructed by
 modern child-tamers2 but no one before 
this  ,italian woman-doctor ever        
analyzed them so that we plain          
unprofessional  people could fully grasp
 their fascination for us2 ever told us 
that  children like them because they   
afford an opportunity to practise       
self-control1 and that similar games    
based on the same idea that it is  8fun0
 to exercise one's different senses in  
company or in competition  with one's   
youthful contemporaries1 would be just  
as entertaining as  these self-invented 
games1 handed down for untold           

generations from  one set of children to
 another4 ,all the varieties of         
blindfold sensory  exercises are        
variations on the theme of blind-man's  
buff1 which is  so perennially          
interesting to all children4 ,any small 
group of young  children1 two or three  
little neighbors come in to play1 will  
with a  little guidance at first readily
 8play0 any of the 8tactile exercises0  
described above 7pages #fj1 #fa7 for    
hours on end1 instead of wrangling      
about the rocking-horse--a toy invented 
for solitary or semi-solitary           
consumption4 ,any group of children1    
collected anywhere for ever so  short a 
time1 can be converted into a           
half-hour's ,montessori school1  though 
as a rule the younger they are the      
better material they are1  since they   
have not fallen into bad mental habits4 
,the various exercises or 8games0 for   
exercising the sense of touch1  although
 not described here in all the detail of
 their elaboration in  the ,casa dei    

,bambini1 can be elaborated from these  
suggestions as one's  own1 or what is   
more likely1 the children's             
inventiveness may make  possible4       
,the definite education of taste and    
smell has not been very much  developed 
by ,dr4 ,montessori1 although simple    
exercises have been  successfully       
devised1 such as dropping on the tongue 
tiny particles  of substances1 sweet1   
sour1 salt1 bitter1 etc41 having the    
child  rinse his mouth out carefully    
between each test4 ,similar exercises   
with different-smelling substances can  
be undertaken with blindfolded          
children1 asking them to guess what they
 are smelling4 ,dr4 ,montessori  lays no
 great stress on this1 however1 as the  
sense of smell with  children is not    
highly developed4    ,practice in       
judging weight is given by the use of   
pieces of wood of  the same size but of 
different weights1 chestnut contrasted  
with oak1  poplar-wood with maple1 etc41
 etc41 the child learning by slightly   

lifting them up and down on the palm of 
his hand4 ,later on this  can be varied 
by the use of any objects of about the  
same size but  of different weights1 and
 later still by single objects of       
weights  disproportionate to their size1
 such as a bit of lead or a small       
pillow4    ,the difference between these
 carefully devised exercises and the    
haphazard1 almost unconscious comparison
 by the child in the kitchen  of the bag
 of salt and the box of oatmeal1 is a   
very good example of  the way in which  
,dr4 ,montessori has systematized and   
ordered1 graded  and arranged the       
exercises which every child             
instinctively craves4 ,the  average     
mother1 with leisure to devote to her   
much-loved child1 calls  him away from  
the pantry-shelf where he may upset the 
oatmeal box or  spill the salt1 thus    
8getting into mischief10 and leads him1 
with  mistaken affection1 back to his   
toy animals4 ,the luckier child of a    
poorer1 busier1 or more indifferent     

mother is allowed to 8mess around0  in  
the kitchen until he makes himself too  
intolerable a nuisance4 ,he  goes       
through in this way many valuable sense 
exercises1 but he wastes a  great deal  
of his time in misdirected and futile   
effort1 and does1 as  a matter of fact1 
make a great deal of trouble for his    
elders which  is not at all a necessary 
accompaniment to his own life1 liberty1 
or  pursuit of information4    ,dr4     
,montessori has neither led the child   
away from his instinctively  chosen     
occupations1 nor left him in the state  
of anarchic chaos  resulting from his   
natural inability to choose1 among the  
bewildering  variety of objects in the  
world1 those which are best suited for  
his  self-development4 ,she has1 so to  
speak1 taken out into the kitchen1      
beside the child1 busy with his         
self-chosen amusements1 her highly      
trained brain1 stored with pertinent    
scientific information1 and she  has    
looked at him long and hard4 ,as a      

result she is able to show us1  what our
 own blurred observation never would    
have distinguished1  just which         
elements1 in the heterogeneous mass of  
his naturally  preferred toys1 are the  
elements towards which the tendrils of  
his  rapidly-growing intellectual and   
muscular organism are reaching4         
,,chapter ,v    ,,description ,,of ,,the
 ,,rest ,,of ,,the ,,apparatus ,,and    
,,the ,,method ,,for ,,writing    ,,and 
,,reading      ,the carefully graded    
advance1 from the simpler to the harder 
exercises1  which is so essential a part
 of the correct use of the ,montessori1 
as  of all other educational apparatus1 
seems to most mothers contemplating  the
 use of the system1 a very difficult    
feature4 8,how am ,i to know80  they    
ask4 8,which exercise is the best one to
 offer a child to begin  with1 how can  
,i tell when he has sufficiently        
mastered that so that  another is       
needed1 and how shall ,i select the     
right one to go on with80    ,perhaps   

the first answer to make to these       
questions is the one which  so often    
successfully solves ,montessori         
problems3 8,have a little more  trust in
 your child's natural instincts4 ,don't 
think that a single  mistake on your    
part will be fatal4 ,it will not hurt   
him if you happen  to suggest the wrong 
thing1 if you do not insist on it1 for1 
left  freely to himself1 he will not pay
 the least attention to anything  that  
is not suitable for him4 ,give him      
opportunity for perfectly free  action1 
and then watch him carefully40    ,if he
 shows a lively spontaneous interest in 
a ,montessori problem1 and  devotes     
himself to solving it1 you may be sure  
that you have hit upon  something which 
suits his degree of development4 ,if he 
goes through  with it rather easily and1
 perhaps1 listlessly1 and needs your    
reminder  to keep his attention on it1  
in all probability it is too easy2 he   
has  outgrown it1 he no longer cares to 
occupy himself with it1 just as you  no 

longer care to jump rope1 though that   
may have been a passion with  you at the
 age of eight4    ,if1 on the other     
hand1 he seems distressed at the        
difficulties before  him1 and calls     
repeatedly for help and explanation1 one
 of three  conditions is present4       
,either the exercise is too hard for    
him1 or he  has acquired already the bad
 habit of dependence on others1 in both 
of which cases he needs an easier       
exercise2 or1 lastly1 he has simply  had
 enough formal 8sensory exercises0 for a
 while4 ,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            
instruction4 ,they use it exactly as    
long1 or as often1 or as  seldom1 as    
they please1 just as a child in an      
ordinary nursery uses his  ordinary     
toys4 ,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 exercises1 thrust 
spasmodically into  the midst of another
 system1 or lack of system1 in          
child-training4 ,the  ,italian children 
of five or six1 who have had two or     
three years of  ,montessori discipline1 
and who are such marvels of sweet1      
reasonable  self-control1 who govern    
their own lives so sanely1 who have     
accomplished such astonishing feats in  
reading and writing1 are the  results of
 many other factors besides             
buttoning-frames and geometric  insets1 
important as these are4                 
,illustration3 ,,buttoning-,,frames ,,to
 ,,develop ,,co-,,ordinated ,,movements 
,,of  ,,the ,,fingers ,,and ,,prepare   
,,the ,,children ,,for ,,exercises ,,of 
,,practical ,,life4                     
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,perhaps the most vital of these other  
factors is the sense of  responsibility1
 genuine responsibility1 not the        
make-believe kind1 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  lives4 ,for instance1 to
 take a rather extreme instance1 but one
 which  we must all have seen1 a child  
in an ordinary home is allowed to pick  
up a bit of waste-paper on the floor1   
after having had his attention  called  
to it1 and is told to throw it in the   
waste-paper basket4 ,this  action of    
mechanical obedience1 suitable only for 
a child under two  years of age1 is then
 praised insincerely to the child's face
 as an  instance of 8how much help he is
 to ,mother60    ,the ,montessori child 
is trained1 through his feeling of      
responsibility  for the neatness and    
order of his schoolroom1 to notice      
litter on  the floor1 just as any       
housekeeper does1 without needing to    
have her  attention called to it4 ,it is
 her floor and her business to keep it  
clean4 ,and this feeling of             
responsibility is fostered and allowed  

every  opportunity to grow strong1 by   
the sincere conviction of the           
,montessori  teacher that it is more    
important for the child to feel it1 than
 for  the floor to be cleaned with adult
 speed4 ,as a result of this long       
patience on the part of the ,directress1
 a child who has been under her  care   
for a couple of years1 will 7to go on   
with our chosen instance7  pick up      
litter from the floor and dispose of it1
 as automatically as  the mistress of   
the house herself1 and with as little   
need for the goad  either of upbraiding 
for neglect1 or praise incommensurate   
with the  trivial service4 ,this is an  
attitude in marked contrast to that of  
many  of our daughters who often attain 
high-school age without acquiring  this 
feeling1 apparently perfectly possible  
to inculcate if the process  is begun   
early enough1 of loyal solidarity with  
the interests of the  household4        
,with this caution that a ,montessori   
life for a little child does not in  the

 least mean his incessant occupation    
with formal sensory exercises1  let us  
again take up the description and use of
 the apparatus4    ,the first thing     
which is given a child is usually either
 one of the  buttoning-frames 7shown in 
the illustration facing page #fh71 or   
what  are called the 8solid geometric   
insets40 ,this latter game with the     
formidable name is illustrated opposite 
this page1 where it is seen to  resemble
 the set of weights kept beside their   
scales by old-fashioned  druggists4 ,no 
other ,montessori exercise is more      
universally popular  with the littlest  
ones who enter the ,children's ,home1   
and few others  hold their attention so 
long4 ,this combines training for both  
sight and  touch1 since1 as an aid to   
his vision1 the child is taught to run  
his  finger-tips around the cylinder    
which he is trying to fit in1 and then  
around the edges of the holes4 ,his     
finger-tips recognize the similarity  of
 size before his eyes do4 ,this piece of

 apparatus is1 of course1  entirely     
self-corrective1 and needs no           
supervision4 ,when it becomes  easy for 
a child quickly to get all the cylinders
 into the right holes1  he has probably 
had enough of this exercise1 although   
his interest in  it may recur from time 
to time1 during many weeks4             
,illustration3 ,,solid ,,geometrical    
,,insets4                               
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,one of the exercises which it is usual 
to offer him next is the  construction  
of the ,tower4 ,this game could be      
played 7and often is7  with the nest of 
hollow blocks which nearly every child  
owns1 and it  consists of building a    
pyramid with them1 the biggest at the   
bottom1  the next smaller on this1 and  
so on to the apex made by the tiniest   
one4 ,this is to learn the difference   
between big and small2 and as the  child
 progresses in exactitude of vision1 the
 game can be varied by  piling the      
blocks in confusion at one side of the  

room and constructing  the pyramid1 a   
piece at a time1 at some distance away4 
,this means that  when the child leaves 
his pyramid to go and get the block     
needed next1  he must 8carry the size in
 his eye0 as the phrase runs1 and pick  
out  the block next smaller by an effort
 of his visual memory4    ,the          
difference between long and short is    
taught by means of ten squared  rods of 
equal thickness1 but regularly varying  
length1 the shortest one  being just    
one-tenth as long as the longest4 ,the  
so-called ,long ,stair  7illustration   
facing page #gd7 is constructed by the  
child with these4  ,this is perhaps the 
most difficult game among those by which
 dimensions  are taught1 and a good many
 mistakes are to be anticipated4 ,the   
material is again quite self-corrective1
 however1 and little by little1  with   
occasional silent or brief reminders    
from the adult onlooker1 the  child     
learns first to correct his own         
mistakes1 and then not to make  them4   

,thickness and thinness are studied with
 ten solids1 brick-like  in shape1 all  
of the same length1 but of regularly    
varying thickness1  the thinnest one    
being one-tenth as thick as the biggest 
one4 ,with  these the child constructs  
the ,big ,stair 7illustration facing    
page  #gd74 ,later on 7considerably     
later71 when the child begins to learn  
his  numbers1 these 8stairs0 are used to
 help him4 ,the large numbers cut out   
of sandpaper and pasted on smooth       
cardboard1 are placed by the child      
beside the right number of red and blue 
sections on each rod of the  ,long      
,stair4    ,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 touch1 and for the first beginning of
 the exercises leading to  writing2     
especially the strips of sandpaper      
pasted upon smooth wood  used to teach  
the difference between rough and smooth4
 ,at the same time  with these          

exercises1 begin the first ones with    
color which consist of  simply matching 
spools of identical color1 two by two4  
,when these simple exercises of the     
tactile sense have been mastered1  the  
child is allowed to attempt the more    
difficult undertaking of  recognizing   
all the minute gradations between smooth
 and rough1  between dark blue and light
 blue1 etc41 etc4    ,the training of   
the eye to discriminate between minute  
differences in  shades1 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
 shame4 ,these color-games are played   
with silk wound around flat  cards1 like
 those on which we often buy our        
darning-cotton4 ,there are  eight main  
colors1 and under each color eight      
shades1 ranging from dark  to light4    
,the number of games which can be played
 with these is only  limited by the     
ingenuity of the ,directress or mother1 
and1 although  most of them are played  

more easily with a number of children   
together1  many are quite available for 
the solitary 8only child at home40 ,he  
can amuse himself by arranging his      
sixty-four bobbins in the correct  order
 of their colors1 or he can later1 as in
 the pyramid-making game1  pile them all
 on one side of the room1 and make his  
graduated line at  a distance1 8holding 
the color0 in his mind as he crosses the
 room1 a  feat which almost no untrained
 adult can accomplish2 although it is   
surprising what results can be obtained 
any time in life by conscious1  definite
 effort to train one of the senses4     
,there is nothing miraculous  in the    
results obtained in the ,casa dei       
,bambini4 ,they are the simple1  natural
 consequence of definite1 direct        
training1 which is so seldom  given4    
,the remarkable improvement in general  
acuteness of his vision  after training 
his eyes to follow the flight of bees1  
has been  picturesquely and vigorously  
recorded by ,john ,burroughs2 and all of

 us  know how many more chestnuts we can
 see and pick up in a given time1  after
 a few hours' concentration on this     
exercise1 than when we first  began to  
look for them in the grass4    ,the     
color-games played by a number of       
children together with the              
different-colored spools are various1   
but resemble more or less the           
old-fashioned game of authors4 ,one of  
them is played thus4 ,eight  children   
choose each the name of a color4 ,then  
the sixty-four spools  are poured out in
 confusion on the table around which the
 children  sit4 ,one of them 7the eldest
 or one chosen by lot7 begins to deal   
out  to the others in turn4 ,that is1   
the one on his right asking for red1    
the dealer must quickly choose a spool  
of the right color and hand it  to his  
neighbor4 ,then the child beyond asks   
for blue1 and so it goes  until the     
dealer makes a mistake4 ,when he does1  
the deal goes to the  child next him4   
,after every child has before him in a  

mixed pile the  eight shades of his     
chosen color1 they all set to work as   
fast as  they can to see who can soonest
 arrange them in the right chromatic    
order4 ,the child who does this first   
has 8won0 the game1 and is the one  who 
deals first in the next game4 ,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-players1 and  they attain1 by 
means of it and similar games with the  
color spools1 a  control of their eyes  
which is a marvel and which must forever
 add  to the accuracy of their          
impressions about the world4 ,when a    
generation  of children trained in this 
manner has grown up1 landscape painters 
will no longer be able to complain1 as  
they do now1 that they are  working for 
a purblind public4    ,illustration3    
,,the ,,broad ,,stair4    ,illustration3
 ,,the ,,long ,,stair4                  
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   

,we are now approaching at last the     
extremely important and hitherto        
undescribed 8geometric insets10 whose   
mysterious name has piqued the          
curiosity of more than one casual and   
hasty reader of accounts of the         
,montessori system4 ,a look at the      
pictures of these shows them to be as   
simple as all the rest of ,dr4          
,montessori's expedients4 ,anyone who   
was  ever touched by the picture-puzzle 
craze1 or who in his childhood felt  the
 fascination of dissected maps1 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 sockets1 the  
square piece into  the square socket1   
the triangle into the three-cornered    
hole1 the  four-leafed clover shape into
 the four-lobed recess4 ,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            

,mc,clure's ,magazine3    8,a small boy 
of the mature age of four1 who has been 
sitting plunged  either in sleep or     
meditation1 now starts up from his chair
 and wanders  across to his directress  
for advice4 ,he wants something to amuse
 him4  ,she takes him to the cupboard1  
throws in a timely suggestion1 and he   
strolls back to his table with a smile4 
,he has chosen half a dozen  or more    
thin1 square tablets of wood and a strip
 of navy-blue cloth4  ,he begins by     
spreading down the cloth1 then he puts  
his blocks on  it in two rows4 ,they are
 of highly-varnished wood1 light blue1  
with  geometrical figures of navy-blue  
in the centre2 there is a triangle1 a   
circle1 a rectangle1 an oval1 a square1 
an octagon4 ,the teacher1 who  has      
followed him1 stands on the other side  
of the table4 ,she runs two  of her     
fingers round one of the edges of the   
triangle4 #8,touch it so1'  she says4   
,he promptly and delightedly imitates   
her4 ,she then pulls all  the figures   

out of their light-blue frames by means 
of a brass button  in each1 mixes them  
up on the table2 and tells him to call  
her when  he has them all in place      
again4 ,the dark-blue cloth shows       
through the  empty frame1 so that it    
appears as if the figures had only sank 
down  half an inch4 ,while he continues 
to stare at this array1 off goes the    
teacher4    8#8,is she not going to show
 him how to begin8'    8#8,an axiom of  
our practical pedagogy is to aid the    
child only to be  independent1' answers 
,dr4 ,montessori4 #8,he does not wish   
help4'    8,nor does he seem to be      
troubled4 ,he stares a while at his     
array of  blocks2 yet his eye does not  
grow quite sure1 for he carefully       
selects  an oval from the mixed-up pile 
and tries to put it in the circle4 ,it  
won't go4 ,then1 quick as a flash1 as if
 subconsciously rather than  designedly1
 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 circle4 ,he discovers his mistake at
  once1 puts the figure into its place1 
and leans back a moment in his  chair to
 enjoy his own cleverness before        
beginning with another4 ,he  finally    
gets them all into their proper frames1 
and instantly pulls  them out again1 to 
do it quicker and better next time4     
8,these blocks with the geometric insets
 are among the most valuable  stimuli in
 the ,casa dei ,bambini4 ,the vision and
 the touch become1  by their use1       
accustomed to a great variety of shapes4
 ,it will be  noted1 too1 that the child
 apprehends the forms synthetically1 as 
given entities1 and is not taught to    
recognize them by aid of even the       
simplest geometrical analysis4 ,this is 
a point on which ,dr4 ,montessori  lays 
particular stress40    ,now it is to be 
borne in mind that although1 for the    
children1 this is  only a 8game10 as    
fascinating to them as the              
picture-puzzle is to their  elders1     

their far-seeing teacher is utilizing   
it1 far cry though it may  seem1 to     
begin to teach them to write4 ,and here 
,i realize that ,i have  at last written
 a phrase for which my bewildered reader
 has probably  been waiting in an       
astonished impatience4 ,for of all the  
profound1  searching1 regenerating      
effects of the ,montessori system1 none 
seems  to have made an impression on the
 public like the fact1 almost a         
by-product of the method1 that          
,montessori children learn to write and 
read more easily than others4 ,i have   
heard ,dr4 ,montessori exclaim in       
wonder many times over the popular      
insistence on that interesting  and     
important1 but by no means central1     
detail of her work2 as though  reading  
and writing were our only functions in  
life1 as though we could  get           
information and education only from the 
printed page1 a prop which  is already1 
in the opinion of many wise people1 too 
largely used in our  modern world as a  

substitute for first-hand1 individual   
observation4    ,it cannot be denied1   
however1 that the way ,montessori       
children learn  to write is very        
spectacular4 ,the theory underlying it  
is far too  complicated to describe in  
complete detail in a book of this sort1 
but  for the benefit of the person who  
desires to run and read at the same     
time1 ,i will set down a short-cut1     
unscientific explanation4    ,the       
inaccuracy and relative weakness of a   
little child's eyesight1  compared to   
his sense of touch1 has been already    
mentioned 7page #eg74  ,this simple     
element in child physiology must be     
borne constantly in  mind as one of the 
determining factors in the ,montessori  
method of  teaching writing4 ,the child 
who is 8playing0 with the geometric     
insets  soon learns1 as we have seen    
from ,miss ,tozier's description1 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  recesses4   
,illustration3 ,,insets ,,which ,,the   
,,child ,,learns ,,to ,,place ,,both    
,,by ,,sight ,,and  ,,by ,,touch4       
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,it is hard for an ordinary adult really
 to conceive of the importance  of this 
movement for a little child4 ,indeed1 so
 fixed is our usual  preference for     
vision as a means of gaining            
information1 that it gives  one a very  
queer feeling to watch a child1 with his
 eyes wide open1  apparently looking    
intently at the board with its          
different-shaped  recesses1 but unable  
to find the one matching the inset he   
holds1 until  he has gone through that  
eerie1 blind-man's motion with his      
finger-tips4    ,now that motion1 very  
frequently repeated1 not only tells him 
where  to fit in his inset1 but1 like   
all frequently repeated actions1 wears  
a channel in his brain which tends1     

whenever he begins the action1  to make 
him complete it in the way he always has
 done it4 ,it can be  seen that1 if1    
instead of a triangle or a square1 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      
written1  the brain channel and muscular
 habit resulting are of the utmost      
importance4    ,but before he can make  
any use of this1 he needs to learn      
another  muscular habit1 quite distinct 
from 7although always associated with7  
the mastery of the letters of the       
alphabet1 namely1 the mastery of  the   
pencil4 ,the exceeding awkwardness      
naturally felt by the child in  holding 
this new implement for the first time1  
has nothing to do with  his recognition 
of ,a or ,b1 although it adds another   
great difficulty  to his reproducing    
those letters4 ,he must learn how to    
manage his  pencil before he engages    
upon the much more complicated          

undertaking  of constructing with it    
certain fixed symbols1 just as he must  
learn  how to walk before he can be sent
 on an errand4 ,the old-fashioned way   
7still generally in use in ,italy1 and  
not wholly abandoned in all  parts of   
our own country7 was to force the child 
to fill innumerable  copy-books with    
monotonous straight lines or            
8pot-hooks10 a weariness  of the spirit 
and a thorn in the flesh which any one  
who has suffered  from it can describe  
feelingly4 ,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 formerly1 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     
development4 ,it  is an inaccurate but1 
perhaps1 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 balance1 but made to wait    
until all their bones are mature4       
,dr4 ,montessori has solved the         
difficulty by another use of the        
geometric insets4 ,this time it is the  
hole left by the removal of one  of the 
insets which is used4 ,suppose1 for     
instance1 that one chooses  the         
triangular inset4 ,it is set down on a  
piece of paper and the  triangle is     
lifted out1 leaving the paper showing   
through4 ,the child  is provided with   
colored crayons and shown how to trace  
around the  outline of the              
triangular-shaped piece of paper4 ,the  
fact that the  metal frame stands up a  
little from the paper prevents his at   
first  wildly unsteady pencil from going
 outside the triangle4 ,when he has     
traced around the outline,a with his    
blue crayon1 he lifts the frame  up and 
there is the most beautiful blue        
triangle1 all the work of his  own      

hands6 ,he usually gazes at this in     
delighted surprise1 and then it  is     
suggested to him to fill in this outline
 with strokes of his pencil4  ,he is    
allowed to make these as he chooses1    
only being cautioned not to  pass       
outside the line4 ,at first the crayon  
goes 8every which way10 and  the        
8drawings0 are hardly recognizable      
because the outline has been  so overrun
 at every point2 but gradually the      
child's muscular control  is improved   
and finally carried to a very high      
degree of perfection4  ,regular1 even   
parallel lines begin to appear and the  
final result is as  even as a ,japanese 
color-wash4 ,it is evident that in the  
course of this  work he makes of his own
 accord1 with the utmost interest       
animating  each stroke1 as many lines as
 would fill hours and hours of enforced 
drudgery over copy-books4 ,when1 after  
much practice1 the muscles have  learned
 almost automatically to control fingers
 holding a pencil1 that  particular     

muscular habit is sufficiently          
well-learned for the child to  begin on 
another enterprise4    ,now of course1  
though it is most interesting to color  
triangles and  circles1 a child does not
 spend all his day at it4 ,among other  
things  which occupy and amuse him at   
this time is getting acquainted with    
the look and feel of the letters of the 
alphabet4 ,the children are  presented1 
one at a time1 sometimes only one a day1
 with large script  letters1 made of    
black sandpaper pasted on smooth white  
cards1 and are  taught how to draw their
 fingers over the letter in the         
direction taken  when it is written4 ,at
 the same time the teacher repeats      
slowly and  distinctly the sound of the 
letter1 making sure that the child takes
  this in4    ,after this1 the little   
,italian child1 happy in the possession 
of a phonetically spelled language1 has 
an easier time than our                 
,english-speaking children1 who begin   
then and there their lifelong  struggle 

with the insanities of ,english         
spelling4 ,but this is a  struggle to   
which they must come under any system1  
and much less  formidable under this    
than it has ever been before4 ,for the  
next step  is1 of course1 to put these  
letters together into simple words4     
,there  is no need to wait until a child
 has toiled all through the alphabet    
before beginning this much more         
interesting process4 ,as soon as he     
knows two letters he can spell ,mamma4  
,there is no question as yet of  his    
constructing the letters with his own   
hands4 ,he simply takes them  from their
 separate compartments and lays them on 
the floor or table in  the right order4 
,in handling them throughout all of     
these exercises the  children are       
encouraged constantly to make that      
blind-man's motion of  tracing around   
the letter4 ,the rough sandpaper        
apparently shouts out  information to   
the little finger-tips highly sensitized
 by the tactile  exercises1 for the     

child nearly always corrects himself    
more surely  by touching than by looking
 at his sandpaper alphabet4 ,of course1 
the  strongest of muscular habits is    
being formed as he does this4    ,a     
pleasant variation on this routine is a 
test of the child's new  knowledge4 ,the
 teacher asks him to give her ,b1 give  
her ,d1 ,p1 ,m1 etc4  ,the letters are  
kept in little pasteboard compartments1 
a compartment  for all the ,b's1 another
 for all the ,d's1 and so on4 ,the      
child1 in  answer to the teacher's      
request1 looks over these compartments  
and  picks out from all the others the  
letter she has asked for4 ,this1 of     
course1 seems only like a game to him1 a
 variation on hide-and-seek4    ,all    
these processes go on day after day1    
side by side1 all invisibly  converging 
towards one end4 ,the practice with the 
crayons1 the  recognition of the letters
 by eye and touch1 the revelation as to 
the  formation of words with the movable
 alphabet1 are so many roads leading  to

 the painless acquisition of the art of 
writing4 ,they draw nearer  and nearer  
together1 and then1 one day1 quite      
suddenly1 the famous  8,montessori      
explosion into writing0 occurs4 ,the    
teacher of experience  can tell when    
this explosion is imminent4 ,first the  
parallel lines  which the child makes to
 fill and color the geometric figures   
become  singularly regular and even2    
second1 his acquaintance with the       
alphabet  becomes so thorough that he   
recognizes the letters by sense of touch
  only1 and1 third1 he increases in     
facility for composing words with the   
movable alphabet4 ,the burst into       
spontaneous writing usually comes only  
after these three conditions are        
present4    ,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
  letters4 ,but this time he has the    
pencil in his fingers1 and the  idea    
suddenly occurs to him1 usually reducing

 him to breathless  excitement1 that if 
he traces on the paper with his pencil  
the form  of the letters1 he will be    
writing4 ,in the twinkling of an eye it 
is  done4 ,he has written with his own  
hand one of the words which he has  been
 constructing with the movable alphabet4
 ,he is usually as proud  of this       
achievement as though he had invented   
the art of writing4 ,the  first children
 who were taught in this manner and who 
experienced this  explosion into writing
 did really believe1 ,i gather1 that    
writing  was something of their own     
invention4 ,they rushed about excitedly 
to  explain1 to anyone who would listen1
 all about this wonderful new           
discovery3 8,look6 ,look6 ,you don't    
need the movable letters to make  words4
 ,see1 you just take a pencil or a piece
 of chalk1 and draw the  letters for    
yourself 444 as many as you please 444  
anywhere60 ,and1 in  fact1 for the first
 few days after this explosion1 their   
teachers and  mothers found writing     

8anywhere60 all over the house4 ,the    
children  were in a fever of excited    
pride4 ,since then1 although the first  
word  always causes a spasm of joy1     
children in a ,children's ,home are so  
used  to seeing the older ones writing  
and reading1 that their own feat is     
taken more calmly1 as a matter of       
course4 ,it really always takes place   
in this sudden way1 however4 ,one day a 
child cannot write1 and the next  he    
can4    ,the formation of the letters1  
so hard for children taught in the old  
way1 offers practically no difficulty to
 the ,montessori child4 ,he has  traced 
their outline so often with his         
finger-tips that his knowledge  of them 
is lodged where1 in his infant organism1
 it belongs1 in his  muscular memory2 so
 that when1 pencil in his well-trained  
hand1 he  starts his fingers upon an    
action already so often repeated as to  
be  automatic1 muscular habit and       
muscular memory do the rest4 ,he does   
not need consciously to direct each     

muscle in the action of writing1  any   
more than a practised piano-player      
thinks consciously of which  finger goes
 after which4 ,the vernacular phrase    
expressing this sort of  involuntary1   
muscular-memory facility is literally   
true in his case1  8,he has done it so  
often that he could do it with his eyes 
shut40 ,it  is to be noted that for a   
long time after this explosion into     
writing1  the children continue         
incessantly to go through the three     
preparatory  steps1 tracing with their  
fingers the sandpaper letters1 filling  
in  the geometric forms and composing   
with the movable alphabet4 ,these are   
for them what scales are for the        
pianist1 a necessary practice for       
8keeping the hand in40 ,by means of     
constantly tracing the sandpaper        
letters the children write almost from  
the first the most astonishingly  clear1
 firm1 regular hand1 much better than   
that of most adults of my  acquaintance4
    ,it is apparent1 from even this     

short-hand account of this remarkably   
successful method1 that children cannot 
learn to write by means of  it without  
considerable 7even if unconscious and   
painless7 effort on  their part1 and    
without intelligence1 good judgment1 and
 considerable  patience on the part of  
the teacher4 ,the popular accounts of   
the  miracles accomplished by ,dr4      
,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 neck1 or plaster to   
apply externally1 which will  cause the 
desired effect without any further care4
 ,as a matter of fact1  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 write1 a trellis invented and    
patented  by ,dr4 ,montessori1 but which
 those of us who attempt to teach       
children  must construct for ourselves  
on her pattern1 following step by step  

the  development of each of the children
 under our care4    ,illustration3      
,,tracing ,,sand-,,paper ,,letters4     
,illustration3 ,,tracing ,,geometrical  
,,design4                               
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,and yet1 although the ,montessori      
apparatus does not teach children by    
magic how to write a good hand1 in      
comparison with the methods now in  use1
 it is really almost miraculous in its  
results4 ,in our schools  children learn
 slowly to write 7and how badly67 when  
they are seven  or eight1 cannot do it  
fluently until they are much older1 and 
never  do it very well1 if the average  
handwriting of our high-school and      
college student is any test of our      
system4 ,in the ,montessori schools a   
child of four usually spends about a    
month and a half in the definite        
preparation for writing1 and children of
 five usually only a month4  ,some very 
quick ones of this age learn to write   
with all the letters in  twenty days4   

,three months' practice1 after they once
 begin to write1  is1 as a rule1 enough 
to steady their handwriting into an     
excellently  clear and regular script1  
and1 after six months of writing1 a     
,montessori tot of five can write       
fluently1 legibly1 and 7most important  
and revolutionary change7 with pleasure1
 far beyond that usually felt  by a     
child in1 say1 our third or fourth      
grades4    ,he has not only achieved    
this valuable accomplishment with       
enormous  economy of time1 but he has   
been spared1 into the bargain1 the      
endless  hours of soul-killing drudgery 
from which the children in our schools  
now suffer4 ,the ,montessori child has1 
it is true1 gone through a far  more    
searching preparation for this          
achievement1 but it has all been        
without any strain on his part1 without 
any consciousness of effort  except that
 which springs from the liveliest       
spontaneous desire4 ,it has  tired him1 
literally1 no more than if he had spent 

the same amount of  time playing tag4   
,i have heard some scientific talk which
 sounded to my ignorant ears  very      
profound and psychological1 about       
whether this capacity of  ,montessori   
children to write can be considered as a
 truly 8intellectual  achievement10 or  
only a sort of unconsciously learned    
trick4 ,this is a  fine theoretic       
distinction which ,i think most mothers 
will feel they  can safely ignore4      
,whatever it is from a psychological    
standpoint1 and  however it may be rated
 in the ,bradstreet of pure science1 it 
is an  inestimable treasure for our     
children4    ,reading comes after       
writing in the ,montessori system1 and  
has not  apparently as inherently close 
a connection with it as is sometimes    
thought4 ,that is1 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  composed4 ,but1 of 

course1 with such a start as the        
,montessori system  gives him1 the gap  
between the two processes is soon       
bridged4 ,there  are various reasons why
 a detailed account of the ,montessori  
method  of teaching reading need not be 
given here4 ,one is that this book  is  
written for mothers and not teachers1   
and since the methods for  teaching     
reading in our schools are much better  
than those used for  teaching writing1  
mothers will naturally1 as a rule1 leave
 reading  until the child is under a    
teacher4 ,furthermore1 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  
reading4 ,and yet a few notes on some   
features of the ,montessori system  will
 be of interest4    ,like many          
variations of our own system it begins  
with the recognition  of single words4  
,at first these are composed with the   
movable alphabet4  ,later1 when the     

child can interpret readily words       
composed in this way1  they are written 
in large clear script on slips of paper4
 ,the child  spells the word out letter 
by letter1 and then pronounces these    
sounds  more and more rapidly until he  
runs them together and perceives that he
  is pronouncing a word familiar to him4
 ,this is always a moment of great      
satisfaction to him and of encouragement
 to his teacher4    ,after this has     
continued until the children recognize  
single words  quickly1 the process is   
extended to phrases4 ,here the teacher  
goes very  slowly1 with great care1 to  
avoid undue haste and lack of           
thoroughness4  ,there is a danger here  
that the children will fall into the    
mechanical  habit 7familiar to us all7  
of reading aloud a page with great      
glibness1  although the sense of the    
words has made no impression on their   
minds4  ,to avoid this the ,montessori  
,directress adopts the simple expedient 
of not allowing them at first to read   

aloud4 ,she carries on1 instead1  a     
series of silent conversations with the 
children1 writing on the  board some    
simple request for an action on their   
part4 8,please stand  up10 8,please shut
 your eyes10 and so on4 ,later longer   
and more  complicated sentences are     
written on slips of paper and           
distributed  to the children4 ,they read
 these to themselves 7not being misled  
by  their oral fluency into thinking    
they understand what they do not71 and  
show that they have understood by       
performing the actions requested4 ,in   
other words1 these are short letters    
addressed by the teacher to the         
children1 and answered by silent action 
on the part of the children4  ,like all 
of the ,montessori devices1 this is     
self-corrective4 ,it is  perfectly easy 
for the child to be sure whether he has 
understood  the sentence or not1 and his
 attention is fixed1 not on pronouncing 
correctly 7which has nothing to do with 
understanding the sentences  before     

him71 but on the comprehension of the   
written symbols4 ,as for  the teacher1  
she has an absolutely perfect check on  
the child4 ,if he  does not understand1 
he does not do the right thing4 ,it     
means the  elimination of the 8fluent   
bluffer10 a phenomenon not wholly       
unfamiliar  to teachers1 even when they 
are dealing with very young children4   
,,chapter ,,vi    ,,some ,,general      
,,remarks ,,about ,,the ,,montessori    
,,apparatus ,,in ,,the ,,american       
,,home      ,the first thing to do1 if  
you can manage it1 is to secure a set of
  the ,montessori apparatus4 ,it is the 
result of the ripest thought1           
ingenuity1 and practical experience of a
 gifted specialist who has  concentrated
 all her forces on the invention of the 
different devices  of her apparatus4    
,but there are various supplementary    
statements to be  made which modify this
 simple advice4    ,one is1 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 health4 ,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 it1 and  make      
edible1 digestible bread for them4      
,there is nothing magical or  miraculous
 about the ,montessori apparatus4 ,it is
 as yet the best raw  material produced 
for satisfying the intellectual hunger  
of normal  children from three to six1  
but it will have practically no effect  
on them if its use is not regulated by  
the most attentive care1  supplemented  
by a keen and never-ceasing objective   
scrutiny of the  children who are to use
 it4 ,this is one reason why mothers    
find it  harder to educate their        
children by the ,montessori system 7as  
by all  other systems7 than teachers do1
 for they have an age-long mental habit 

of clasping their little ones so close  
in their arms that1 figuratively        
speaking1 they never get a fair1 square 
look at them4    ,this study of the     
children is an essential part of all    
education  which ,dr4 ,montessori is    
among the first pointedly and definitely
 to  emphasize4 ,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       
sciences1 in the study of  which she    
received her intellectual training4     
,just as the astronomer  looks fixedly  
at the stars1 and the biologist at the  
protoplasm before  he tries to          
generalize about their ways of life and 
action1 so we must  learn honestly and  
whole-heartedly to try to see what sort 
of children  ,mary and ,bob and ,billy  
are1 as well as to love them with all   
our  might4 ,this should not be1 as it  
is apt to be1 a study limited to  their 
moral characteristics1 to seeing that   

,mary's fault is vanity and  ,bob's is  
indifference1 but should be directed    
with the most passionate  attention to  
their intellectual traits as well1 to   
the way in which  they naturally learn  
or don't learn1 to the doors which are  
open1 and  those which are shut1 to     
their intellectual interest4 ,for       
children  of three and four have a life 
which it is no exaggeration to call     
genuinely intellectual1 and their       
constant presence under the eyes of     
their parents gives us a chance to know 
this1 which helps to make up  for our   
lack of educational theory and          
experience in which almost any  teacher 
outstrips us4    ,there are no two      
plants1 in all the infinity of vegetable
 life1  which are exactly alike4 ,there 
are not1 so geologists tell us1 even    
two stones precisely the same4 ,to lump 
children 7even two or three  children   
closely related7 in a mass1 with        
generalizations about what  will appeal 
to them1 is a mental habit that         

experience constantly  and luridly      
proves to be the extremest folly4 ,this 
does not mean  individualism run wild4  
,there are some general broad principles
 which  hold true of all plants1 and    
which we will do well to learn from an  
experienced gardener4 ,all plants       
prosper better out-of-doors than in  a  
cellar1 and all children have activity  
for the law of their nature4  ,but      
lilies-of-the-valley shrivel up in the  
amount of sunshine which  supplies just 
the right conditions for nasturtiums1   
and your particular  three-year-old may 
need a much quieter 7or more boisterous7
 activity  than his four-year-old       
sister4 ,neither of them may be1 at     
first1 in the  least attracted by the   
problem of the geometric insets1 or by  
the idea  of matching colors4 ,they may 
not have reached that stage1 or they may
  have gone beyond it4 ,you will need   
all your ingenuity and your good        
judgment to find out where they are1    
intellectually1 and what they are       

intellectually4 ,the ,montessori rule is
 never to try to force or even  to coax 
a child to use any part of the          
apparatus4 ,the problem involved  is    
explained to him clearly1 and if he     
feels no spontaneous desire to  solve   
it1 no effort is made to induce him to  
undertake it4 ,some other  bit of       
apparatus is what1 for the moment1 he   
needs1 and one only wastes  time in     
trying to persuade him to feel an       
interest which he is1 for the  time1    
incapable of4    ,if you doubt this1 and
 most of us feel a lingering suspicion  
that we  know better than the child what
 he wants1 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 interest4 ,my
 own private example of that is a course
 on  8government40 ,i was an ordinarily 
intelligent and conscientious child1    
and ,i attended faithfully all the      
interminable dreary recitations  of that

 subject1 even filling a note-book with 
selections from the  teacher's remarks1 
and1 at the end of the course1 passing a
 fairly  creditable examination4 ,the   
only proof ,i have of all this is the   
record  of the examination and the      
presence1 among my relics of the past1  
of  the note-book in my handwriting2    
for1 among all the souvenirs of my      
school-life1 there is not one faintest  
trace of any knowledge about the  way in
 which people are governed4 ,i cannot   
even remember that ,i ever  did know    
anything about it4 ,my mind is a        
perfect1 absolute blank on the  subject1
 although ,i can remember the look of   
the schoolroom in which  ,i sat to hear 
the lectures on it1 ,i can see the face 
of the teacher as  plainly as though she
 still stood before me1 ,i can recall   
the pictures  on the wall1 the very     
graining of the wood on my desk4 ,there 
is only  no more recollection of the    
subject than if the lectures had been   
delivered in ,hindustani4 ,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 week4 ,even the  amount  
of 8discipline0 ,i received1 namely the 
capacity to sit still and  endure almost
 intolerable ennui1 would have been     
exactly as great in  one case as in the 
other1 and would have cost the ,state   
far less4    ,all of us must have some  
such recollection of our school-life to 
set  beside the vivifying1 exciting1    
never to be forgotten hours when we     
first really grasped a new abstract     
idea1 or learned some bit of  scientific
 information thrillingly in touch with  
our own understandable  lives2 and we   
need no other proof of the truth of the 
maxim1 stated  by all educators1 but    
stated and constantly acted upon by ,dr4
  ,montessori1 that the prerequisite of 
all education is the interest of  the   
student4 ,there is no question here to  
be discussed as to whether  he learns   

more or less quickly1 more or less well1
 according as he  is interested or not4 
,the statement is made flatly by the    
,italian  educator that he does not1 he 
cannot learn at all1 anything1 if he is 
not interested4 ,there is no use trying 
to call in the old war-horse  of 8mental
 discipline0 and say that it is well to 
force him to learn  whether he has an   
interest in the subject or not1 because 
the fact is  that he cannot learn       
without feeling interest2 and the       
appearance of  learning1 the filled     
note-books1 the attended recitations1   
the passed  examinations1 we all know in
 our hearts to be but the vainest of    
illusions and to represent only the most
 hopelessly wasted hours of our  youth4 
,dr4 ,montessori1 with her usual bold1  
startlingly consistent acceptance  as a 
practical guide to conduct of a fact    
which her reason tells her to  be true1 
acts on this principle with her         
characteristic whole-souled  fervor4 ,if
 the children are not interested1 it is 

the business of the  educator to furnish
 something which will interest them 7as 
well as  instruct them7 rather than to  
try to force their interest to center   
itself on some occupation which the     
educator has thought beforehand  would  
turn the trick4,b ,when we capture and  
try to tame a little wild  creature of  
unknown habits 7and is not this a       
description of each  little new child87 
our first effort is to find some food   
which will  agree with him1 and         
experimentation is always our first     
resort4 ,we  offer him all sorts of     
things to eat1 and observe which he     
selects4  ,it is true that we do make   
some broad generalizations from the     
results  of our experiences with other  
animals1 and we do not try to feed a    
little creature who looks like a        
woodchuck on honey and water1 nor a  new
 variety of moth on lettuce-leaves4 ,but
 even if the unknown animal  looks ever 
so close a cousin of the woodchuck      
family1 we do not try to  force the     

lettuce-leaves down his throat if1 after
 a due examination of  them1 he shows   
plainly that he does not care for them4 
,we cast about  to see what else may be 
the food he needs2 and though we may    
feel very  impatient with the need for  
making all the troublesome experiments  
with  diet1 we never feel really        
justified in blaming the little creature
 for  having preferences for            
turnip-tops1 nor do we have a           
half-acknowledged  conviction that1     
perhaps1 if we had starved him to eat   
lettuce-leaves1  it might have been     
better for him4 ,we are only too        
thankful to hit upon  the right food    
before our little captive dies of       
hunger4    ,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 
one1 rather than  another1 of the       
,montessori contrivances2 and these     
considerations are  meant to explain to 

her the prompt acquiescence of the      
,montessori  teacher in the child's     
intellectual 8whims40 ,she is not       
foolishly  indulging him to make herself
 less trouble1 or to please him4 ,she is
  only trying to find out what his      
natural interest is1 so that she may    
pounce upon it and utilize it for       
teaching him without his knowing  it4   
,she is only taking advantage of her    
knowledge of the fact that  water runs  
down-hill and not up1 and that you may  
keep it level by  great efforts on your 
part1 and even force it to climb1 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        
physics4 ,in other words1 she sees  that
 her business is to make use of every   
scrap of the children's  interest1      
rather than to waste her time and theirs
 trying to force  it into channels where
 it cannot run2 to carry her waterwheel 
where  the water falls over the cliff1  
and not to struggle to turn the river   

back towards the watershed4 ,and anyone 
who thinks that a ,montessori  teacher  
has 8an easy time because she is almost 
never really teaching10  underestimates 
grotesquely the amount of alert1 keen   
ingenuity and  capacity for making fine 
distinctions1 required for this new feat
 of  educational engineering4    ,on the
 other hand1 the advanced modern        
educators who cry jealously that  there 
is nothing new in all this1 that it is  
the principle underlying  their own     
systems of education1 need only to ask  
themselves why their  practice is so    
different from that of the ,italian     
doctor1 why a teacher  who can force1   
coerce1 coax1 or persuade all the       
members of a class of  thirty children  
to 8acquire0 practically the same amount
 of information  about a given fixed    
number of topics within a given fixed   
period of  time1 is called a 8good0     
teacher8 ,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 schools4 ,and an impartial       
observer1 both of our schools and of    
history1 might reply that chaos  and    
anarchy have been prophesied every time 
a more liberal form of  government1     
giving more freedom to the individual1  
has been suggested1  anywhere in the    
world4    ,in any case1 the ,montessori 
mother1 with the newly acquired         
apparatus  spread out before her1 needs 
to gird herself up for an intellectual  
enterprise where she will need not only 
all the strength of her brain1  but     
every atom of ingenuity and mental      
flexibility which she can  bring to bear
 on her problem4 ,she will do well1 of  
course1 to fortify  herself in the first
 place by a careful perusal of ,dr4     
,montessori's  own description of the   
apparatus and its use1 or by reading any
 other  good manual which she can find4 
,the booklet sent out with the apparatus
  gives some very useful detailed       
instructions which it is not necessary  

to repeat here1 since it comes into the 
hands of everyone who secures  the      
apparatus4 ,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 necessary1 as brief as 
possible1 given  in as few words as they
 can manage1 and with good long periods 
of  silence in between4    ,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 use4 ,the buttoning-frames1   
and the solid and plane geometric       
insets need not a single word of        
explanation1 even to start the  child   
upon the exercise4 ,but the various rods
 and blocks1 used for  the ,long and    
,broad ,stair and the ,tower1 are so    
much like ordinary  building-blocks     
that1 the first time they are presented1
 the child  needs a clear presentation  
of how to handle them4 ,this can be made
 an  object-lesson conducted in perfect 

silence2 although later1 when the  child
 begins to use the sandpaper numbers    
with them as he learns the  series of   
numbers up to ten1 he needs1 of course1 
to be guided in this  exercise4    ,with
 these rods and blocks especially1 care 
should be taken to observe  the         
,montessori rule that apparatus is to be
 used for its proper purpose  only1 in  
order to avoid confusion in the child's 
mind4 ,he should never  use the color   
spools1 for instance1 to build houses   
with4 ,not that1 by  any means1 he      
should be coaxed to continue the        
exercises in color if he  feels like    
building houses2 but other material     
should be given him--a  pack of cards1  
building-blocks1 small stones1 anything 
handy1 but never  apparatus intended for
 another exercise4    ,in the exercises 
for learning the difference between     
rough and smooth1  the child needs at   
first a little guidance in learning how 
to draw his  finger-tips lightly from   
left to right over the sandpaper strips2

 and  in the exercises of discrimination
 between different fabrics1 he needs    
someone to tie the bandage over his eyes
 and1 the first time1 to  show him how  
to set to work4    ,illustration3       
,,training ,,the 8,,stereognostic       
,,sense0--,,combining ,,motor ,,and     
,,tactual ,,images4                     
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,a silent object-lesson1 or a word or   
two1 are needed to show him how  to     
separate and distinguish between the    
pieces of wood of different  weights in 
the baric exercises1 and a similar      
introduction is needed to  the          
cylindrical sound-boxes4    ,as he      
progresses both in age and ability1 and 
begins some of the more  complicated    
exercises1 he needs a little longer     
explanation when he  begins a new       
exercise1 and a little more supervision 
to make sure that  he has understood the
 problem4 ,in the later part of the work
 with  plane geometric insets1 and in   
the work with colored crayons1 he needs 

occasional supervision1 not to correct  
the errors he makes1 but to see  that he
 keeps the right aim in sight4 ,of      
course1 when he begins work  with the   
alphabet he needs more real 8teaching10 
since the names of  the letters must be 
told him1 and care must be taken that he
 learns  firmly the habit of following  
their outlines in the right direction1  
of having them right side up1 etc4 ,but 
throughout one should remember  that    
most 8supervision0 is meddling1 and that
 one does the child a  real injury in   
correcting a mistake which1 with a      
little more time  and experience1 he    
would have been able to correct for     
himself4 ,it  is well to keep in mind1  
also1 that little children1 some of them
 at  least1 have a peculiarity shared by
 many of us adults1 and that is a       
nervousness under even silent           
inspection4 ,i know a landscape painter 
of  real ability who is reduced almost  
to nervous tears and certainly to       
paralyzed impotence1 by the harmless    

presence of the group of silent1        
staring spectators who are apt to gather
 about a person making a sketch  out of 
doors4 ,even though we may refrain from 
actually interfering  in the child's    
fumbling efforts to conquer his own lack
 of muscular  precision1 we may wear on 
him nervously if we give too close an   
attention to his efforts4 ,the right    
thing is to show him 7if necessary7     
what he is to try to do1 and then if it 
arouses his interest so that  he sets to
 work upon it1 we will do well to busy  
ourselves somewhat  ostentatiously with 
something else in the room4             
,occasionally a child1  even a little   
child1 has acquired already the habit of
 asking for  help rather than struggling
 with an obstacle himself4 ,the best way
 to  deal with this unfortunate tendency
 is to provide simpler and simpler      
exercises until1 through making a very  
slight effort 8all himself10  the child 
learns the joy of self-conquest and     
re-acquires his natural  taste for      

independence4 ,most of us1 with healthy 
normal children1  however1 meet with no 
trouble of this kind4 ,the average child
 of three1  or even younger1 set before 
the solid geometric insets1 clears the  
board for action by the heartiest and   
most instinctive rejection of any  aid1 
suggestions1 or even sympathy4 ,his cry 
of 8,let me do it60 as  he reaches for  
the little cylinders with one hand and  
pushes away his  would-be instructor    
with the other1 does one's heart good4  
,it is to be seen that ,dr4             
,montessori's demand for child-liberty  
does  not mean unbridled and unregulated
 license for him1 even intellectual     
license2 nor does her command to her    
teachers to let him make his  own       
forward advance mean that they are to do
 nothing for him4 ,they  may1 indeed1   
frequently they must1 set him carefully 
on a road not  impossibly hard for him1 
and head him in the right direction4    
,what they  are not to do1 is to go     
along with him1 pointing out with a     

flood of  words the features of the     
landscape1 smoothing out all the        
obstacles1  and carrying him up all the 
hills4    ,more important than any of   
the details in the use of the apparatus 
is the constant firm intellectual grasp 
on its ultimate purpose4 ,the           
,montessori mother must assimilate1 into
 the very marrow of her bones1  the     
fundamental principle underlying every  
part of every exercise1 the  principle  
which she must never forget an instant  
in all the detailed  complexity of its  
ingenious practical application4 ,she is
 to remember  constantly that the       
,montessori exercises are neither games 
to amuse  the children 7although they do
 this to perfection71 nor ways for the  
children to acquire information         
7although this is also accomplished     
admirably1 though not so directly as in 
the kindergarten work74 ,they  are1 like
 all truly educative methods1 means to  
teach the child  how to learn4 ,it is of
 no great importance that he shall      

remember  perfectly the form of a square
 or a triangle1 or even the sacred cube 
of ,froebelian infant-schools4 ,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 touches1 because  
if he does1 he  will have1 as an adult1 
a vision which will be that of a        
veritable  superman1 compared to the    
unreliable eyesight on which his parents
  have had to depend for information4   
,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  two4 ,it is of   
the utmost importance that he shall     
learn to take in  accurate information  
about the phenomena of the world1 from  
whichever  sense is most convenient1 or 
from all of them at once1 correcting and
  supplementing each other as they so   
seldom do with us badly trained  adults4
          ,,chapter ,,vii    ,,the      

,,possibility ,,of ,,american           
,,adaptations ,,of1 ,,or ,,additions    
,,to1 ,,the    ,,montessori ,,apparatus 
,holding firmly in mind the guiding     
principle formulated in the  paragraph  
preceding1 it may not be presumptuous   
for us1 in addition  to exercising our  
children with the apparatus devised by  
,dr4  ,montessori1 to attempt to apply  
her main principles in ways which  she  
has not happened to hit upon4 ,she      
herself would be the first to  urge us  
to do this1 since she constantly        
reiterates that she has but  begun the  
practical application of her theories1  
and she calls for  the co-operation of  
the world in the task of working out    
complete  applications suitable for     
different conditions4    ,it is my      
conviction that1 as soon as her theories
 are widely known  and fairly well      
assimilated1 she will find1 all over the
 world1 a  multitude of ingenious       
co-partners in her enterprise1 people   
who1 quite  unconscious of her          

existence1 have been for years          
approximating her  system1 although     
never doing so systematically and       
thoroughly4 ,is it  not said that each  
new religion finds a congregation       
ready-made1 of  those who have been     
instinctively practising the as yet     
unformulated  doctrines8    ,an incident
 in my own life which happened years    
ago1 is an example of  this4 ,one of the
 children of the family1 an adored1     
delicate little boy  of five1 fell ill  
while we were all in the country4 ,we   
sent at once in  the greatest haste to  
the city for a trained nurse1 and while 
awaiting  her arrival1 devoted ourselves
 to the task of keeping the child amused
  and quiet in his little bed4 ,the     
hours of heart-sickening difficulty  and
 anxiety which followed can be imagined 
by anyone who has1 without  experience1 
embarked on that undertaking4 ,we       
performed our wildest  antics before    
that pale1 listless little spectator1 we
 offered up our  choicest possessions   

for his restless little hands1 we set in
 motion  the most complicated of his    
mechanical toys2 and we quite failed    
either  to please or to quiet him4      
,the nurse arrived1 cast one glance at  
the situation1 and swept us  out with a 
gesture4 ,we crept away1 exhausted1     
beaten1 wondering by  what possible     
miraculous tour de force she meant      
single-handed to  accomplish what had   
baffled us all1 and holding ourselves   
ready to  secure for her anything she   
thought necessary1 were it the horns of 
the new moon4 ,in a few moments she     
thrust her head out of the door  and    
asked pleasantly for a basket of        
clothes-pins1 just common wooden        
clothes-pins4    ,when we were permitted
 to enter the room an hour or so later1 
our  little patient scarcely glanced at 
us1 so absorbed was he in the           
fascinatingly various angles at which   
clothes-pins may be thrust  into each   
other's clefts4 ,when he felt tired1 he 
shut his eyes  and rested quietly1 and  

when returning strength brought with it 
a  wave of interest in his own          
cleverness1 he returned to the queer    
agglomeration of knobby wood which grew 
magically under his hands4 ,now  ,dr4   
,montessori could not possibly have used
 that 8sensory exercise10  as they have 
no clothes-pins in ,italy1 fastening    
their washed garments  to wires1 with   
knotted strings2 and the nurse was      
probably married  with children of her  
own before ,dr4 ,montessori opened the  
first ,casa  dei ,bambini2 but that was 
a true ,montessori device1 and she was a
 real  8natural-born0 ,montessori       
teacher4 ,and ,i am sure that everyone  
must  have in his circle of             
acquaintances several persons who have  
such an  intuitive understanding of     
children that ,dr4 ,montessori's        
arguments  and theories will seem to    
them perfectly natural and axiomatic4   
,one of  my neighbors1 the wife of a    
farmer1 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 ,italy1 has1 by the       
instinctive action of her own wits1 hit 
upon several inventions which  might1   
without surprising the ,directress1 be  
transferred bodily to  any ,casa dei    
,bambini4 ,all of her children have gone
 through what she  calls the 8folding-up
 fever10 and she has laid away in the   
garret1  waiting for the newest baby to 
grow up to it1 the apparatus which has  
so enchanted and instructed all the     
older ones4 ,this 8apparatus10 to  use  
the unfortunately mouth-filling and     
inflated name which has become  attached
 to ,dr4 ,montessori's simple           
expedients1 is a set of cloths  of all  
shapes and sizes1 ranging from a small  
washcloth to an old  bedspread4    ,when
 the first of my neighbor's children was
 a little over three1 his  mother found 
him1 one hot ,tuesday1 busily employed  
in 8folding up10  that is1 crumpling and
 crushing the fresh shirtwaists which   

she had  just laboriously ironed smooth4
 ,she snatched them away from him1 as   
any  one of us would have done1 but she 
was nimble-witted enough to view  the   
situation from an impersonal point of   
view which few of us would  have        
adopted4 ,she really 8observed0 the     
child1 to use the ,montessori  phrase2  
she put out of her mind with a conscious
 effort her natural1  extreme irritation
 at having the work of hours destroyed  
in minutes1  and she turned her quick   
mind to an analysis of the child's      
action1 as  acute and sound as any the  
,roman psychologist has ever made4 ,not 
that  she was in the least conscious of 
going through this elaborate mental     
process4 ,her own simple narration of   
what followed1 runs3 8,i snatched  'em  
away from him and ,i was as mad as a    
hornit for a minit or two4 ,and  then ,i
 got to thinkin' about it4 ,i says to   
myself1 #8,he's so little that  'tain't 
nothin' to him whether shirtwaists are  
smooth or wrinkled1 so  he couldn't have

 taken no satisfaction in bein'         
mischievous4 ,seems 's  though he was   
wantin' to fold up things1 without      
really sensin' what  he was doin' it    
with4 ,he's seen me fold things up4     
,there's other  things than shirtwaists 
he could fold1 that 'twouldn't do no    
harm for  him to fuss with4' ,and ,i set
 th' iron down and took a dish-towel    
out'n  the basket and says to him1 where
 he set cryin'1 #8,here1 ,buddy1 here's 
somethin' you can fold up4' ,and he set 
there for an hour by the clock1  foldin'
 and unfoldin' that thing40    ,that    
historic dish-towel is still among the  
8apparatus0 in her garret4  ,five       
children have learned deftness and      
exactitude of muscular action  by means 
if it1 and the sixth is getting to the  
age when his mother's  experienced eye  
detects in him signs of the 8fever40    
,now1 of course1 the real difference    
between that woman and ,dr4             
,montessori1 and the real reason why    
,dr4 ,montessori's work comes in the    

nature of a revelation of new forces1   
although hundreds of 8natural  mothers0 
long have been using devices strongly   
resembling hers1 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 it1 inasmuch as
 she  regards the fervor of her children
 for that fascinating sense exercise1   
as merely a ,providential means to      
enable her to do her housework          
untroubled by them4 ,she could not      
possibly convince any other mother  of  
any good reason for following her       
examples because she is quite  ignorant 
of the good reason4    ,dr4 ,montessori1
 on the other hand1 with the keen       
self-consciousness of  its own processes
 which characterizes the trained mind1  
is perfectly  aware not not only of what
 she is doing1 but of a broadly         
fundamental  and wholly convincing      
philosophical reason for doing it2      
namely1 that  the child's body is a     
machine which he will have to use all   

his life in  whatever he does1 and the  
sooner he learns the accurate and       
masterful  handling of every cog of this
 machine the better for him4    ,now1   
whenever frontier conditions exist1     
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 home2 and though 
for most of  us the old-fashioned       
conditions of farm-life so ideal for    
children1  the free roaming of field and
 wood1 the care and responsibility for  
animals1 the knowledge of plant-life1   
the intimate acquaintance with  the     
beauties of the seasons1 the enforced   
self-dependence in crises1  are         
impossibly out of reach1 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-life1  and by adapting them to our

 own changed conditions4 ,there are even
 a  few items which we might take over  
bodily4 ,a number of families in  my    
acquaintance have inherited from their  
ancestors odd 8games0 for  children1    
which follow perfectly the ,montessori  
ideas4 ,one of them is  called the      
8hearth-side seed-game0 and is played as
 the family sits  about the hearth in   
the evening1--though it might just as   
well be  played about a table in the    
dining-room with the light turned low4  
,each child is given a cup of mixed     
grains1 corn1 wheat1 oats1 and          
buckwheat4 ,the game is a competition to
 see who can the soonest1 by  the sense 
of touch only1 separate them into       
separate piles1 and it  has an endless  
fascination for every child who tries   
it--if he is of  the right age1 for it  
is far too fatiguing for the very little
 ones4  ,another family makes a         
competitive game of the daily task of   
peeling  the potatoes and apples needed 
for the family meals4 ,once the general 

principle of the 8,montessori method0 is
 grasped1 there is no reason why  we    
should not apply it to every activity of
 our children4 ,indeed ,dr4  ,montessori
 is as impatient as any other           
philosopher1 of a slavishly  close and  
unelastic interpretation of her ideas4  
,furthermore1 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 theories4 ,for     
instance1 there are in it none of the   
devices for  gymnastic exercises of the 
whole body which she recommends so      
highly1  but which as yet she has been  
able to introduce but little into her   
schools4 ,here1 too1 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  
conditions4    ,a good example of this  
is the enlightenment which comes to most
 of  us1 after reading her statement    

about the relative weakness of little   
children's legs4 ,she calls our         
attention to the fact that the legs of  
the new-born baby are the most          
negligible members he possesses1 small  
and weak out of all proportion to his   
body and arms4 ,then with an  imposing  
scientific array of carefully gathered  
statistics1 she proves  that this       
disproportion of strength and of size   
continues during early  childhood1 up to
 six or seven4 ,in other words1 that a  
little child's  legs are weaker and tire
 more quickly than the rest of him1 and 
hence  he craves not only those         
exercises which he takes in running     
about in  his usual active play1 but    
others which he can take without bearing
 all  his weight on his still rather    
boneless lower extremities4    ,this    
fact1 although doubtless it has been    
common property among doctors  for many 
years1 was entirely new to me2 and      
probably will be to many  of the mothers
 who read this book1 but an ingenious   

person has only  to hear it to think at 
once of a number of exercises based on  
it4 ,dr4  ,montessori herself suggests a
 little fence on which the children can 
walk along sideways1 supporting part of 
their weight with their arms4  ,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  
it1 and which  is hung before a wall or 
board against which the child presses   
his feet  as he swings up to it1 thus   
keeping himself in motion4 ,these       
devices  are both so simple that almost 
any child might have the benefit of     
them1 but even without them it is       
possible to profit by the above bit  of 
physiological information1 if it is only
 by restraining ourselves  from         
forbidding a child the instinctive      
gesture we must all have seen1  when he 
throws himself on his stomach across a  
chair and kicks his  hanging legs4 ,if  
all the chairs in the house are too good
 to allow this  exercise1 or if it      

shocks too much the adult ideas of      
propriety1 a  bench or kitchen-chair out
 under the trees will serve the same    
purpose4    ,everyone who is familiar   
with the habits of natural children1 or 
who remembers his own childish passions1
 knows how they are almost  irresistibly
 fascinated by a ladder1 and always     
greatly prefer it to  a staircase4 ,the 
reason is apparent4 ,after early infancy
 they are not  allowed to go upstairs on
 their hands and knees1 but are taught1 
and  rightly taught1 to lift the whole  
weight of their bodies with their  legs1
 the inherent weakness of which we have 
just learned4 ,of course  this very     
exercise in moderation is just what weak
 legs need2 but why  not furnish also a 
length of ladder out of doors1 short    
enough so that  a fall on the pile of   
hay or straw at the foot will not be    
serious8  ,as a matter of fact1 you will
 be astonished to see that even with a  
child as young as three1 the hay or     
straw is only needed to calm your  own  

mind4 ,the child has no more need of it 
than you1 nor so much1 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-home4    ,the single
 board about six inches wide and three  
or four inches from  the ground 7a      
length of joist or studding serves very 
well7 along  which the child walks and  
runs1 is an exercise for equilibrium    
which  is elsewhere described 7page     
#adi74 ,this can be varied1 as he grows 
in  strength and poise1 by having him   
try some of the simpler rope-walking    
tricks of balance1 walking on the board 
with one foot1 or backward1  or with his
 eyes shut4 ,it is fairly safe to say1  
however1 that having  provided the      
board1 you need exercise your own       
ingenuity no further in  the matter4    
,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         

conceive4 ,the exercises with water are 
described 7page  #aea74 ,these also can 
be varied to infinity1 by the use of    
receptacles  of different shapes1       
bottles with wide or narrow mouths1 etc4
    ,the folding-up exercises seem to me
 excellent1 and the hearth-side         
seed-game is1 in a modified form1       
already in use in the ,casa dei         
,bambini4 ,small1 low see-saws1 the     
right size for very young children1  are
 of great help in aiding the little one 
to learn the trick of  balancing himself
 under all conditions2 and let us       
remember that the  sooner he learns this
 all-important secret of equilibrium1   
the better  for him1 since he will not  
have the heavy handicap of the bad habit
 of  uncertain1 awkward1 misdirected    
movements1 and he will never know the   
disheartening mental distress of lack of
 confidence in his own ability  deftly1 
strongly1 and automatically to manage   
his own body under all  ordinary        
circumstances4    ,a very tiny          

spring-board1 ending over a heap of hay1
 is another  expedient for teaching     
three- and four-year-olds that they need
 not  necessarily fall in a heap if     
their balance is quickly altered4 ,if   
this simple device is too hard to       
secure1 a substitute which any  woman   
and even an older child can arrange for 
a little one1 is a long  thin board1    
with plenty of 8give0 to it1 supported  
at each end by big  stones1 or by two or
 three bits of wood4 ,the little child  
bouncing up  and down on this and       
8jumping himself off0 into soft sand1 or
 into a  pile of hay1 learns            
unconsciously so many of the secrets of 
bodily  poise that walking straight soon
 becomes a foregone conclusion4    ,one 
of the blindfold games in use in        
,montessori schools is played with      
wooden solids of different shapes1      
cubes1 cylinders1 pyramids1 etc4 ,the   
blindfolded child picks these1 one at a 
time1 out of the pile before  him and   
identifies each by his sense of touch4  

,in our family this has  become an      
after-dinner game1 played in the leisure
 moments before  we all push away from  
the table and go about our own affairs1 
and  managed with a napkin for          
blindfold1 and with the                 
table-furnishings for  apparatus4       
,the identification of different stuffs1
 velvet1 cotton1 satin1 woolen1  etc41  
can be managed in any house which       
possesses a rag-bag4 ,i do not  see why 
the possession of a doll1 preferably a  
rag-doll1 should not be  as valuable as 
the ,montessori frames4 ,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 manage1 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 precept4 ,i can  lay no   
claim to originality in this idea4 ,it  
was suggested to my mind  by the        
constant appearance in new costumes of  

the big ,teddy-bear of  a three-year-old
 child1 whose impassioned struggles with
 the buttons  of her bear's clothes     
forms the most admirable of self-imposed
 manual  gymnastics4    ,lastly1 it must
 not be forgotten that the 8sets of     
,montessori  apparatus0 must be         
supplemented by several articles of     
child-furniture4  ,there is not in it   
the little light table1 the small low   
chair so  necessary for children's      
comfort and for their acquiring correct1
  agreeable habits of bodily posture4   
,such little chairs are easily to be    
secured but1 alas6 rarely found in even 
the most prosperous households4  ,we    
must not forget the need for a low      
washstand with light and easily  handled
 equipment2 the hooks set low enough for
 little arms to reach  up to them1 so   
that later we shall not have to struggle
 with the habit  fixed in the           
eight-year-old boy1 of careless         
irresponsibility about  those of his    
clothes which are not on his back2 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  room2 in short1 all the devices      
possible to contrive to make a little   
child really at home in his father's    
house4    ,illustration3 ,,color ,,boxes
 ,,comprising ,,spools ,,of ,,eight     
,,colors ,,and ,,eight  ,,shades ,,of   
,,each ,,color4                         
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,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 ,dr4       
,montessori's system1 ,i used to wonder 
why it  went home to me with such a     
sudden inward conviction of its truth1  
and why it moved me so strangely1 almost
 as the conversion to a new  religion4  
,this ,italian woman is not the first1  

by any means1 to speak  eloquently of   
the righteousness of personal liberty4  
,as far back as  ,rabelais' 8,fay ce que
 vouldras0 someone was feeling and      
expressing  that4 ,even the             
righteousness of such liberty for the   
child is no  invention of hers4 ,jean   
,jacques ,rousseau's 8mile10 in spite of
 all its  disingenuous evading of the   
principle in practice1 was founded on it
 in  theory2 and ,froebel had as clear a
 vision as any seer1 as ,montessori     
herself1 of just the liberty his        
followers admit in theory and find it   
so hard to allow in practice4    ,why1  
then1 should those who come to ,rome to 
study the ,montessori work1  stammerers 
though they might be1 wish1 all of them1
 to go away and  prophesy8 ,for almost  
without exception this was the common   
result  among the widely diverse        
national types ,i saw in ,rome2 always  
granting1  of course1 that they had seen
 one of the good schools and not those  
which present a farcical caricature of  

the method4    ,in thinking the matter  
over since1 ,i have come to the         
conclusion that  the vividness of inward
 conviction arises from the fact that   
the  founder of this 8new0 philosophy   
bases it on the theory of democracy2    
and there is no denying that the world  
to-day is democratic1 that we  honestly 
in our heart of hearts believe1 as we   
believe in the law of  gravity1 that1 on
 the whole1 democracy1 for all its      
shortcomings1 has  in it the germ of the
 ideal society of the future4    ,now1  
our own democracy was based1 a hundred  
or so years ago1 on the  idea that men  
reach their highest development only    
when they have1 for  the growth of their
 individuality1 the utmost possible     
freedom which  can be granted them      
without interfering with the rights and 
freedom  of others4 ,little by little   
during the last half-century the idea   
has  grown that1 inasmuch as women form 
half the race1 the betterment of the    
whole social group might be hastened if 

this beneficial principle were  applied 
to them4    ,if you will imagine        
yourself living sixty or so years ago1  
when1  to conservative minds1 this idea 
of personal liberty for women was  like 
the sight of dynamite under the         
foundations of society1 and to  radical 
minds shone like the dawn of a brighter 
day1 you can imagine  how startling and 
thrilling is the first glimpse of its   
application  to children4 ,i felt1      
during the beginning of my consideration
 of the  question1 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      
himself1 who would very likely  thrive  
under the same conditions which were    
good for him4 ,for1 just as  my         
grandfather1 in spite of the sincerest  
affection for his wife1 had  never      
conceived that he might be doing her an 
injury by insisting on  doing her       
thinking for her1 so ,i1 for all my love

 for my children1 had  never once       
thought that1 by my competent1 loving   
8management0 of them1  ,i might be      
starving and stunting some of their most
 valuable moral and  intellectual       
qualities4    ,in theory ,i instantly   
granted this principle of as much       
personal  liberty as possible for       
children4 ,i could not help granting it1
  pushed irresistibly forward as ,i was 
by the generations of my voting1        
self-governing ancestors2 but the       
resultant splintering upheaval of all   
my preconceived ideas about children was
 portentous4    ,the first thing that   
,dr4 ,montessori's penetrating and      
daring eye  had seen in her survey of   
the problem of education1 and the fact  
to  which she devotes throughout her    
most forceful1 direct1 and pungent      
explanation1 had simply never occurred  
to me1 in spite of ,froebel's  mild     
divination of it2 namely1 that children 
are nothing more or less  than human    
beings4 ,i was as astonished by this    

fact as ,i was amazed  that ,i had not  
thought of it myself2 and ,i instantly  
perceived a  long train of consequences 
leading off from it to a wholly         
unexplored  country4 ,true1 children are
 not exactly like adults2 but then1     
neither  are women exactly like men1 nor
 are slow1 phlegmatic men exactly  like 
the red-headed1 quick-tempered type2 but
 they all belong to the  genus of human 
beings1 and those principles which slow 
centuries of  progress have proved true 
about the genus as a whole hold true    
about  subdivisions of it4 ,children are
 much weaker physically than most       
adults1 their judgment is not so        
seasoned by experience1 and their       
attention is more fitful4 ,hence1 on the
 whole1 they need more guidance  than   
grown-ups4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the 
motives1 the instincts1 the  needs1 the 
potential capacities of children are all
 human and nothing  but human4 ,their   
resemblances to adults are a thousand   
times more  numerous and vital than     

their differences4 ,what is good for the
 one  must1 in a not excessively        
modified form1 be good for the other4   
,with this obvious fact firmly in mind1 
,dr4 ,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
 inhabitants4 ,if it is true1 she       
reasoned1 that men and women have       
reached their highest development  only 
when they have had the utmost possible  
liberty for the growth of  their        
individualities1 if it is true that     
slavery has been the most  ruinously    
unsatisfactory of all social expedients1
 both for masters and  slaves1 if       
society has found it necessary for its  
own good to abolish  not only slavery   
but caste laws and even guild rules2 if1
 with all its  faults1 we are agreed    
that democracy works better than the    
wisest of  paternal despotisms1 then it 
ought to be true that in the            

schoolroom's  miniature copy of society 
there should be less paternal despotism1
  more democracy1 less uniformity of    
regulation and more1--very much         
more1--individuality4    ,therefore1    
although we cannot allow children as    
much practical freedom  as that suitable
 for men of ripe experience1 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   
possible1 exercising our utmost         
ingenuity to  make the family life an   
enlightened democracy4 ,but this is not 
an  easy matter4 ,a democracy1 being a  
much more complicated machine than  an  
autocracy1 is always harder to organize 
and conduct4 ,moreover the  family is so
 old a human institution that1 like     
everything else very  old1 it has       
acquired barnacle-like accretions of    
irrelevant tradition4  ,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    
effort1 and prevents our conceiving     
family  life without them2 quite as     
though in this age of dentistry1 we     
should find it difficult to conceive of 
old age without the good old            
characteristic of toothlessness4 ,to    
renovate this valuable institution  of  
the family 7and one of the unconscious  
aims of the ,montessori system  is      
nothing more or less than the renovation
 of family life71 we must  engage upon a
 daily battle with our own moral and    
intellectual inertia1  rising each      
morning with a fresh resolve to         
scrutinize with new eyes  our relations 
to our children4 ,we must realize that  
the idea of the  innate 8divine right of
 parents0 is as exploded an idea as the 
8divine  right of kings40 ,fathers and  
mothers and kings nowadays hold their   
positions rightfully only on the same   
conditions as those governing  other    
modern office-holders1 that they are    
better fitted for the job  than anyone  

else4    ,i speak from poignant personal
 experience of the difficulty of holding
  this conception in mind4 ,when ,i said
 above that ,i 8saw at once a long      
train of consequences following this new
 principle of personal liberty  for     
children10 ,i much overstated my own    
acumen2 for ,i am continually           
perceiving that ,i saw these            
consequences but very vaguely through   
the  dimmed glasses of my unconscious1  
hidebound conservatism1 and ,i am       
constantly being startled by the        
possibility of some new1 although very  
simple application of it in my daily    
contact with the child-world4 ,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 governor1      
executioner1 lawgiver1 and absolute     
autocrat1 down to  our own days4 ,for   
all our clinging to the idea of a       

closely intimate  family-life1 most of  
us would turn with horror from any      
attempt to  return to such tyranny as   
that even of our own ,puritan forebears4
  ,it is possible that our descendants  
may look back on our present            
organization with as much astonished and
 uncomprehending revulsion4    ,the     
principle1 then1 of the ,montessori     
school is the ideal principle of        
democracy1 namely1 that human beings    
reach their highest development  7and   
hence are of most use to society7 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 others4 ,now1 when  ,dr4            
,montessori1 five years ago1 founded the
 first ,casa dei ,bambini1  she not only
 believed in that principle but she saw 
that children are  as human as any of   
us2 and1 acting with that precipitate   
,latin faith  in logic as a guide to    
practical conduct which is so startling 

to  ,anglo-,saxons1 she put these two   
convictions into actual practice4 ,the  
result has electrified the world4       
,she took as her motto the old1 old1    
ever-misunderstood one of               
8,liberty60--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 life4 ,she was convinced that   
the 8necessity for  school discipline0  
is only another expression of humanity's
 enduring  suspicion of that freedom    
which is so essential to its welfare1   
and  that schoolroom rules for silence1 
for immobility1 for uniformity  of      
studies and of results1 are of the same 
nature and as outworn as  caste rules in
 the world of adults1 or laws against   
the free choice of  residence for a     
workman1 against the free choice of a   
profession for  women1 against the free 
advance of any individual to any        
position of  responsibility which he is 
capable of filling4    ,all over again  

in this new field of education ,dr4     
,montessori fought the  old fight       
against the old idea that liberty means 
red caps and riots  and guillotines4    
,all afresh1 as though the world had    
never learned the  lesson1 she was      
obliged to show that liberty means the  
only lasting  road to order and         
discipline and self-control4 ,once      
again1 for the  thousandth time1 people 
needed to be reminded that the reign of 
the  tyrant who imposes laws on human   
souls from the outside 7even though     
that tyrant intends nothing but the best
 for his subjects and be  called        
8teacher071 produces smothered          
rebellion1 or apathy1 or broken         
submissiveness1 but never energetic1    
forward progress4    ,for this constant 
turning to that trust in the safety of  
freedom which  is perhaps the only      
lasting spiritual conquest of our time1 
is the  keynote of her system4 ,this is 
the real answer to the question1 8,what 
is there in the ,montessori method which

 is so different from all other         
educational methods80 ,this is the vital
 principle often overlooked in  the     
fertility of invention and scientific   
ingenuity with which she has  applied   
it4    ,this reverence for the child's  
personality1 this supreme faith that    
liberty of action is not only safe to   
give children1 but is the  prerequisite 
of their growth1 is the rock on which   
the edifice of her  system is being     
raised4 ,it is also the rock on which   
the barks of many  investigators are    
wrecked4 ,when they realize that she    
really puts her  theory into execution1 
they cry out aghast1 8,what6 a school   
without a  rule for silence1 for        
immobility1 a school without fixed      
seats1 without  stationary desks1 where 
children may sit on the floor if they   
like1 or  walk about as they please2 a  
school where children may play all day  
if  they choose1 may select their own   
occupations1 where the teacher is       
always silent and in the                

background--why1 that is no school at   
all--it  is anarchy60    ,one seems to  
hear faint echoes from another          
generation crying out1  8,what6 a       
society without hereditary aristocracy1 
without a caste  system1 where a        
rail-splitter may become supreme        
governor1 where  people may decide for  
themselves what to believe without      
respect for  authority1 and may choose  
how they wish to earn their livings1 444
 this  is no society at all6 ,it is     
anarchy60    ,dr4 ,montessori has two   
answers to make to such doubters4 ,one  
is that  the rule in her schools1 like  
the rule in civilized society1 is that  
no act is allowed which transgresses    
against the common welfare1 or  is in   
itself uncomely or offensive4 ,that the 
children are free1 does  not mean that  
they may throw books at each other's    
heads1 or light a  bonfire on the floor1
 any more than free citizens of a       
republic may  obstruct traffic1 or run a
 drain into the water-supply of a town4 

,it  means simply that they are subject 
to no unnecessary restraint1 and  above 
all to no meddling with their           
instinctive private preferences4  ,the  
second answer1 even more convincing to  
hard-headed people than the  first1 is  
the work done in the ,case dei ,bambini1
 where every detail  of the ,montessori 
theory has been more than proved1 with  
an abundance  of confirmatory detail    
which astonishes even ,dr4 ,montessori  
herself4  ,the bugbear of discipline    
simply does not exist for these schools4
  ,by taking advantage of their natural 
instincts and tendencies1 the  children 
are made to perform feats of            
self-abnegation1 self-control1  and     
collective discipline1 impossible to    
obtain under the most rigid  application
 of the old rules1 and1 as for the      
amount of information  acquired         
unconsciously and painlessly by those   
babies1 it is one of the  fairy-stories 
of modern times4          ,,chapter ,,ix
    ,,application ,,of ,,this           

,,philosophy ,,to ,,american ,,home     
,,life      ,naturally1 the question    
which concerns us is1 how the spiritual 
discoveries made in this new institution
 in a far-away city of ,italy1  can be  
used to benefit our own children1 in our
 own everyday1 ,american  family life4  
,it must be stated uncompromisingly1 to 
begin with1 that  they can be applied to
 our daily lives only if we experience a
 8change  of heart40 ,the use of the    
vernacular of religion in this          
connection is  not inappropriate1 for   
what we are facing1 in these new        
principles1  is a new phase of the      
religion of humanity4 ,we are simply1 at
 last1  to include children in humanity1
 and since despotism1 even the most     
enlightened varieties of it1 has been   
proved harmful to humanity1 we  are to  
abstain from being their despots1 even  
their paternal1 wise1 and  devoted      
despots4 ,this does not mean that they  
are not to live under  some form of     
government of which we are the head4 ,we

 have as much right  to safeguard their 
interests against their own weaknesses  
as society  has to safeguard ours1 in   
forbidding grade railways in big cities 
for  instance1 but we have no more right
 than society has to interfere with     
inoffensive individual tastes1          
preferences1 needs1 and1 above all1     
initiative4    ,at this point ,i can    
hear in my mind's ear a chorus of       
indignant  parents' voices1 crying out  
that nothing is further from their      
theory  or practice than despotism over 
the children1 and that1 so far from     
ruling their little ones1 they are the  
absolute slaves of their  offspring     
7forgetting that in many cases there is 
no more despotic  master than a slave of
 old standing74 ,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  
egotism1 the understanding of which     
bears closely on this phase of the      
relations of parent and child4 ,i  refer

 to the instinctive pleasure taken by us
 all in the dependence of  someone upon 
us4    ,this is so closely connected    
with benevolence that it is usually     
wholly  unrecognized as a separate and  
quite different characteristic4 ,even   
when it is seen1 it is identified only  
by those who suffer from it1  and any   
intimation of its existence on their    
part savors so nearly of  ingratitude   
that they have not1 as a rule1 ventured 
to complain of what  is frequently an   
almost intolerable tyranny4 ,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 illusions1 so it is only a       
thoroughly bad-tempered analyst1 one who
 takes a malicious pleasure in  dwelling
 on human meannesses1 who can perform   
the useful function of  diagnosing this 
little suspected1 very prevalent1 human 
vice4    ,here is the sardonic ,hazlitt1
 derisively relieving his mind on the   
subject of benefactors4 8444 ,benefits  

are often conferred out of  ostentation 
or pride4 ,as the principle of action is
 a love of power1  the complacency in   
the object of friendly regard ceases    
with the  opportunity or the necessity  
for the manifest display of power2 and  
when the unfortunate protg is just      
coming to land and expects a last       
helping hand1 he is1 to his surprise1   
pushed back in order that he  may be    
saved from drowning once more4 ,you are 
not haled ashore as you  had supposed by
 those kind friends1 as a mutual        
triumph1 after all  your struggles and  
their exertions on your behalf4 ,it is a
 piece of  presumption in you to be seen
 walking on terra firma2 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 ashore4 ,the instant you   
can go alone1 or can stand on your own  
ground1 you are discarded40    ,now the 

majority of us in these piping times of 
mediocrity have  no grounds1 fancied or 
real1 for assuming the rle of tyrannical
  ,providence to other people4 ,but the 
instinct1 in spite of the decreased     
opportunity for its exercise1 is none   
the less alive in our hearts2  and when 
chance throws in our way a little child1
 our primitive1  instinctive affection  
for whom confuses in our minds the      
motives  underlying our                 
pseudo-benevolent actions1 do we not    
wreak upon it  unconsciously all that   
latent desire to be depended upon1 to be
 the  stronger1 to be looked up to1 to  
gloat over the weakness of another8     
,if this seems an exaggerated statement1
 consider for a moment the real         
significance of the feeling expressed by
 the mothers we have all met1  when they
 cry1 8,oh1 ,i can't bear to have the   
babies grow up60 and  when they refuse  
to correct the pretty1 lisping1         
inarticulate baby  talk4 ,i have been   
one of those mothers myself1 and ,i     

certainly would  have regarded as       
malicious and spiteful any person who   
had told me  that my feelings sprang    
from almost unadulterated egotism1 and  
that ,i  8couldn't bear to have the     
babies grow up0 because ,i wanted to    
continue  longer in my complacent1      
self-assumed rle of ,god1 that ,i wished
 to  be surrounded by little sycophants 
who1 knowing no standard but my         
personality1 could not judge me as      
anything but infallible1 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 egotism4    ,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-love4 ,it now
 occurs to me that  mother-love should  
be something infinitely more searching  
and subtle4  ,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 mothers4 ,our
 part should not be1 like  bewildered   
bees1 to live idly on the accumulation  
of virtues achieved  for us by the hard 
won battles of our ancestors against    
their lower  physical instincts2 but to 
catch up the standard and advance into  
the  harder battle against the hidden1  
treacherous ambushes of egotism1 to     
conceive a new1 high devotion for our   
children1 a devotion which has  in it   
courage for them as well as care for    
them2 which is made up of  faith in     
their better1 stronger natures1 as well 
as love for them1 and  which begins by  
the ruthless slaughter1 so far as we can
 reach it1  of the selfishness which    
makes us take pleasure in their         
dependence  on us1 rather than in seeing
 them grow 7even though it may mean away
  from us7 in the ability wisely to     
regulate their own lives4 ,we must  take

 care that we mothers do not treat our  
children as we reproach men  for having 
treated women1 with patronizing1        
enfeebling protection4 ,we  must learn  
to wish1 above all things1 to see the   
babies grow up since  there is no       
condition 7for any creature not a baby7 
more revolting  than babyishness1 just  
as there is no state more humiliating   
7for any  but a child7 than             
childishness4 ,let us learn to be       
ashamed of our too  imperious care1     
which deprives them of every chance for 
action1 for  self-reliance1 for fighting
 down their own weaknesses1 which       
snatches  away from them every          
opportunity to strengthen themselves by 
overcoming  obstacles4 ,we must learn to
 see in a little child not only a       
much-loved  little body1 informed by a  
will more or less pliable to our own1   
but  a valiant spirit1 longing for the  
exercise of its own powers1 powers      
which are different from ours1 from     
those of every human being who has  ever

 existed4    ,there is no danger that in
 combating this subtle vice1 we will    
fall  back into the grosser one of      
physical tyranny over women1 children1  
or  the poor4 ,that step forward has    
been taken conclusively4 ,that question 
has been settled for all time and has   
been crystallized in popular  opinion4  
,we may still tyrannize coarsely over   
the weak1 but we are  quite conscious   
that we are doing something to be       
ashamed of4 ,we can  therefore1 without 
fear of reactionary setbacks1 devote    
ourselves to  creating a popular        
consciousness of the sin of moral and   
intellectual  tyranny4    ,now all this 
reasoning has been conducted by means of
 abstract ideas  and big words4 ,it may 
seem hardly applicable to the relations 
of an  affectionate parent with his     
three-year-old child4 ,how1 practically1
  concretely1 at once1 to-day1 can we   
begin to avoid paternal despotism  over 
little children8    ,to begin with1 by  
giving them the practical training      

necessary to  physical independence of  
life4 ,anyone who knows a woman who     
lived  in the ,south during the old     
rgime must have heard stories of the    
pathetic1 grotesque helplessness to     
which the rich white population  was    
reduced by the presence and personal    
service of the slaves 444 the  grown    
women who could not button their own    
shoes1 the grown men who  had never in  
their lives assembled all the articles  
necessary for a  complete toilet4 ,dr4  
,montessori says1 8,the paralytic who   
cannot take  off his boots because of a 
pathological fact1 and the prince who   
dare  not take them off because of a    
social fact1 are in reality reduced to  
the same condition40 ,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 slave8  ,how many other 
bustling1 competent1 quick-stepping     
mothers1 dressing  and undressing1      

washing and feeding and regulating their
 children1 as  though they were little  
automata1 because 8it's so much easier  
to do  it for them than to bother to    
teach them how to do it10 are reducing  
the little ones to a state of practical 
paralysis8 ,as if ease were the  aim of 
a mother in her relations to her child6 
,it would be easier1 as  far as that is 
concerned1 to eat the child's meals for 
it2 and a study  of the 8competent0     
brand of mother almost leads one to     
suspect that  only the physical         
impossibility of this substituted       
activity keeps it  from being put into  
practice4 ,the too loving mother1 the   
one who is too  competent1 the one who  
is too wedded to the regularity of her  
household  routine1 the impatient       
mother1 the one who is 8no teacher and  
never  can tell anybody how to do       
things10 all these diverse              
personalities1  though actuated by quite
 differing motives1 are doing the same  
thing1  unconsciously1 benevolently1    

overbearingly insisting upon living the 
child's life for him4    ,but it is     
evident that simply keeping our hands   
off is not enough4 ,to  begin with the  
process of dressing himself1 the first  
in order of the  day's routine1 a child 
of three1 with no training1 turned loose
 with  the usual outfit of clothes1     
could never dress himself in the longest
  day of the year4 ,and here1 with a    
serious problem to be solved1 we are    
back beside the buttoning boy of the    
,children's ,home4 ,the child must      
learn how to be independent1 as he must 
learn how to be anything  else that is  
worth being1 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 speed4 ,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 problem1 which is none    
other than  the beginning of his        

emancipation from the prison of         
babyishness4 ,let  him learn the        
different ways of fastening garments    
together on the  ,montessori frames if  
you have them1 or in any other way your 
ingenuity  can devise4 ,old garments of 
your own1 put on a cheap dress form1 are
  not a bad substitute for that part of 
the ,montessori apparatus1 or the  large
 doll suggested on page #aae may serve4 
,then apply your mind1 difficult as that
 process is for all of us1 to  the      
simplification of the child's costumes1 
even if you are led into  such an       
unheard-of innovation as fastening the  
little waists and  dresses up the front4
 ,let me wonder1 parenthetically1 why   
children's  clothes should all be       
fastened at the back8 ,men manage to    
protect  themselves from the weather on 
the opposite principle4    ,then1       
finally1 give him time to learn and to  
practise the new process2  and time is  
one of the necessary elements of life   
most often denied to  little children1  

who always take vastly longer than we do
 to complete a  given process4 ,i am    
myself a devoted adherent of the clock1 
and cannot  endure the formless         
irregularity of a daily life without    
fixed hours1  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 lives1       
without  our undergoing considerable    
inconvenience1 no matter how ingeniously
 we  arrange the matter4 ,we must feel a
 whole-hearted willingness to forego  a 
superfluity in life for the sake of     
safeguarding an essential of  life4     
,when ,i feel the temptation1 into which
 my impatient temperament  is constantly
 leading me1 to perform some action for 
a child which he  would better do for   
himself1 because his slowness interferes
 with my  household schedule1 ,i bring  
rigorously to mind the ,montessori      
teacher  who did not tuck in the child's
 napkin4 ,and ,i severely scrutinize the
  household process1 the regularity of  

which is being upset1 to see  if that   
regularity is really worth a check to   
the child's growth in  self-dependence4 
,once in a while it really does seem to 
me1 on mature consideration1  that      
regularity is worth that sacrifice1 but 
so seldom as to be  astonishing4 ,one of
 the few instances is the regularity of 
the three  meals a day4 ,this seems to  
be an excellent means of inculcating    
real  social feeling in the child1 of   
making him understand the necessity  for
 occasional sacrifices of individual    
desires to benefit the common  weal4    
,one should take care not to neglect or 
pass over the few genuine  opportunities
 in the life of a little child1 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
 good4    ,but most other situations    
yield very different results when       
analyzed4  ,for instance1 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      
haste1 rather than run the risk of      
chilling the child4 ,but as a rule1  if 
the conditions are really honestly      
examined1 these two alternatives  are   
seen not to be the only ones4 ,he is set
 perhaps to dress in a cold  room       
because we have a tradition that it is  
8messy0 and 8common0 to  have dressing  
and undressing going on anywhere except 
in a bedroom4 ,the  question ,i must    
then ask myself is no longer1 8,is there
 not danger that  the child will take   
cold if ,i give him time to dress       
himself80 but1  8,is the ordered        
respectability of my warm parlor worth a
 check to my  child's normal growth80   
,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 life4   
,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-reliance1 self-control1 and        
independence1  almost the most valuable 
outfit for the battle of life a human   
being  can have4    ,it is impossible1  
of course1 to consider here all the     
processes of the  child's day in as     
minute detail as this question of his   
morning toilet4  ,but the same procedure
 of 8hands off0 should be followed1     
because help  that is not positively    
necessary is a hindrance to a growing   
organism4  ,it is well to put strings   
for your vines to climb up1 but it does 
them  no good to have you try to 8help0 
them by pulling on the tips of the      
tendrils4 ,the little child should be   
allowed time to wash his own face  and  
hands1 to brush his teeth1 and to feed  
himself1 although it would  be quicker  
to continue our ,strasbourg goose       
tradition of stuffing him  ourselves4   

,he should1 as soon as possible1 learn  
to put on and take off  his own wraps1  
hat1 and rubbers4 ,he should carry his  
own playthings1  should learn to open   
and shut doors1 go up and down stairs   
freely1 hang  up his own clothes 7hooks 
placed low must not be forgotten71 and  
look  himself for articles he has       
misplaced4    ,adults who1 for the first
 time1 try this rgime with little       
children  are astonished to find that it
 is not the patience of the little      
child1 but their own1 which is          
inadequate4 ,a child 7if he is young    
enough not to have acquired the         
invalid's habit of being waited upon7   
will persevere unendingly through a     
series of grotesquely awkward  attempts1
 for instance1 to climb upon an adult's 
chair4 ,the sight of  this laborious    
attempt to accomplish a perfectly easy  
feat reduces his  quick-stepping1       
competent mother to nervous fidgets1    
requiring all her  self-control to      
resist4 ,she is almost irresistibly     

driven to rushing  forward and lifting  
him up4 ,if she does1 she is very apt to
 see him  slide to the floor and begin  
all over again4 ,it is not elevation to 
the chair which he desires4 ,it is the  
capacity to attain it himself1  unaided1
 which is his goal1 a goal like all     
others in his life which  his mother    
cannot reach for him4    ,and if all    
this sounds too troublesome and         
complicated1 let it be  remembered that 
the ,children's ,home looms close at    
hand1 ominously  ready to devote itself 
to making conditions exactly right for  
the  child's growth1 never impatient1   
with no other aim in life and no  other 
occupation but to do what is best for   
the child4 ,if we are to be  allowed to 
keep our children with us1 we must prove
 worthy the sacred  trust4              
,illustration3 ,,materials ,,for        
,,teaching ,,rough ,,and ,,smooth4      
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,for1 practically1 the highly successful
 existence of the ,casa dei  ,bambini1  

keeping the children as it does all day1
 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 children4 
,it is  visibly apparent that1 as far as
 physical surroundings are concerned1   
he is ,gulliver struggling with the     
conditions of ,brobdingnag4 ,he eats    
his meals from a table as high for him  
as the mantelpiece would be for  us1 he 
climbs up and down stairs with the      
painful effort we expend on  the ascent 
of the ,pyramids1 he gets into an       
armchair as we would climb  into a tree1
 and he can no more alter the position  
of it than we could  that of the tree4  
,as for the conduct of life1 he is      
considered 8naughty0 if he interferes   
with adult occupations1 which1 going on 
all about him all the time and  being   
entirely incomprehensible to him1 are   
very difficult to avoid2  and he is     
8good0 like the 8good ,indian0 according
 to the degree of his  silent passivity4

 ,when we return after a brief absence  
and inquire of  a little child1 8,have  
you been a good child80 do we not mean  
simply1  8,have you been as little      
inconvenient as possible to your        
elders80 ,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
  one4    ,i leave to the last chapter  
the question1 a most searching and      
painful one for me1 as to whether the   
,casa dei ,bambini will not  ultimately 
be the ,home for all our children1 and  
here confine myself  to the statement1  
which no unprejudiced mind can deny1    
that such an  institution1 arranged as  
it has been with the most single-hearted
  desire to further the children's      
interests1 is now better adapted for    
child-life than our average homes1 into 
which children may be welcomed          
lovingly1 but which are adapted in every
 detail of their material1              
intellectual1 and spiritual life for    

adults only4 ,it is my firm  conviction 
that1 in my own case1 a working         
compromise may be effected1  thanks to  
my alarmed jealousy of the greater      
perfection of the  ,montessori          
,children's ,home2 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     
restrictions4 ,and1  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 crime4 ,the most    
puritanical soul among us must see that 
there are quite enough necessary        
restrictions for the child1 if they  are
 all recognized and rigorously obeyed1  
to serve as disciplinary  forces to the 
most turbulent nature4                  
,,chapter ,x    ,,some ,,considerations 
,,on ,,the ,,nature ,,of 8,,discipline0 
,with the last affirmation of the       
preceding chapter ,i have brought       

myself to another bed-rock principle of 
this new religion of childhood1  one    
which at first ,i was unable to         
understand and hence to accept4  ,in my 
very blood there runs that conviction of
 the necessity for  discipline which    
colored so profoundly all early ,new    
,england life4 ,at  the sight of this   
too-pleasant and too-smiling world of   
children1 some  old ,puritan of an      
ancestor sprang to life in me and cried 
out sourly1  8,but it's good for        
children to do what they don't like to  
do1 and to  keep on with something after
 they want to stop4 ,they must in later 
life4 ,they should begin now40    ,the  
answer to this objection is one ,i have 
had practically to work  out for myself1
 since the ,italian exponents of the    
system1 having  back of them an unbroken
 line of life-loving and life-trusting  
,latin  forefathers1 found it           
practically impossible to understand    
what was  in my mind4 ,there was much   
talk of 8discipline0 in their discussion

  of the theories of the method2 but    
evidently they did not attach the  same 
meaning to the word as the one ,i had   
been trained to use4 ,this  fact led me 
to meditate on what ,i myself really    
meant by discipline3 a  process of      
definition which1 as it always does1    
clarified my ideas and  proved them in  
some respects quite different from what 
,i had thought  them4    ,discipline    
means1 of course1 8the capacity for     
self-control40 ,i had  no sooner        
formulated this definition than ,i saw  
that ,i had been1 in  my practical use  
of the word1 omitting half of it1 and   
that the vital  half4 ,it was not       
discipline ,i had been vainly seeking at
 the ,casa dei  ,bambini1 it was        
compulsion4    ,now1 compulsion is a    
force very much handier to use in       
education than  self-control1 since it  
depends on the adult and not on the     
child1 and  practically any adult with a
 club 7physical or moral7 can compass   
it1  if the child in his power is small 

enough4 ,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 applied4 ,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    
action4    ,and yet self-control1 like  
all other vital processes of individual 
life1 is tantalizingly elusive and      
subtle4 ,my untrained mind1 face to     
face at last with the real problem1     
despaired of securing this real         
self-control and not the valueless      
compulsory obedience to external  force 
or persuasion with which ,i had been    
confusing it4 ,i saw that it  is secured
 in the ,children's ,home and betook    
myself once more to an  examination of  
their methods4    ,their method for     
solving this problem is like the one    
they use in all  other problems of      
child-life4 ,they use the adult brain to

 analyze  minutely all the complex      
processes involved1 and then they begin 
at the  beginning to teach the children 
all the different actions1 one after    
another4    ,for instance1 the capacity 
for close1 consecutive attention to any 
undertaking is a very valuable form of  
self-control and self-discipline  7one  
which a good many adults have never     
mastered74 ,the natural  tendency of    
childhood1 as of all untrained humanity1
 is for  flightiness1 for mental        
vagrancy1 for picking up and fitfully   
dropping  an enterprise4 ,it is obvious 
that the sternest of external so-called 
discipline cannot lay a finger on this  
particular mental fault1 because  all it
 can command is physical obedience1     
which ceases when the  compulsion is no 
longer active4 ,in the ,children's      
,home1 the child is  provided with a    
task so exactly suited to the           
instinctive needs of his  growing       
organism1 that his own spontaneous      
interest in it overcomes his  own       

equally spontaneous aversion to mental  
concentration4 ,later on in  life he    
must learn to concentrate mentally1     
whether he feels a strong  spontaneous  
interest in the subject or not2 but it  
is evident that he  cannot do that1 if  
he has not learned first to control his 
wandering  wits when the subject does   
interest him4 ,and that this last is not
 the  perfectly easy undertaking it     
seems1 is apparent when one considers   
all the hopelessly flighty women there  
are in the world1 who could not1  to    
save their lives1 mentally concentrate  
on anything4 ,the ,montessori  apparatus
 sets a valuable vital force in the     
child's own intellectual  make-up to    
master an undesirable instinct1 and     
naturally the valuable  force grows     
stronger with every exercise of its     
power1 just as a muscle  does4 ,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 children1 showed
 real  self-control1 even though it was 
not associated with the element of  pain
 which my grim ancestors led me to think
 was essential4    ,it is true that     
self-control in the face of pain or     
indifference is  a necessary element in 
adult moral and intellectual life1 but  
it now  appears that1 like every other  
factor in life1 it must start from      
small beginnings and grow slowly4 ,the  
buttoning boy showed not only           
self-control1 but the only variety of it
 which a baby is capable of             
manifesting4 ,when ,i had the notion    
that ,i ought 7for his own good1 of     
course7 to demand of him self-control in
 the face of pain1 even of  a very small
 pain1 ,i was asking something which he 
could not as yet  give1 and of which    
compulsory obedience could only obtain  
an empty and  misleading appearance1 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-control4 ,he  must
 begin slowly to learn self-control1 as 
he must begin slowly to  learn how to   
walk4 ,i am quite satisfied if he takes 
a single step at  first1 because ,i know
 that is the essential4 ,if he can do   
that1 he will  ultimately learn to climb
 a mountain4 ,if he can overcome the    
naturally  vagrant impulses of his mind 
through intellectual interest 7for it is
  none other7 in the completion of his  
task of buttoning up the cloth on  his  
frame1 he has begun a mental habit the  
value of which cannot be  overestimated1
 and which will later1 in its full      
development1 make it  possible for him  
to master calculus without the          
agonizing1 too-tardy  effort at mental  
self-control which embittered my own    
struggle with  that subject4    ,from   
time immemorial1 the child himself has  
always instinctively used  in his games 
and plays this method of learning       
self-control and mental  concentration1 

as much as adults would allow him4 ,the 
admirable1  thoroughgoing concentration 
of a child on a game of marbles or ball 
is proverbial2 but while the rest of us1
 with some unsystematic  exceptions1    
have looked idly on at this great       
natural stream of mental  vigor pouring 
itself out in profusion before our eyes1
 ,dr4 ,montessori  has stepped in with  
an ingeniously devised waterwheel and   
set it to  work4    ,the child in the   
,casa dei ,bambini advances from one    
scientifically  graded stage of mental  
self-control to the next1 from the      
buttoning-frames to the geometric       
insets1 from these to their use in      
drawing and the control of the pencil1  
and then on into the mastery  of the    
alphabet1 always with a greater and     
greater control of the  processes of his
 mind4    ,the control of the processes 
of his body are learned in the same     
analyzed1 gradual progression from the  
easy to the difficult4 ,he  learns in   
the 8lesson of silence0 how to do       

nothing with his body1  an              
accomplishment which his fidgety elders 
have never acquired2 he  learns in all  
the sensory exercises the complete      
control of his five  servants1 his      
senses2 and in moving freely about the  
furniture suited  to his size1 in       
handling things small enough for him to 
manage1 in  transferring objects from   
one place to another1 he learns how to  
go  deftly through all the ordinary     
operations of everyday life4    ,this   
physical adroitness has a vitally close 
relation to discipline  of all sorts4   
,when we say to the average1 untrained1 
muscularly  uncontrolled child of four1 
8,now do sit still for a while60 we are 
making a request about as reasonable as 
though we cried1 8,do stand  on your    
head60 ,and then we shake him or reprove
 him for not obeying  what is for him an
 impossible command4 ,by so doing we    
start in his  mind the habit1 both of   
not obeying and of being punished for   
it2 and  as ,nature is exuberant in her 

protective devices1 he very soon grows  
a fine mental callous over his capacity 
for remorse at not obeying4  ,the effort
 required to accede to our request is   
entirely too great  for him1 even if he 
wholly understands what we wish1 which  
is often  doubtful4 ,and because he     
often has been forced to disobey a      
command  to do something impossible1 he 
falls into the way of disobeying a      
command which is within his powers4 ,the
 ,montessori training makes every       
impassioned attempt to teach a child    
exactly how to do a thing before  he is 
requested to do it4    ,we give a child 
the enormously compendious command1     
8,don't be so  careless60 without       
reflecting that it is about as useful   
and specific  an exhortation as if one  
should cry to us1 8,do be more          
virtuous60 ,dr4  ,montessori is         
continually admonishing us to use our   
grown-up brains to  analyze into its    
component parts the child's             
carelessness1 so that1  part by part1 it

 can be corrected4 ,suppose that it has 
manifested  itself 7as it not           
infrequently does7 by a reckless plunge 
across the  room1 carrying a plateful of
 cookies which have most of them fallen 
to the floor by the end of the trip4    
,almost without exception1 what  we all 
cry impatiently to a child1 even to a   
very little child1 under  those         
circumstances1 is 8,for mercy's sake1 do
 look at what you're  doing60 which is1 
considered at all analytically1 exactly 
what it is  our business as his leaders 
and guides in the world to do for him4  
,a little reflection on the subject     
makes us realize1 in spite of the       
sharpness of our reproof to him1 that he
 takes no pleasure in spilling  the     
cookies and falling over the chairs2    
that is1 that he had no set  purpose to 
do this1 instead of walking correctly   
across the room  and setting the plate  
down on the table4 ,the question we     
should ask  ourselves1 is obviously1    
8,why then1 did he do all those         

troublesome  and careless things80      
,obviously because we were requiring him
 to go  through a complicated process1  
the separate parts of which he has not  
mastered2 as though a musician should   
command us to play the chromatic  scale 
of ,d minor1 and then blame us for the  
resultant discord4 ,he  should have     
taught us a multitude of things before  
requiring such a  complicated           
achievement1--how to hold our fingers   
over the piano-keys1  how to read music1
 how to play simpler scales4    ,the    
child with the cookie-plate needs1 in   
the first place1 a course of  exercises 
in learning to walk in a straight line  
directly to the spot  where he means to 
go1 exercises continued until this      
process becomes  automatic1 so that the 
greatest haste on his part will not send
 him  reeling about as most children    
7and a considerable number of their     
ill-trained elders7 do when they        
undertake to move from one side of the  
room to another4    ,how can he learn to

 do this8 ,dr4 ,montessori suggests     
drawing a  chalk-line on the floor and  
having the children play the 8game0     
7either  with or without music7 of      
trying to walk along it without stepping
 off4  ,i myself1 remembering the       
forbidden joys of my reckless childhood 
in  walking the top-rail of a fence1    
have tried the expedient of providing  a
 less dangerous top-rail laid flat on   
the ground4 ,did any healthy  child ever
 need more than one chance to walk along
 railway tracks8  ,the objection in the 
past to these exercises has been that   
they were  connected with something     
dangerous and undesirable4 ,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     
track4 ,both of these were highly  risky
 diversions4 ,but it does seem odd that 
neither they nor ,i ever  thought of    
providing1 in some safe form1 the       
exercises in equilibrium  so violently  
craved by all healthy children4 ,a      

narrow board1 or length  of so-called   
8two-by-four0 studding1 laid on the     
ground1 furnishes a  diversion as       
endlessly entertaining for a child of   
three as the most  dangerously high     
fence-rail for an older child1 and the  
never-failing  zest with which a little 
child practises balancing himself on    
this  narrow 8sidewalk0 is a proof that 
the exercise is one for which he        
unconsciously felt a need4    ,another  
trick of equilibrium1 which is hard for 
a little child1 is to  lift one foot    
from the floor and perform any action   
without falling  over4 ,if he is        
provided with a loose rope-end1 hanging 
where he can  easily reach it1 his      
parent and guardian can suggest any     
number of  entertaining things to do    
while his equilibrium is assured by his 
grasp  on the rope4 ,my experience has  
been that one suggestion is enough4 ,the
  child's invention does the rest4      
,another exercise which is of great     
benefit for very little children is to  

walk backwards1 a process which  needs  
no more gymnastic apparatus than a      
helping hand from father or  mother1 an 
apparatus which is equally effective in 
teaching a young  child the fascinating 
game of crossing one foot over the other
 without  falling down4    ,does all    
this physical training of tiny children 
seem too remote from  the older child   
who spilled the cookies8 ,he stands at  
the end of the  road over which the     
balancing1 backward-walking1 highly     
entertained  three-year-old is          
advancing4    ,although it is not       
mentioned in any ,montessori suggestions
 ,i have seen  7possibly because of the 
difficulty of managing it in a          
schoolroom71  it occurred to me one day 
that water is a neglected but very      
valuable  factor in training a little   
child to accuracy of muscular movement4 
,this reflection occurred to me just    
after ,i had instinctively led  away a  
little child from a basin of water in   
which ,i had 8caught her0  dabbling her 

hands4 ,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 desire1 ,i perceived that in  
this  case1 as so often1 ,i was acting  
traditionally1 without considering the  
essential character of the situation4 ,i
 could not1 of course1 allow the  child 
to dabble in that basin of water1 there1
 because she would be  apt to spatter it
 on the floor and to get her clothes    
wet4 ,but on that  warm summer day1 why 
could ,i not set her outdoors on the    
grass1 with a  bit of oilcloth girded   
about her waist so that she should not  
spoil her  dress8 ,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 time4 ,when ,i really  
came  to think about it1 there is       
nothing inherently wicked in playing in 
water4    ,for the almost superhuman    

effort necessary to use reason about a  
fact  the outlines of which are dulled  
by familiarity1 ,i was rewarded many    
times over by the discovery of a        
8sensory exercise0 which apparently  is 
of the highest value4 ,the child in     
question1 provided with a pan  of water1
 and various cups and jelly-molds of    
different sizes1 which  ,i snatched at  
random from the kitchen-shelf1 was in a 
state of silent  bliss4 ,she filled the 
little cups up to the brim1 she lifted  
them with  an anxious care which no     
exhortation of mine could have induced  
her to  apply1 she drank from them1 she 
poured their contents into each other1  
discovering for herself that the smaller
 ones must be emptied into the  bigger  
ones and not vice versa1 she filled them
 again with a spoon4 ,at  first she did 
all this very clumsily1 although always 
with the most  painstaking care1 but as 
the days went on with repetitions of    
this  game1 her dexterity became        
astonishing1 as was her eternal interest

 in  the monotonous proceeding4    ,now 
she is not only kept quiet and happy for
 about an hour a day by  this amusement1
 and she has not only learned to fill   
and handle her  little cups and         
jelly-molds very deftly1 but the        
operation of drinking  out of a         
water-glass at the table is of a        
simplicity fairly beneath  her contempt4
 ,i smile to see our guests gasp and    
dodge in dismay as1  with the reckless  
abandon of her age1 she grasps her      
water-glass with  one hand1 not deigning
 even to look at it1 and conveys it to  
her lips4  ,but as a matter of fact1 no 
matter how hastily or carelessly she    
does this1 she almost never spills a    
drop4 ,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        
automatic4 ,she no more spills water    
from her glass than ,i fall down on  the
 floor when ,i cross a room1 even though

 ,i may be quite absent-minded  about   
that undertaking4          ,,chapter    
,,xi    ,,more ,,about ,,discipline1    
,,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 demands1 8,but where does  
the  discipline come in here1 if it is  
all automatic and unconscious8 ,why     
sneak exactitude of muscular action into
 the child's life by the back  door1 so 
to speak8 ,would it not be better for   
her moral nature to  command her        
outright not to spill the water from her
 glass at table1  and force her to use  
her will-power by punishing her if she  
does80    ,there are several answers to 
this searching question1 which is by no 
means so simple and direct as it sounds4
 ,the most obvious one is the  retort   
brutal1 i4e41 that a great many         
generations have experimented  with that
 simple method of training children1    
with the result that  family life has   

been considerably embittered and the    
children very  poorly trained4 ,in other
 words1 that practical experience has   
shown  it to be a very bad method indeed
 and in use only because we know no     
better one4    ,one of the reasons why  
it is bad is because it confuses two    
radically  different activities in the  
child's life1 including both under one  
far  too-sweeping command4 ,the child's 
ability to handle a glass of water  is  
an entirely different function from its 
willingness to obey orders4  ,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 failure4  
,worse than this1 and in fact as bad as 
anything  can be1 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     
mind1 whenever a command is given4 ,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 ,rome4            
,furthermore1 anyone who will1  under   
ordinary circumstances1 try the simple  
experiment of asking  a little child    
7too young to have acquired this bad    
mental habit7  to perform some operation
 which he has thoroughly mastered1 will 
be  convinced that obedience in itself  
involves no pain to a child4    ,as to  
the second demand of my ,puritan        
ancestor1 which runs1 8,and force  her  
to use her will-power by punishment10   
the same flat denial must  be given that
 proposition4 ,experience proves that   
you can prevent a  child from performing
 some single special action by means of 
external  punishment1 but that          
stimulating the proper use of the       
will-power is  something entirely       
different4 ,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 upright1 useful1 and    
vigorous  growth4    ,and here it is    
well to question our own hearts deeply  
to make sure that  we really wish1      
honestly1 without mental reservations1  
to stimulate the  will-power of our     
children--their will-power1 be it       
remembered1 not our  own4 ,is there1 in 
the motives which actuate our attempts  
at securing  obedience from children1 a 
trace of the animal-trainer's instinct8 
,for1  though it is true that children  
are little animals1 and that they can   
be successfully trained by the method of
 the animal-trainer1 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 cats4
 ,they are forced to struggle blindly1  
and  wholly without aid1 towards        
whatever human achievements they may    

later  accomplish1 with the added       
disadvantage of the mental habit either 
of  sullen dissembled revolt or crushed 
mental servility1 according to  their   
temperaments4    ,the end and aim of the
 horse-breaker's effort is to create an 
animal  who will obey literally1 with no
 volition of his own1 any command of    
any human being4 ,the conscientious     
parent who faces squarely this  ultimate
 logical conclusion of the              
animal-trainer's system1 must see  that 
his own aim1 being entirely opposed to  
that1 must be attained by  very         
different means2 and that1 since his    
final goal is to produce  a being wholly
 and wisely self-governing1 the sooner  
the child can  be induced to begin the  
exercise of the faculty of              
self-government1  the more seasoned in  
experience it will be when vital things 
begin to  depend on it4    ,it is highly
 probable that in the heart of the      
modern parent of the  best type1 if     
there is still some of the              

animal-trainer's instinct1 he  is quite 
and honestly unconscious of it and would
 be ashamed of it if  he recognized it4 
,i think most of us can say sincerely   
that we have no  conscious wish for     
anything but the child's best welfare4  
,but in saying  this1 we admit at once  
that our problem is vastly more subtle  
and  complicated than the               
horse-breaker's1 and that we are in need
 of every  ray of light from any source 
possible4    ,the particular1 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 being4 ,nor is
 this1 though so constantly insisted    
upon by ,dr4  ,montessori1 any new      
invention of hers4 ,dimly felt1 it has  
regulated  more or less the best action 
of the best preachers1 the best teachers
  and lawgivers since the beginning of  
the world4 ,pestalozzi formulated  it in
 the hard saying1 all the more poignant 

because it came from a man  who had     
devoted himself with such passionate    
affection to his pupils1  8,i have found
 that no man in ,god's wide earth is    
able to help any other  man4 ,help must 
come from the bosom alone40 ,froebel1 in
 all his general  remarks on education1 
states this principle clearly4 ,finally1
 it has  been crystallized in the homely
 adage of old wives1 8,every child's got
  to do its own growing40    ,we all    
admit the truth of this theory4 ,what is
 so startling about ,dr4  ,montessori's 
attitude towards it1 is that she really 
acts upon it6  ,more than that1 she     
expects us to act on it1 all the time1  
in all the  multiform crises of our     
lives as parents1 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 himself4     
,and yet it is natural enough that we   
should find at first sight such  general

 philosophic statements rather vague and
 remote1 and not at  all sufficiently   
reassuring as we stand face to face with
 the problem  of securing obedience from
 a lively child of three4 ,we may have  
seen  how we overlooked the obvious     
reason why a child who cannot obey a    
command will not2 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 power2 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  obey4 ,all that ,dr4
 ,montessori has done for us so far is  
to call our  attention to the fact1     
which we did not in the least perceive  
before1  that a child is no more born   
into the world with a full-fledged      
capacity to obey orders1 than to do a   
sum in arithmetic4 ,but though we  agree
 that we must first teach him his       

numbers before expecting him to  add and
 subtract1 how1 we ask ourselves        
anxiously1 can we be in the  least sure 
that he will be willing to use his      
numbers to do sums with1  that he will  
be willing to utilize his careful       
preparatory training  when it comes to  
the point of really obeying orders4     
,at this juncture ,i can recommend from 
successful personal experience  a       
courageous abandonment of our           
traditional attitude of deep distrust   
towards life1 of our medieval conviction
 that desirable traits can  only be     
hewed painfully out across the grain of 
human nature4 ,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 violence4 ,this was an idea1
  held by more generations of           
school-teachers and parents than is at  
all pleasant to consider1 when one      
reflects that it would have been  swept 

out upon the dump-heap of discarded     
superstitions by one single1            
unprejudiced survey of one normal child 
under normal conditions4    ,dr4        
,montessori1 carrying to its full extent
 a theory which has been  slowly gaining
 ground in the minds of all modern      
enlightened teachers1  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 occupation1 since
 the child is the true representative of
  our race which does advance1 even with
 such painful slowness1 away  from      
ignorance towards knowledge4 ,now1 in   
addition she tells us just  as forcibly1
 that they prefer right1 orderly1       
disciplined behavior to  the unregulated
 disobedience which we slanderously     
insist is their  natural taste4 ,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 because1 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 activities1
 we do expect him to have  mastered all 
the complex muscular1 nervous1 mental1  
and moral elements  involved in the act 
of obedience to a command from outside  
his own  individuality4    ,she points  
out that obedience is evidently a       
deep-rooted instinct  in human nature1  
since society is founded on obedience4  
,indeed1 on  the whole1 history seems to
 show that the average human being has  
altogether too much native instinct to  
obey anyone who will shout out  a       
command2 and that the advance from one  
bad form of government to  another only 
slightly better1 is so slow because the 
mass of grown men  are too much given to
 obeying almost any positive order      
issued to them4  ,going back to our     
surprised recognition of the child as an
 inheritor of  human nature in its      
entirety1 we must admit that obedience  

is almost  certainly an instinct latent 
in children4    ,the obvious theoretic  
deduction from this reasoning is1 that  
we need  neither persuade nor force a   
child to obey1 but only clear-sightedly 
remove the various moral and physical   
obstructions which lie in the  way of   
his obedience1 with the confident       
expectation that his latent  instinct   
will develop spontaneously in the new   
and favorable conditions4    ,when we   
plant a bean in the ground we do not    
feel that we need to try  to force it to
 grow2 indeed1 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 life2 nor do we   
feel any apprehension about the capacity
 of that smooth1 small seed1  ultimately
 to develop into a vine which will climb
 up the pole we  have set for it1 will  
blossom1 and bear fruit4 ,we know that1 
barring  accidents 7which it is our     
business as gardeners to prevent71 it   

cannot  do anything else1 because that  
is the nature of beans1 and we know all 
about the nature of beans from a long   
acquaintance with them4    ,we would    
laugh at an ignorant1 city-bred person  
gardening for the  first time1 who1 the 
instant the two broad cotyledons showed 
above the  ground1 began tying strings  
to them to induce them to climb his     
pole4  ,our advice to him would be the  
obvious counsel1 8,leave them alone     
until  they grow their tendrils4 ,you   
not only can't do any good by trying to 
induce those first primitive leaves to  
climb1 but you may hurt your  plant so  
that it will never develop normally40   
,the question seems to be1 whether we   
will have the courage and good  sense to
 take similar sound advice from a more  
experienced and a wiser  child-gardener4
 ,dr4 ,montessori not only expounds to  
us theoretically  this doctrine that the
 child1 properly trained1 will          
spontaneously obey  reasonable orders   
suited to his age with a prompt         

willingness which  grows with his       
growth1 but she shows us in the garden  
of her schools1  bean-poles wreathed    
triumphantly with vines to the very top4
 ,or1 to  drop a perhaps too-elaborated 
metaphor1 she shows us children of three
  or four who willingly obey suggestions
 suited to their capacities1  developing
 rapidly and surely into children of six
 and seven whose  obedience in all      
things is a natural and delightful      
function of their  lives4 ,she not only 
says to us1 8,this theory will work in  
actual  practice10 but1 8,it has worked4
 ,look at the result60    ,of course the
 crux of the matter lies in that phrase1
 8proper  training40 ,it means years of 
patient1 intelligent1 faithful effort   
on the part of the guardian1 to clear   
away from before the child the          
different obstacles to the free natural 
growth of this1 as of all other         
desirable instincts of human nature4 ,to
 give our children this 8proper         
training0 it is not enough to have      

intellectually grasped the theory  of   
the ,montessori method4 ,with each      
individual child we have a fresh        
problem of its application to him4 ,our 
mother-wits must be sharpened  and in   
constant use4 ,dr4 ,montessori has only 
compiled a book of  recipes1 which will 
not feed our families1 unless we exert  
ourselves1  and unless we provide the   
necessary ingredients of patience1      
intelligence1 good judgment1 and        
devotion4    ,the prize which seems     
possible to attain by such efforts makes
 them1  however1 worthy of all the time 
and thought we may possibly put upon    
them4 ,apparently1 judging by the       
results obtained in the ,casa dei       
,bambini among ,italian children1 and by
 ,miss ,george in her school for        
,american children1 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 children1 than there is
 for the occasional 8fits  of           

indigestion10 8feverishness10 or        
8teething-sickness0 the almost          
universal absence of which in the lives 
of our scientifically-reared  children  
so astonishes the older generation4     
,for the notable success of ,miss       
,george's ,tarrytown school disposes    
once and for all of the theory that 8it 
may work for ,italians1 but not  with   
our naturally self-indulgent1 spoiled   
,american children40 ,fresh  from the   
,casa dei ,bambini in ,rome1 ,i visited 
,miss ,george's ,children's  ,home and1 
except for the language1 would have     
thought myself again  on the ,via       
,giusti4 ,the same happy1 unforced      
interest in the work1  the same         
,montessori atmosphere of spontaneous   
life1 the same utter  unconsciousness of
 visitors1 the same astonishing         
industry4    ,illustration              
,illustration3 ,,counting ,,boxes4      
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,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 system1 ,i was led towards the      
conviction that children  really have   
not that irresistible tendency towards  
naughtiness which my  ,puritan blood led
 me unconsciously to assume1 but that   
their natural  tendency is on the whole 
to prefer to do what is best for them1  
,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 law4    ,naturally1 being an    
,anglo-,saxon1 an inhabitant of a cold  
climate1 and  the descendant of those   
troublesome ,puritan forefathers1 who   
have  interfered so much with the       
composition of this book1 ,i could not1 
all in a breath1 in this dizzying manner
 lose that firm conviction  of ,original
 ,sin which1 though no longer insisted  
upon openly in the  teachings of the    

church1 which ,i no longer attend as    
assiduously as my  parents1 still is1 ,i
 discovered1 a very vital element in my 
conception  of life4    ,no1 the        
doctrine of ,original ,sin is in the    
very marrow of my ,new  ,england bones1 
but1 as a lover of my kind1 ,i rejoice  
to be convinced  of the smallness of its
 proportion in relation to other        
elements of  human nature1 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 ,rome4 ,and  
though ,i still cling unreasonably to   
my superstition that there is1 at least 
in some ,american children1  an         
irreducible minimum of the quality which
 our country people  picturesquely call 
8,the ,old ,harry10 ,i am convinced that
 there is far1  far less of it than ,i  
supposed1 and ,i am overcome with       
retrospective  remorse for all the      
children ,i have misjudged in the course
 of my life4    ,to put it              

statistically1 ,i would estimate that   
out of every thousand  cases of         
8naughtiness0 among little children1    
nine hundred and  ninety-nine are due to
 something else than a 8bad0 impulse in 
the  child's heart4 ,old-wife wisdom has
 already reduced by one-half the        
percentage of infantile wickedness1 in  
its fireside proverb1 8,give a  young   
one that's acting bad something to eat  
and put him to bed4 ,half  the time he's
 tired or starved and don't know what   
ails him40    ,it now seems likely that 
the other half of the time he is either 
hungry  for intellectual food1 weary    
with the artificial stimulation of too  
much mingling with adult life1 or       
exasperated by perfectly unnecessary    
insistence on a code of rules which has 
really nothing to do with the  question 
of right or wrong conduct4 ,when it     
comes to choosing between  really right 
and really wrong conduct1 apparently the
 majority of the  child's natural       
instincts are for the really right1 as  

is shown by his  real preference for the
 orderly1 educating activity of the     
,children's  ,home over disorderly      
8naughtiness40 ,our business should be  
to see to it  that he is given the      
choice4          ,,chapter ,,xii        
,,difficulties ,,in ,,the ,,way ,,of ,a 
,,universal ,,adoption ,,of ,,the       
,,montessori ,,ideas      ,now1 of      
course1 it is infinitely easier in the  
first place to cry  out to a child1     
8,oh1 don't be so careless60 than to    
consider thus  with painful care all the
 elements lacking in his training which 
make him heedless1 and throughout years 
of conscientious effort to  exercise the
 ingenuity necessary to supply those    
lacking elements4  ,but serious-minded  
parents do not and should not expect to 
find life  a flowery bed of ease1 and it
 is my conviction that most of us will  
welcome with heartfelt joy any possible 
solution of our desperately  pressing   
problems1 even if it involves the       
process of oiling and  setting in motion

 the little-used machinery of our       
brains4    ,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 personally4     
,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 childhood1 of this new       
system1  excellent though they are1 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 
adopt4 ,they inform  me that they have  
learned that1 if obedience to the laws  
of hygiene  requires continuous effort1 
day after day1 people will not obey     
them1  even though by so doing they     
would avoid the pains and maladies which
  they so dread4 8,people will take     
pills10 physicians report1 8but they    
will not take exercise4 ,if your new    

system told them of some one or  two    
supreme actions which would benefit     
their children1 quite a number  of      
parents would strain every nerve to     
accomplish the necessary feats4  ,but   
what you are telling them is only       
another form of what we cry so  vainly1 
namely that they themselves must observe
 nature and follow her  laws1 and that  
no action of their doctors1 wise though 
they may be1 can  vicariously perform   
this function for them4 ,you will see   
that your ,dr4  ,montessori's           
exhortations will have as little effect 
as those of any  other physician40    ,i
 confess that at first ,i was somewhat  
cast down by these pessimistic          
prophecies1 for even a casual glance    
over any group of ordinary              
acquaintances shows only too much ground
 for such conclusions4 ,but  a more     
prolonged scrutiny of just such a       
casually selected group of              
acquaintances1 and a little more        
searching inquiry into the matter has   

brought out facts which lead to more    
encouraging ideas4    ,in the first     
place1 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 them4 ,comparatively         
speaking1 it is only yesterday that the 
doctors themselves outgrew the  idea    
that pills were the divinely appointed  
cures for all ills4 ,so  recent is this 
revolution in ideas that there are still
 left among us  in eddies1 out of the   
main stream1 elderly doctors who lay    
very little  of the modern fanatical    
stress on diet1 and burn very little    
incense  before the modern altar of     
fresh air and exercise4 ,it seems early 
in  the day to conclude that the        
majority of mankind will not take good  
advice if it is offered them1 a sardonic
 conclusion disproved by the  athletic  
clubs all over the country1 the         
sleeping-porches burgeoning  out from   
large and small houses1 the millions of 

barefooted children in  rompers1 the    
regiments of tennis-playing adolescents 
and golf-playing  elders1 the myriads of
 diet-studying housewives1 the gladly   
accepted  army of trained nurses4 ,we   
may not do as well as we might1 but we  
certainly have not turned deaf ears to  
all the exhortations of reason  and     
enlightenment4    ,furthermore1 beside  
the fact that doctors have been         
preaching 8hygiene  against drugs0 to us
 only a short time1 it is to be borne in
 mind that1  as a class1 they do not add
 to their many noble and glorious       
qualities  of mind and heart a very     
ardent proselytizing fervor4 ,it seems  
to be  against the 8temperament0 of the 
profession4 ,if you go to a doctor's    
office1 and consult him professionally  
he will1 it is true1 tell you  nowadays 
not to take pills1 but to take plenty of
 exercise and sleep1  to eat moderately1
 avoid worry1 and drink plenty of pure  
water2 but  you do not ever run across  
him preaching these doctrines from a    

barrel-head on the street-corner1 to all
 who will hear4 ,the traditional        
dignity of his profession forbids such  
,salvation ,army methods4 ,the  doctors 
of a town are apt1 prudently1 to boil   
the water used in their  own households 
and to advise this course of action to  
any who seek  their counsel1 rather than
 to band together in an aggressive1     
united  company and make themselves     
disagreeably conspicuous by clamoring   
insistently at the primaries and polls  
for better water for the town4  ,it is  
perhaps not quite fair to accuse us     
laity of obstinacy in  refusing advice  
which has been offered with such        
gentlemanly reserve4    ,then1 there is 
the obvious fact that doctors1 like     
lawyers1 see  professionally only the   
ailing or malcontents of the human      
family1  and they suffer from a tendency
 common to us all1 to generalize from   
the results of their own observation4   
,our own observation of our  own        
community may quite honestly lead us to 

the opposite of their  conclusions1     
namely that it is well worth while to   
make every effort  for the diffusion of 
theories which tend to improve daily    
life1 since1  on the whole1 people seem 
to have picked up very quickly indeed   
the  reasonable doctrine of the         
prevention of illness by means of       
healthy  lives4 ,if they have done this1
 and are1 to all appearances1 trying    
hard to learn more about the process1 it
 is reasonable to hope that  they will  
catch at a similar reasonable mental and
 moral hygiene for  their children1 and 
that they will learn to leave off the   
unnecessary  mental and moral           
restrictions1 the unwise interference   
with the  child's growth and undue      
insistence on conformity to adult ideas 
of  regularity1 just as they have       
learned how to leave off the innumerable
  layers of starched petticoats1 the    
stiff scratchy pantalets1 and  the      
close1 smothering sunbonnets in which   
our loving and devoted                  

great-grandmothers required our         
grandmothers to grow up4    ,lastly1    
there is a vital element in the         
situation which is perhaps  not         
sufficiently considered by people       
anxious to avoid the charge of          
sentimentality4 ,this element is the    
strength of parental affection1  perhaps
 the strongest and most enduring passion
 which falls to the  lot of ordinary    
human beings4 ,only a ,napoleon can     
carry ambition to  the intensity of a   
passion4 ,great1 overmastering love     
between man  and woman is not so common 
as our romantic tradition would have us 
believe4 ,in the world of religion1     
saints are few and far between4  ,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 themselves4 ,but nearly    
every house which  contains children1   
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 young1 two human      
beings1 who1 no matter how low their    
position in the scale of human  ethical 
development1 have in them to some extent
 that divine capacity  for willing      
self-sacrifice which comes1 under other 
conditions1 only  to the rarest and most
 spiritual-minded members of the race4  
,it is  not sentimentality but a simple 
statement of fact to say that there  is 
in parents who take care of their own   
children 7as most ,american  parents do7
 a natural fund of energy1 patience1 and
 willingness to  undergo                
self-discipline1 which cannot be counted
 upon in any other  numerous class of   
people4 ,the ,montessori system1 with   
its fresh1 vivid  presentation of       
axiomatic truths1 with a fervent hope of
 a practical  application of them to the
 everyday life of every child1 addresses
  itself to these qualities in parents2 
and1 for the sound development  of its  

fundamental idea of self-education and  
self-government1 trusts  not only to the
 wise conclaves of professional         
pedagogues1 but to the  co-operation of 
the fathers and mothers of the world4   
,,chapter ,,xiii    ,,is ,,there ,,any  
,,real ,,difference ,,between ,,the     
,,montessori ,,system ,,and ,,the       
,,kindergarten8      ,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 foolhardiness4 ,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   
chapter4 ,it always accented1  8,is     
there any real difference between the   
,montessori system and the              
kindergarten80 with the evident design  
of forcing a negative answer4    ,oddly 
enough1 the same reluctance to grant the

 possibility of anything  new in the    
,italian method characterizes the       
attitude of those who  intensely dislike
 the kindergartens1 as well as that of  
its devoted  adherents4 ,people who     
consider the kindergarten 8all          
sentimental1  enervating twaddle0 ask   
the question with a truculent tone which
 makes  their query mean1 8,this new    
system is just the same sort of         
nonsense1  isn't it now802 while those  
who feel that the kindergarten is one of
  the vital1 purifying1 and uplifting   
forces in modern society evidently  use 
the question as a means of stating1 8,it
 can't be anything  different from the  
best kindergarten ideas1 for they are   
the best  possible40    ,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 inquirers4 ,if they can see    
nothing in kindergartens  but the       

sentimentality which is undoubtedly     
there1 but which cannot  possibly1 even 
in the most exaggerated manifestations  
of it1 vitiate  all the finely uplifting
 elements in those institutions1 it is  
of no  use to expect from them an       
understanding of a system which1 like   
the  ,froebelian1 rests ultimately upon 
a religious faith in the strength of    
the instinct for perfection in the human
 race4    ,it is therefore largely for  
the sake of people like myself1 with a  
natural sympathy for the kindergarten1  
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
 infants4    ,i must begin by saying    
that there are a great many             
resemblances1 as  is inevitable in the  
case of two methods which work upon the 
same  material--children from three to  
six4 ,and of course it is hardly        
necessary formally to admit that the    
ultimate aim of the two educators  is   

alike1 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 ages1 from   
,plato and ,quintilian down1 which      
distinguishes the  educator from the    
mere school-teacher4    ,there are a    
good many differences in the didactic   
apparatus and use of  it1 some of which 
are too technical to be treated fully   
here1 such as  the fact that ,froebel1  
moved by his own extreme interest in    
crystals  and their forms1 provides a   
number of exercises for teaching        
children  the analysis of geometrical   
forms1 whereas ,dr4 ,montessori thinks  
best  not to undertake this with        
children so young4 ,kindergarten        
children  are not taught reading and    
writing1 and ,montessori children are4  
,kindergarten children learn more about 
the relations of wholes to parts  in    
their 8number work10 while in the ,casa 

dei ,bambini there is more  attention   
paid to numbers in their series4        
,there are of course many other         
differences in technic and apparatus1   
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 environment4 ,this is  
especially true in  regard to the       
greater emphasis laid by ,dr4           
,montessori on the careful1  minute     
observation of the children before and  
during any attempt to  instruct them4   
,trained as she has been in the severely
 unrelenting  rule for exactitude of the
 positive sciences1 in which intelligent
  observation is elevated to the        
position of the cardinal virtue         
necessary to intellectual salvation1 her
 instinct1 strengthened since  then by  
much experience1 was to give herself    
plenty of time always  to examine the   
subject of her experimentation4 ,just as
 a scientific  horticulturist observes  

minutely the habits of a plant before he
 tries  a new fertilizer on it1 and     
after he has made the experiment goes on
  observing the plant with even more    
passionately absorbed attention1  so    
,dr4 ,montessori trains her teachers to 
take time1 all they need1 to  observe   
the children before1 during1 and after  
any given exercise4 ,this  is1 of       
course1 the natural instinct of         
,froebel1 of every born teacher1  but   
the routine of the average school or    
kindergarten gives the teacher  only too
 few minutes for it1 not to speak of the
 long hours necessary4    ,on the other 
hand1 even in the details of the        
technic1 there is much  similarity      
between the two systems4 ,some of the   
kindergarten blocks are  used in        
,montessori 8sensory exercises40 ,in    
both institutions the ideal1  seldom    
attained as yet1 is for the systematic  
introduction of gardening  and the care 
of animals4 ,in both the children play  
games and dance  to music2 some regular 

kindergarten games are used in the ,casa
 dei  ,bambini2 in both schools the     
first aim is to make the children happy2
  in neither are they reproved or       
punished4 ,both systems bear in every   
detail the imprint of extreme love and  
reverence for childhood4 ,and yet  the  
moral atmosphere of a kindergarten is as
 different from that of a  ,casa dei    
,bambini as possible1 and the real truth
 of the matter is that  one is actually 
and fundamentally opposed to the other4 
,to explain this1 a few words of comment
 on ,froebel1 his life1 and  the        
subsequent fortunes of his ideas may be 
useful4 ,these facts are  so well known1
 owing to the universal respect and     
affection for this  great benefactor of 
childhood1 that the merest mention of   
them will  suffice4 ,the dates of his   
birth and death are significant1        
#aghb-aheb1  as is a brief bringing to  
mind of the intensely ,german           
,protestant  piety of his surroundings4 
,he died sixty years ago1 and a great   

deal  of educational water has flowed   
under school bridges since then4 ,he    
died before anyone dreamed of modern    
scientific laboratories1 such  as those 
in which the ,italian educator received 
her sound1 practical  training1 a       
training which not only put at her      
disposition an amount of  accurate      
information about the subject of her    
investigation which would  have dazzled 
,froebel1 but formed her in the fixed   
habit of inductive  reasoning which has 
made possible the brilliant achievements
 of modern  positive sciences1 and which
 was as little common in ,froebel's time
 as  the data on which it works4 ,that  
he felt instinctively the needs for     
this solid foundation is shown by his   
craving for instruction in the  natural 
sciences1 his absorption of all the     
scanty information within  his reach1   
his subsequent deep meditation upon this
 information1 and  his attempts to      
generalize from it4    ,another factor  
in ,froebel's life which scarcely exists

 nowadays was  the tradition of physical
 violence and oppression towards        
children4  ,that this has gradually     
disappeared from the ordinary civilized 
family1  is partly due to the general   
trend away from physical oppression of  
all  sorts1 and partly to ,froebel's own
 softening influence1 for which we  can 
none of us feel too fervent a gratitude4
 ,he was forced to devote  considerable 
of his energy to combating this         
tendency1 which was not a  factor at all
 in the problems which confronted ,dr4  
,montessori4    ,some time after his    
death his ideas began to spread abroad  
not only  in ,europe 7the kindergartens 
of which ,i know nothing about1 except  
that they are very successful and       
numerous71 but also in the ,united      
,states1 about whose numerous and       
successful kindergartens we all know a  
great deal4 ,the new system was taken up
 by teachers who were intensely         
,american1 and hence strongly           
characterized by the ,american quality  

of  force of individuality4 ,it is a    
universally accepted description of     
,american women 7sometimes intended as a
 compliment1 sometimes as quite  the    
reverse7 that1 whatever else they are1  
they are less negative1 more  forceful1 
more direct1 endowed with more positive 
personalities than  the women of other  
countries4 ,these women1 full of energy1
 quivering  with the resolution to put  
into full practice all the ideas of the 
,german educator whose system they      
espoused1 8organized a campaign for     
kindergartens0 which1 with              
characteristic thoroughness1            
determination1  and devotion1 they have 
carried through to high success4        
,they1 and the educators among men who  
became interested in the  ,froebelian   
ideas1 have been by no means willing to 
consider all  advance impossible because
 the founder of the system is no longer 
with them4 ,they have been progressively
 and intelligently unwilling  to let    
#aheb mark the culmination of           

kindergarten improvement1 and  they have
 changed1 and patched1 and added to1 and
 taken away from the  original method as
 their best judgment and the increasing 
scientific  data about children enabled 
them4 ,this process1 it goes without    
saying1 has not taken place without a   
certain amount of friction4  ,naturally 
everyone's 8best judgment0 scarcely     
coincided with that of  everyone else4  
,there have been honest differences of  
opinion about the  interpretation of    
scientific data4 ,true to its nature as 
an essentially  religious institution1  
the kindergarten has undergone schisms1 
been  rent with heresies1 has been      
divided into orthodox and heterodox1    
into liberals and conservatives1        
although the whole body of the work  has
 gone constantly forward1 keeping pace  
with the increasing modern              
preoccupation with childhood4    ,indeed
 it seems to me that one may say without
 being considered  unsympathetic that it
 has now certain other aspects of a     

popular1  prosperous religious sect1    
among which is a feeling of instinctive 
jealousy of similar regenerating        
influences which have their origin      
outside the walls of the original       
orthodox church4    ,undoubtedly they   
have some excuse in the absurdly        
exaggerated current  reports and rumors 
of the miracles accomplished by the     
,montessori  apparatus2 but it seems to 
outsiders that what we have a right to  
expect from the heads of the organized1 
established kindergarten  movement is an
 open-minded1 unbiased1 and extremely   
minute and thorough  investigation into 
the new ideas1 rather than an inspection
 of popular  reports and a resultant    
condemnation4 ,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 
,bambini4    ,to begin with1            

kindergarteners are quite right when    
they cry out that  there is nothing new 
in the idea of self-education1 and that 
,froebel  stated as plainly as          
,montessori does that the aim of all    
education is  to waken voluntary action 
in the child4 ,for that matter1 what    
educator  worthy of the name has not    
felt this8 ,the point seems to be1 not  
that  ,froebel states this vital        
principle any less clearly1 but so much 
less  forcibly than the ,italian        
educator4 ,not foreseeing the masterful 
women1  with highly developed           
personalities1 who were to be the       
apostles of his  ideas in ,america1 and 
not being surrounded by the insistence  
on the  value of each individuality     
which marks our modern moral atmosphere1
  it did not occur to him1 apparently1  
that there was any special  danger in   
this direction4 ,for1 of course1 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 children1 but in a    
plenitude of strongly marked            
individualities  among the adults who   
teach children1 and in a fixed habit of 
using the  strength of this personality 
as a tool to attain desired ends4       
,the difference in this regard between  
the two educators may perhaps be  stated
 fancifully in the following way3       
,froebel gives his teachers1  among many
 other maxims to hang up where they may 
be constantly in  view1 a statement     
running somewhat in this fashion3 8,all 
growth must  come from a voluntary      
action of the child himself40 ,dr4      
,montessori not  only puts this maxim   
first and foremost1 and exhorts her     
teachers to  bear it incessantly in mind
 during the consideration of any and all
  other maxims1 but she may be supposed 
to wish it printed thus3 8,all  growth  
must come from a ,,voluntary action of  
the child ,,himself40    ,the first     
thing she requires of a directress in   

her school is a  complete avoidance of  
the center of the stage1 a              
self-annihilation1  the very            
desirability 7not to mention the        
possibility7 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 
her1 with every  sensitive1 budding     
personality receiving the strongest     
possible  impressions from her own adult
 individuality4 ,without the least      
hesitation or doubt1 she has always     
considered that her part is to make     
that individuality as perfect and       
lovable as possible1 so that the        
impression the children get from it may 
be desirable4 ,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   
itself1 is an  idea totally unheard of4 
,i find in a catalogue of kindergarten  
material this sentence in  praise of    
some new device4 8,it obviates the need 

of supervision on  the part of the      
teacher as far as is consistent with    
conscientious  child-training40 ,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 it4  ,i find in  
that sentence the keynote of the        
difference between the  two systems4 ,in
 the kindergarten the emphasis is laid1 
consciously1  or unconsciously1 but very
 practically always1 on the fact that   
the  teacher teaches4 ,in the ,casa dei 
,bambini the emphasis is all on the     
fact that the child learns4    ,in the  
beginning of her study the kindergarten 
teacher is instructed1  it is true1 as a
 philosophic consideration1 that        
,pestalozzi held and  ,froebel accepted 
the dictum that1 just as the cultivator 
creates  nothing in his trees and       
plants1 so the educator creates nothing 
in the  children under his care4 ,this  
is duly set down in her note-book1 but  

the apparatus given her to work with1   
the technic taught her1 what she  sees  
of the work of other teachers1 the whole
 tendency of her training  goes to      
accentuate what is already racially     
strong in her temperament1  a fixed     
conviction of her own personal and      
individual responsibility  for what     
happens about her4 ,she feels keenly 7in
 the case of nervous  constitutions1    
crushingly7 the weight of this          
responsibility1 really  awful when it is
 felt about children4 ,she has the      
quick1 energetic1  ,american instinct to
 do something herself1 at once to bring 
about a  desired condition4 ,she is the 
swimmer who does not trust heartily and 
wholly to the water to keep him up1 but 
who stiffens his muscles and  exhausts  
himself in the attempt by his own       
efforts to float4 ,indeed1  that she    
should be required above all things to  
do nothing1 not to  interfere1 is almost
 intellectually inconceivable to her4   
,this1 of course1 is a generalization as

 inaccurate as all  generalizations are4
 ,there are some kindergarten teachers  
with great  natural gifts of spiritual  
divination1 strengthened by the         
experiences  of their beautiful lives1  
who feel the inner trust in life which  
is so consoling and uplifting to the    
,montessori teacher4 ,but the  average  
,american kindergarten teacher1 like all
 the rest of us average  ,americans1    
needs the calming and quieting lesson   
taught by the great  ,italian educator's
 reverent awe for the spontaneous1      
ever-upward1  irresistible thrust of the
 miraculous principle of growth4    ,in 
spite of the horticultural name of her  
school the ordinary  kindergarten       
teacher has never learned the           
whole-hearted1 patient faith  in the    
long1 slow processes of nature which    
characterizes the true  gardener4 ,she  
is not penetrated by the realization of 
the vastness  of the forces of the human
 soul1 she is not subdued and consoled  
by  a calm certainty of the rightness of

 natural development4 ,she is far  gayer
 with her children than the ,montessori 
teacher1 but she is really  less happy  
with them because1 in her heart of      
hearts1 she trusts them  less4 ,she     
feels a restless sense of responsibility
 for each action of  each child4 ,it is 
doubtless this difference in mental     
attitude which  accounts for the        
physical difference of aspect between   
our pretty1  smiling1 ever-active1      
always beckoning1 nervously             
conscientious  kindergarten teacher1    
always on exhibition1 and the calm1     
unhurried  tranquillity of the          
,montessori directress1 always          
unobtrusively in the  background4       
,the latter is but moving about from one
 little river of life to  another1      
lifting a sluice gate here for a        
sluggish nature1 constructing  a dam    
there to help a too impetuous nature to 
concentrate its forces1  and much of the
 time occupied in quietly observing1    
quite at her  leisure1 the direction of 

the channels being constructed by the   
different streams4 ,the kindergarten    
teacher tries to do this1 but she  seems
 obsessed with the idea1 unconscious for
 the most part1 that it  is1 after all1 
her duty to manage somehow to increase  
the flow of the  little rivers by       
pouring into them some of her own       
superabundant  vital force4 ,in her     
commendable desire to give herself and  
her whole  life to her chosen work1 she 
conceives that she is lazy if she ever  
allows herself a moment of absolute     
leisure1 and unoccupied1 impersonal     
observation of the growth of the various
 organisms in her garden4 ,she  must be 
always helping them grow6 ,why else is  
she there8 she demands  with a wrinkled 
brow of nervous determination to do her 
duty1 and with  the most honest1 hurt   
surprise at any criticism of her work4  
,it is possible that this tendency in   
,american kindergartens is not only  a  
result of the ,american temperament1 but
 is inherent in ,froebel's  original    

conception of the kindergarten as the   
place where the child  gets his real    
social training1 as opposed to the home 
where he gets  his individual training4 
,standing midway between ,fichte with   
his hard  dictum that the child belongs 
wholly to the ,state and to society1 and
  ,pestalozzi's conviction that he      
belongs wholly to the family1 ,froebel  
thought to make a working compromise by 
dividing up the bone of  contention1 by 
leaving the child in the family most of 
the time1 but  giving him definite      
social training at definite hours every 
day4    ,now there is bound to be1 in   
such an effort1 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  morning4 ,it may 
very well happen that a child does not  
feel social  some morning between nine  
and eleven1 but would prefer to pursue  
some laudable individual enterprise4 ,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       
discipline1 but the  fact remains that  
coercion has been employed1 even though 
coated with  sweet and coaxing          
persuasion1 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 pretense4 ,in the     
,casa dei  ,bambini1 on the other hand1 
the children learn the rules and        
conditions  of social life as we must   
all learn them1 and in the only way we  
all  learn them1 and that is by living  
socially4    ,the kindergarten teacher1 
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    
day1 can hardly be blamed if she  is    
convinced that she must act upon the    
children nearly every moment1  since she
 is required to round them up           

incessantly into the social  corral4    
,the long hours of the ,montessori      
school and the freedom of  the children1
 living their own everyday lives as     
though they were 7as  indeed they are7  
in their own home1 make a vital         
difference here4 ,the  children1 in     
conducting their individual lives in    
company with others1  are reproducing   
the actual conditions which govern      
social life in the  adult world4 ,they  
learn to defer to each other1 to obey   
rules1 even to  rise to the moral height
 of making rules1 to sink temporarily   
their  own interests in the common weal1
 not because it is 8nice0 to do this1   
not because an adored1 infallible1      
lovely teacher supports the doctrine  by
 her unquestioned authority1 not because
 they are praised and petted  when they 
do1 but 7and is not this the real grim  
foundation of laws for  social          
organization87 because they find they   
cannot live together at  all without    
rules which all respect and obey4    ,in

 other words1 when there is some real   
occasion for formulating or  obeying a  
law which facilitates social life1 they 
formulate it and obey  it from an inward
 conviction1 based on genuine           
circumstances of their  own lives1 that 
they must do so1 or life would not be   
tolerable for any  of them2 and when    
there is no genuine occasion for their  
making this  really great sacrifice for 
the common weal1 they are left1 as we   
all  desire to be left1 to the pursuit  
of their own lives4 ,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  age4 ,they feel1 
as we all do1 that there is nothing     
intrinsically  sacred or valuable about 
the compromises necessary to attain     
peaceable  social life1 and that they   
should not be demanded of us except when
  necessary4 ,crudely stated1 ,froebel's

 purpose seems to have been that  the   
child should1 in two or three hours at a
 given time every day1 do  his social   
living and have it over with4 ,and      
although this statement  is both        
unsympathetic and incomplete1 there is  
in it the germ of a  well-founded       
criticism of the method which many of us
 have vaguely  felt1 although we have   
not been able to formulate it before    
studying  the principles of a system    
which seems to avoid this fault4    ,a  
conversation ,i had in ,rome with an    
,italian friend1 not in sympathy  with  
the ,montessori ideas1 illustrates      
another phase of the difference  between
 the average kindergarten and the ,casa 
dei ,bambini4 ,my friend is  a quick1   
energetic1 positive woman who 8manages0 
her two children with  a competent ease 
which seems the most conclusive proof to
 her that her  methods need no          
improvement4 8,oh1 no1 the ,case dei    
,bambini are quite  failures10 she told 
me4 8,the children themselves don't like

 them40 ,i  recalled the room full of   
blissful babies which ,i had come to    
know so  well1 and looked1 ,i daresay1  
some of the amused incredulity ,i felt1 
for  she went on hastily1 8,well1 some  
children may4 ,mine never did4 ,i had   
to put both the boy and the girl back   
into a kindergarten4 ,my little  ,ida   
summed up the whole matter4 ,she said1  
#8,isn't it queer how they  treat you at
 a ,casa dei ,bambini6 ,they ask me1    
8,now which would you like  to do1 ,ida1
 this1 or this80 ,it makes me feel so   
queer4 ,i want somebody  to tell me what
 to do6'0    ,my friend went on to      
generalize1 quite sure of her ground1   
8,that's the  sweet and natural child   
instinct--to depend on adults for       
guidance4  ,that's how children are1 and
 all the ,dr4 ,montessoris in the world 
can't change them40    ,the difference  
between that point of view and ,dr4     
,montessori's is the  fundamental       
difference between the belief in        
aristocracy1 and the value  of authority

 for its own sake1 which still lingers  
among conservatives  even in our day1   
and the whole-hearted belief in         
democracy which is  growing more and    
more pronounced among most of our       
thinkers4    ,ida is being trained under
 her mother's masterful eye to carry on 
docilely what an ,english writer has    
called 8the dogmatic method with  its   
demand for mechanical obedience and its 
pursuit of external  results40 ,she is  
acquiring rapidly the habit of standing 
still until  somebody tells her what to 
do1 and she has already acquired an     
unquestioning acquiescence in the       
illimitable authority of somebody  else1
 anyone who will speak positively enough
 to regulate her life in  all its       
details4 ,in other words1 a finely      
consistent little slave is  being       
manufactured out of ,ida1 and if in     
later years she should develop  more of 
her mother's forcefulness1 it will waste
 a great deal of its  energy in a wild1 
unregulated revolt against the chains of

 habit with  which she finds herself    
loaded1 and in the end will probably    
wreak  itself on crushing the           
individuality out of her children in    
their turn4    ,sweet little            
four-year-old ,ida1 freed for a moment  
from the twilight  cell of her passive  
obedience1 and blinking pitifully in the
 free  daylight of the ,casa dei        
,bambini1 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 book4    ,in still another 
way the ,montessori insistence on       
spontaneity of the  children's action   
safeguards them1 it seems to me1 against
 one of the  greatest dangers of        
kindergarten life1 and obviates one of  
the justest  criticisms of the ,american
 development of ,froebel's method1      
namely  overstimulation and mental      
fatigue4 ,when ,i first thoroughly      
grasped  this fundamental difference1 ,i
 was reminded of the saying of a wise   

old  doctor who1 when ,i was an intense1
 violently active girl of seventeen1    
had given me some sound advice about how
 to lift the little children  with whom 
,i happened to be playing3 8,don't take 
hold of their hands to  swing them      
around60 he cried to me4 8,you can't    
tell when the strain  may be too great  
for their little bones and tendons4 ,you
 may do them  a serious hurt4 ,have them
 take hold of your hands6 ,and when     
they're  tired1 they'll let go40        
,illustration3 ,,insets ,,around ,,which
 ,,the ,,child ,,draws1 ,,and ,,then    
,,fills ,,in  ,,the ,,outline ,,with    
,,colored ,,crayons4                    
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,it now seems to me that in the         
kindergarten the teachers are the ones  
who take hold of the children's hands1  
and in the ,casa dei ,bambini  it is the
 other way about4 ,what ,dr4 ,montessori
 is always crying to  her teachers is   
just the exhortation of my old doctor4  
,what she is  endeavoring to contrive is

 a system which allows the children to  
8let go0 when they themselves1 each at a
 different time1 feel the  strain of    
effort4 ,the kindergarten teacher is    
making all possible  conscientious      
efforts to train herself to an          
impossible achievement1  namely to know 
7what of course she never can know with 
certainty7 when  each child loses his   
spontaneous interest in his exercises or
 game4 ,she  is as genuinely convinced  
as the ,montessori directress that she  
must  8let go0 at that moment1 but she  
is not trained so to take hold of the   
child that he himself makes that        
all-important decision4    ,it is true  
that the best kindergarteners learn from
 years of experience  7which involves   
making mistakes on a good many children7
 about when1  in general1 to let go2 but
 not the most inspired teacher can tell1
 as  the child himself does1 when the   
strain is first felt in the immature1   
undeveloped brain4 ,and it is this      
margin of possibility of mistake  on the

 part of the best kindergarten teachers 
which results only too  frequently1 with
 our nervous1 too responsive ,american  
children1 in the  flushed faces and     
unnaturally bright eyes of the little   
ones who return  to us after their      
happy1 happy morning in the             
kindergarten1 unable to  eat their      
luncheons1 unable to take their         
afternoon naps1 quivering  between      
laughter and tears1 and finding very    
dull the quiet peace of  the home life4 
,this observation finds any amount of   
confirmatory evidence in the            
astonishingly great diversity in mental 
application among children  when really 
left to their own devices4 ,there is no 
telling how long or  how short a time   
any given play or game will hold their  
attention1  and both kindergarteners and
 ,montessori teachers agree that it is  
of  value only so long as it really does
 genuinely hold their attention4  ,some 
children are interested only so long as 
they must struggle against  obstacles1  

and once the enterprise runs smoothly1  
have no further use  for it4 ,with      
others1 the pleasure seems to increase a
 hundredfold when  they are once sure of
 their own ability4    ,for it is by no 
means true that the kindergarten teacher
 is always apt  to continue a given game
 or exercise too long4 ,it is only too  
long for  some of the children4 ,there  
are apt to be others whom she deprives1 
by her discontinuation of the game1 of  
an invigorating exercise which  they    
crave with all their might1 and which   
they would continue1 if  left free to   
follow their own inclination1 ten times 
longer than she  would dare to think of 
asking them to do4 ,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 
time4 ,since my attention has been      
called to it1 ,i have observed  this    
crazy perseverance on unexpected        
occasions in all children acting        

freely4 ,not long ago a child of mine   
conceived the idea of climbing up  on an
 easy-chair1 tilting herself over the   
arm1 sliding down into the  seat on her 
head1 and so off in a sprawling heap on 
the floor4 ,i began  to count the number
 of times she went through this         
extremely violent1  fatiguing1 and 7as  
far as ,i could see7 uninteresting      
exercise1 and  was fairly astounded by  
her obstinacy in sticking to it4 ,she   
had done  it thirty-four times with     
unflagging zest1 shouting and laughing  
to herself1 and was apparently going on 
indefinitely when1 to my  involuntary   
relief1 she was called away to supper4  
,in ,rome ,i remember watching a little 
boy going through the exercises  with   
the wooden cylinders of different sizes 
which fit into  corresponding holes     
7page #gj74 ,he worked away with a busy1
 serene1  absorbed industry1 running his
 forefinger around the cylinders and    
then around the holes1 until he had them
 all fitted in4 ,then with no  haste1   

but with no hesitation1 he emptied them 
all out and began over  again4 ,he did  
this so many times that ,i felt an      
impatient fatigue at  the sight of the  
laborious little creature1 and turned my
 attention  elsewhere4 ,i had counted up
 to the fourteenth repetition of his    
feat  before ,i stopped watching him1   
and when ,i glanced back again1 a       
quarter  of an hour later1 he was still 
at it4 ,all this1 of course1 without  a 
particle of that 8minimum amount of     
supervision consistent with             
conscientious child-training40 ,he was  
his own supervisor1 thanks to  the      
self-corrective nature of the apparatus 
he was using4 ,if he put a  cylinder in 
the wrong hole he discovered it himself 
and was forced to  think out for himself
 what the trouble was4    ,dr4          
,montessori says 7and ,i can easily     
believe her from my own  experience7    
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    
children1 or even to smooth these out   
as much as possible1 but on the contrary
 expressly to see to it that  each child
 is kept constantly supplied with       
difficulties and obstacles  suitable to 
his strength4    ,a kindergarten teacher
 tries faithfully to teach her children 
so that  they will not make errors in   
their undertakings4 ,she holds herself  
virtually responsible for this4 ,with a 
,puritan conscientiousness she  blames  
herself if they do make mistakes1 if    
they do not understand1  by grasping her
 explanation1 all the inwardness of the 
process under  consideration1 and she   
repeats her explanations with unending  
patience  until she thinks they do4 ,the
 ,montessori teacher1 on the other hand1
  confines herself to pointing out to   
the child what the enterprise  before   
him is4 ,she does not1 it is true1 drop 
down before him the  material for the   
,long ,stair and leave him to guess what
 is to be  done with it4 ,she herself   

constructs the edifice which is the goal
  desired4 ,she makes sure that he has a
 clear concept of what the task  is1 and
 then she mixes up the blocks and leaves
 him to work out his own  salvation by  
the aid of the self-corrective material4
    ,dr4 ,montessori has a great many   
amusing stories to tell of her  first   
struggles with her teachers to make them
 realize her point of  view4 ,some of   
them became offended1 and resolved1     
since they were  not allowed to help the
 children1 to do nothing at all for     
them1 a  resolution which resulted      
naturally in a state of things worse    
than  the first4 ,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 himself4 ,i quite appreciate the     
difficulty of learning the  distinction 
between directing the children's        
activity and teaching them  each new    
step of every process4 ,my own impulse  
made me realize the  truth of ,dr4      

,montessori's laughing picture of the   
teacher's instinctive  rush to the aid  
of some child puzzling over the         
geometric insets1 and  ,i knew1 from    
having gone through many such profuse1  
voluble1 vague1  confusing explanations 
myself1 that what they always said was1 
8,no1 no1  dear2 you're trying to put   
the round one in the square hole4 ,see1 
it  has no corners4 ,look for a hole    
that hasn't any corners1 etc41 etc40    
,it was not until ,i had sat by a child1
 restraining myself by a violent  effort
 of self-control from 8correcting0 his  
errors1 and had seen  the calm1 steady1 
untiring hopeful perseverance of his    
application1  untroubled and unconfused 
by adult 8aid10 that ,i was fully       
convinced  that my impulse was to       
meddle1 not to aid4 ,and ,i admit that  
,i have many  backslidings still4       
,half playfully and half earnestly1 ,i  
am continually quoting to myself  the   
curious quatrain of the ,earl of        
,lytton1 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 children3         
8,since all that ,i can do for thee     
,is to do nothing1 this my prayer must  
be1    ,that thou mayst never guess nor 
ever see    ,the all-endured1 this      
nothing-done costs me40                 
,,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 only1 and without a soul4   
,while the sternest  sort of moral      
training is given to the parent or      
teacher who attempts  to use the        
,montessori system1 apparently very     
little is addressed  directly to the    
child4    ,nothing could more horrify   
the founder of the system than such an  

idea4  ,no modern thinker could possibly
 be more penetrated with reverence for  
the higher life of the spirit than she1 
or could bear its needs more  constantly
 in mind4    ,critics of the method who 
claim that it makes no direct appeal to 
the  child's moral nature1 and tends to 
make of him a little egotist bent  on   
self-development only1 have             
misapprehended the spirit of the whole  
system4    ,one answer to such a        
criticism is that conscious moral       
existence1 the  voluntary following of  
spiritual law1 being by far the rarest1 
highest1  and most difficult achievement
 in human life1 is the one which        
develops latest1 requires the longest   
and most careful preparation and  the   
most mature powers of the individual4   
,it is not only unreasonable  to expect 
in a little child much of this conscious
 struggle toward the  good1 but it is   
utterly futile to attempt to force it   
prematurely into  existence4 ,it cannot 
be done1 any more than a six-months baby

 can be  forced to an intellectual      
undertaking of even the smallest        
dimension4    ,as a matter of fact1 a   
normal child under six is mostly a      
little  egotist bent on                 
self-development1 and to develop himself
 is the best  thing he can do1 both for 
himself and others1 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 food1 rest1  
care1 and exercise  given him4 ,and yet 
even here1 the line between the         
varieties of  growth--physical1         
intellectual1 and moral--is by no means 
hard and  fast4 ,the six-months baby1   
although living an almost exclusively   
physical life1 in struggling to         
co-ordinate the muscles of his two arms 
so that he can seize a rattle with both 
hands1 is battling for the  mastery of  
his brain-centers1 just as the          
three-year-old1 who leads a  life       
composed almost entirely of physical and
 intellectual interests1  still1 in the 

instinct which leads him to pity and    
water a thirsty  plant1 is struggling   
away from that exclusive imprisonment in
 his own  interests and needs which is  
the ,old ,enemy of us all4 ,the fact    
that  this altruistic interest is not an
 overmastering passion which moves  him 
to continuous responsible care for the  
plant1 and the other fact  that1 even   
while he is giving it a drink1 he has   
very likely forgotten  his original     
purpose in the fascinations of the      
antics of water poured  out of a        
sprinkling-pot1 should not in the least 
modify our recognition  of the sincerely
 moral character of his first impulse4  
,now1 sincerity in moral impulse is a   
prerequisite to healthy moral  life1 the
 importance of which cannot be          
overstated by the most swelling  devices
 of rhetoric4 ,it is an essential in    
moral life as air is in  physical life2 
in other words moral life of any kind is
 entirely  impossible without it4       
,hypocrisy1 conscious or unconscious1 is

 a far  worse enemy than ignorance1     
since it poisons the very springs of    
spiritual life1 and yet few things are  
harder to avoid than unconscious        
hypocrisy4 ,a realization of this truth 
is perhaps the explanation of a  recent 
tendency in ,america for fairly         
intelligent1 fairly conscientious       
parents utterly to despair of seeing any
 light on this problem1 and  to attempt 
to solve it by running away from it1 to 
throw up the whole  business in dismay  
at its difficulty1 to attempt no moral  
training at  all because so much that is
 given is bad1 and to 8let the children 
go1  until they are old enough to choose
 for themselves40    ,it is possible    
that this method1 chosen in desperation1
 bad though it  obviously is1 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 uncertainty4
 ,the  children of six who conceive of  

,god as a policeman with a long white   
beard1 oddly enough placed in the sky1  
lying on the clouds1 and looking  down  
through a peephole to spy upon the      
actions of little girls and  boys1 have 
undoubtedly been cruelly wronged by the 
creation of this  grotesque and ignoble 
figure in their little brains1 a figure 
which1  so permanent are the impressions
 of childhood1 will undoubtedly1 in     
years to come1 unconsciously render much
 more difficult a reverent  and         
spiritual attitude towards the ,ultimate
 ,cause4 ,but because this  attempt at  
spiritual instruction is as bad as it   
can be1 it does  not follow that the    
moral nature of the little child does   
not need  training fitted to its        
capacities1 limited though these        
undoubtedly  are in early childhood4    
,there is no more reason for leaving a  
child to  grow up morally unaided by a  
life definitely designed to develop his 
moral nature1 than for leaving him to   
grow up physically unaided by  good     

food1 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 elders4    ,the    
usual method by which bountiful ,nature1
 striving to make up for  our           
deficiencies1 provides for this1 is by  
the action of children upon  each other4
 ,this factor is1 of course1 notably    
present in the ,casa dei  ,bambini in   
the all-day life in common of twenty    
children4 ,in families  it is especially
 to be seen in the care and             
self-sacrifice which older  children are
 obliged to show towards younger ones4  
,but in our usual  small prosperous     
,american families1 this element of     
enforced moral  effort is often wanting4
 ,either there are but one or two       
children1 or  if more1 the younger ones 
are cared for by a nurse1 or by the     
mother  sufficiently free from pressing 
material care to give considerable  time
 to the baby of the family4 ,and on the 

whole it must be admitted  that         
,nature's expedient is at best a        
rough-and-ready one4 ,though the  older 
children may miss an opportunity for    
spiritual discipline1 it is  manifestly 
better for the baby to be tended by an  
adult4    ,but there are other organisms
 besides babies which are weaker than   
children1 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 egotism4 ,it is always to be    
borne in mind that  the ,case dei       
,bambini now actually existing are by no
 means ideal  embodiments of ,dr4       
,montessori's ideas 7see page #bbg74    
,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 practice4 ,hence the      
absence of any special morally educative
  element in the present ,casa dei      
,bambini does not in the least indicate 

that ,dr4 ,montessori has deliberately  
omitted it1 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 need1 first of all1 of         
practical  help4 ,for instance1 music   
and art were left out of the life there1
  simply because1 at that time1 there   
seemed no way of introducing them4  ,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  obstacles4 ,in the    
same way1 although circumstances have   
prevented ,dr4  ,montessori from        
developing practically the ,casa dei    
,bambini as far in  the direction of the
 care of plants and animals as she would
 like1 she  is very strongly in favor of
 making this an integral and important  
part  of the daily life of little       
children4    ,in this she is again1 as  
in so many of the features of her       

system1 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 hand1 which
 have been mentioned by other  educators
 7,froebel has1 of course1 his elder    
boys undertake gardening71  but of      
which1 as far as very young children go1
 our recognition has  been fitful and   
imperfect4 ,she is the modern doctor who
 proclaims with  all the awe-compelling 
paraphernalia of the pathological       
laboratory  back of him1 that it is not 
medicine1 but fresh air which is the    
cure  for tuberculosis4 ,most parents   
already make some effort to provide pets
  7if they are not too much trouble for 
the rest of the family7 with a  vague1  
instinctive idea that they are somehow  
8good for children10  but with no       
conscious notion of how this 8good0 is  
transferred or how  to facilitate the   
process2 and child-gardens are not only 
a feature  of some very advanced and    

modern schools and kindergartens1 but   
are  provided once in a while by a      
family1 although nearly always1 as in   
,froebel's system1 for older children4  
,but as those institutions are  now     
conducted in the average family economy1
 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  him4 ,the four-year-old1 as he
 and his pets are usually treated1 does 
not feel real responsibility for his    
kitten or his potted plant and1  missing
 that1 he misses most of the good he    
might extract from his  relations with  
his little sisters of the vegetable and 
animal world4    ,our part1 therefore1  
in this connection1 is to catch up the  
hint which  the great ,italian teacher  
has let fall and use our own ,yankee    
ingenuity  in developing it1 always     
bearing religiously in mind the         

fundamental  principle of self-education
 which must underlie any attempt of ours
 to  adapt her ideas to our conditions4 
,for1 of course1 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 puppy4 ,what is new
 is our more conscious1 sharpened1 more 
definite  idea1 awakened by ,dr4        
,montessori's penetrating analysis1 of  
just  how these natural elements of     
child-life can be used to stimulate a   
righteous sense of responsibility4 ,our 
tolerant indifference towards  the      
children's dogs and cats and            
guinea-pigs1 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-olds1 would be  transformed   
into the most genuine and ardent        
interest in these matters1  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-abnegation4 ,there is not1 as is   
apt to be the case  with dolls1 a more  
or less acknowledged element of         
artificiality1 even  though it be the   
sweet 8pretend0 mother-love for a baby  
doll4 ,the  children who really care for
 plants and animals are in a sane world 
of reality1 as much as we are in caring 
for children4 ,their services  are of   
real value to another real life4 ,the   
four-year-old youngster  who rushes as  
soon as he is awake to water a plant he 
had forgotten  the day before1 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 life4 ,the motives which underlie 
that most valuable moral  asset1        
responsibility1 have been awakened1     
exercised1 strengthened far  more       
vitally than by any number of those     
,sunday morning 8serious talks0  in     
which we may try fumblingly and futilely

 from the outside to touch  the child's 
barely nascent moral consciousness4 ,the
 puppy who sprawls  destructively about 
the house1 and the cat who is always    
under our feet  when we are in a hurry1 
should command respectful treatment from
 us1  since they are rehearsing quaintly
 with the child a first rough sketch  of
 the drama of his moral life4 ,the more 
gentleness1 thoughtfulness1  care1 and  
forbearance the little child learns to  
show to this creature1  weaker than     
himself1 dependent on him1 the less     
difficult he will find  the exercise of 
those virtues in other circumstances4   
,he is forming  spontaneously1 urged    
thereto by a natural good impulse of his
 heart1  a moral habit as valuable to   
him and to those who are to live with   
him1 as the intellectual habits of      
precision formed by the use of the      
geometric insets4    ,of course1 he will
 in the first place form this habit of  
unvarying  gentleness towards plants and
 animals1 only as he forms so many other

  habits1 in simian imitation of the    
actions of those about him4 ,he must    
absorb from example1 as well as precept1
 the idea that plants and  animals1     
being dependent on us1 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 strong4    ,and 
so here is our hard-working ,montessori 
parent embarked upon the  career of     
animal-rearing1 as well as              
child-training1 with the added          
difficulty that he must care for the    
animals through the children1  and      
resist stoutly the almost invincible    
temptation to take over  this1 like all 
other activities which belong by right  
to the child1  for the short-cut reason 
that it is less trouble4 ,if this       
impulse of  the parent be followed1 the 
mere furry presence will be of no avail 
to the child1 except casually4 ,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 
maternity1 the  preparation which we    
hope will make her generation better    
mothers than  we undisciplined and      
groping creatures are4    ,as for       
plant-life1 the ,antus-like character of
 humanity is too well  known to need    
comment4 ,we are all healthier and saner
 and happier  if we have not entirely   
severed our connection with the earth1  
and  it is surprising that1 recognizing 
this element as consciously as  we do1  
we have made so comparatively little    
systematic and regular  use of it in the
 family to benefit our little children4 
,it is not  because it is very hard to  
manage4 ,what has been lacking has been 
some  definite1 understandable motive to
 make us act in this way1 beyond  the   
sentimental notion that it is pretty to 
have flowers and children  together4 ,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    
economy1 the struggle between helpful   
and  hurtful forces1 and of the duty of 
not remaining a passive onlooker at     
this strife1 but of entering it         
instinctively1 heartily throwing all    
one's powers on the side of the good and
 useful4    ,i know a child not yet     
quite three1 who1 by the maddeningly    
persistent  interrogations              
characteristic of his age1 has succeeded
 in extracting  from a pair of gardening
 elders an explanation of the difference
  between weeds and flowers1 and who has
 been so struck by this  information    
that he has1 entirely of his own        
volition1 enlisted himself  in the army 
of natural-born reformers4 ,with the    
personal note of very  little children1 
who find it so impossible to think in   
terms at all  abstract1 he has          

constructed in his baby mind an exciting
 drama in the  garden1 unfolding itself 
before his eyes2 a drama in which he    
acts1 by  virtue of his comparatively   
huge size and giant strength1 the       
generous  rle of deus ex machina1       
constantly rescuing beauty beset by her 
foes4 ,he throws himself upon a weed1   
uproots it1 and casts it away with  the 
righteously indignant exclamation1      
8,horrid old weed6 ,stop eating  the    
flowers' dinner60    ,i do not think    
that it can be truthfully said that     
there are no moral  elements in his     
life4 ,he is a baby ,sir ,galahad1 with 
roses for his  maidens in distress4 ,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 graft4 
,he has recognized spontaneously  his   
duty to aid the good and useful against 
their enemies1 the  responsibility into 
which he was born when he opened his    
eyes upon the  world of mingled good and

 evil4    ,all this is not a fanciful   
literary flight of the imagination4 ,it 
is  not sentimentality4 ,it is calling  
things by their real names4 ,because    
the little child's capacity for a       
genuine moral impulse is small and  has1
 like all his other capacities1 little  
continuity1 is no reason  why we should 
not think clearly about it and recognize
 it for what it  is--the key to the     
future4 ,because he 8makes a play0 of   
his good action  and is not priggishly  
aware of his virtue is all the more     
reason for us  to be thankful1 for that 
is a proof of its unforced existence in 
his  spirit4 ,just as the child 8makes a
 play0 out of his geometric insets1  and
 is not pedantically aware that he is   
acquiring knowledge1 so1 to  take an    
instance from the ,casa dei ,bambini1   
the little girls who set  the tables and
 bring in the soup are only vastly      
interested in the  fun of 8playing      
waitress40 ,it is their elders who      
perceive that they  are unconsciously   

and painlessly acquiring the habit of   
willing and  instinctive service to     
others1 which will aid them in many a   
future  conscious and painful struggle  
against their own natural selfishness   
and inertia4    ,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 chapter4 ,it
 is one of the most vitally important of
 the  elements in the ,montessori       
schools4 ,the genuine1 unforced         
acceptance  by the children of the need 
for sacrifices by the individual for the
  good of all1 is something which can   
only be brought about by genuinely      
social life with their equals1 such as  
they have in the ,children's ,home  and 
not elsewhere4 ,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 household4 ,but at home he is    
inevitably  living with his inferiors1  

plants1 animals1 and babies2 or his     
superiors1 older children and adults2   
whereas in the ,children's ,home  he is 
living as he will during the rest of his
 life1 mostly with his  equals4 ,and it 
is in the spontaneous adjustments and   
compromises of  this continuous life    
with his equals that he learns most     
naturally1  most soundly1 and most      
thoroughly1 the rules governing social  
life4    ,as for moral life1 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
 nature1 and blind ourselves to the     
saddening fact that the  battle against 
one's egotism is bound to be painful1   
nor1 on the other  hand1 go back to the 
grim creed of our forefathers1 that the 
sooner  children are thrust into the    
thick of this unending war the better1  
since they must enter it sooner or      
later4 ,the truth seems to lie in  its  
usual position1 between two extremes1   
and to be that children  should be      

strengthened by proper moral food1 care1
 and exercises suited  to their         
strength1 and allowed to grow slowly    
into adult endurance  before they are   
forced to face adult moral problems2 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 8plays0 about
 the self-sacrificing action1 provided1 
of course1 that we keep our heads clear 
to make sure that the 8plays0  do not   
interfere with the action4    ,it is    
well to make a plain statement to the   
child of five1 that he is  requested to 
wipe the silver-ware because it will be 
of service to  his mother 7if he is     
lucky enough to have a mother who ever  
does so  obviously necessary and useful 
a thing as to wash the dishes herself71 
but it is not necessary to insist that  
this conception of service shall        
uncompromisingly occupy his mind during 
the whole process4 ,it does no  harm if1

 after this statement1 it is suggested  
that the knives and  forks and spoons   
are shipwrecked people in dire need of  
rescue1 and  that it would be fun to    
snatch them from their watery           
predicament and  restore them safely to 
their expectant families in the         
silver-drawer4  ,by so doing we are not 
really confusing the issue1 or 8fooling0
 the  child into a good action1 if clear
 thinking on the part of adults         
accompany the process4 ,we are but      
suiting the burden to the childish      
shoulders1 but inducing the child-feet  
to take a single step1 which is  all    
that any of us can take at one time1 in 
the path leading to the  service of     
others4           99       99       99  
99       99    ,most of this chapter has
 been drawn from ,montessori ideas by   
inference  only1 by the development of  
hints1 and it is probable that other    
mothers1 meditating on the same         
problems1 may see other ways of         
applying the principle of self-education

 and spontaneous activity  to this field
 of moral life4 ,it is apparent that the
 first element  necessary1 after a firm 
grasp on the fundamental idea that our  
children  must do their own moral as    
well as physical growing1 and after a   
vivid realization that the smallest     
amount of real moral life is  better    
than much simulated and unreal feeling1 
is clear thinking on  our part1 a       
definite notion of what we really mean  
by moral life1 a  definition which will 
not be bounded and limited by the       
repetition of  committed-to-memory      
prayers4 ,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      
instinct1 as much as the constant  daily
 kindnesses to plants and animals       
satisfy the ethical instinct4  ,this    
latter1 however1 at his age1 is apt to  
be vastly more developed  and more      

important than the religious instinct4  
,indeed the religious instinct1 which   
apparently never develops in some       
natures1 although so strong in others1  
is in all cases slow to show  itself    
and1 like other slowly germinating      
seeds1 should not be pushed  and prodded
 to hasten it1 but should be left       
untouched until it shows  signs of life4
 ,our part is to prepare1 cultivate1 and
 enrich the nature  in which it is to   
grow4          ,,chapter ,,xv    ,,dr4  
,,montessori',s ,,life ,,and ,,the      
,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,casa ,,dei        
,,bambini      ,dr4 ,montessori and the 
average ,american parent are as         
different in  heredity1 training1 and   
environment as two civilized beings can 
very  well be4 ,every condition         
surrounding the average ,american child 
is  as materially different as possible 
from those about the children in  the   
original ,casa dei ,bambini4 ,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 case4 ,the        
conditions in ,rome  where ,dr4         
,montessori has done her work1 differ so
 entirely from those  of ordinary       
,american life1 in the conduct of which 
we hope to profit by  her experiments1  
that it is only fair to ,americans      
interested in her  work1 to give them   
some notion of the varying influences   
which have  shaped the career of this   
woman of genius4    ,this is so         
especially in her case1 because1 as a   
nation1 we are  more ignorant of modern 
,italian life than of that of any great 
,european nation4 ,modern ,italy1       
wrestling with all the problems  of     
modern industrial and city life grafted 
upon an age-old  civilization1          
endeavoring to enlighten itself1 to take
 the best  from twentieth-century       
progress without losing its own         
individual  virtues1 this is a country  
as unknown to us as the regions of the  
moon4 ,and yet to understand ,dr4       

,montessori's work and the vicissitudes 
of her undertakings1 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 thought4    ,to us1  
as a rule1 ,rome is 8,the ,eternal      
,city0 of our school-,latin days1       
whereas1 in reality1 it is1 for all     
practical purposes as a city1 much  more
 recent than ,new ,york--about as old1  
let us say1 as ,detroit4 ,but  ,detroit 
planted its vigorously growing seedling 
in the open ground and  not in a cracked
 pot of small dimensions4 ,hence the    
problems of the  two modern cities are  
dissimilar4 ,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
 ,rome4 ,it had been bad for the  ruins 
and very hard on the modern capital4 ,if
 a site had been selected  just outside 

the walls of old ,rome1 a               
nineteenth-century metropolis  could    
have sprung up with the effortless haste
 with which our own  ,middle ,western   
plains have produced cities4 ,one thing 
is certain1 ,dr4  ,montessori's ,case   
dei ,bambini would not have taken their 
present form  under other conditions1   
and this is what concerns us here4      
,but before the origin of the ,case dei 
,bambini is taken up1 a brief  biography
 of their creator will help us to       
understand her development4  ,her early 
life1 before her choice of a profession1
 need not interest  us beyond the fact  
that she is the only child of devoted   
parents1  not materially well-to-do4    
,now1 as a result of a too-rapid social 
transformation among the ,italians1 the 
8middle class0 population forms  a much 
smaller proportion of the inhabitants of
 ,italy than in other  modern nations4  
,one result of this condition is that   
the brilliant  daughter of parents not  
well-to-do1 finds it much harder to pass

 into a  class of associates and to find
 an intellectual background which suits 
her nature1 than a similarly            
intellectual and original ,american     
girl4  ,even now in ,italy such a girl  
is forced to fight an unceasing battle  
against social prejudice and            
intellectual inertia4 ,it can be        
imagined  that when ,dr4 ,montessori was
 the beautiful1 gifted girl-student of  
whom older ,romans speak with enthusiasm
 or horror1 according to the  centuries 
in which they morally live1 her         
will-power and capacity for             
concentration must have been finely     
tempered in order not to break in  the  
long struggle4    ,judging by the talk  
one hears in ,rome about the fine1      
youthful fervor  of ,dr4 ,montessori's  
early struggle against conditions       
hampering her  mental and spiritual     
progress1 she is a surviving pioneer of 
social  frontier prejudice1 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 pioneers4  ,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-dependence1 that moral       
self-dependence  which is the aim and   
end of her method of education and which
 will be1  as rapidly as it can be      
realized1 the solvent for many of our   
tragic  and apparently insoluble modern 
problems4    ,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     
medicine4 ,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 resolution4  ,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-tamer1             
steeple-jack1 or worker in an iron      
foundry1 with less trepidation than     
must have shadowed the early days of    
,dr4 ,montessori's medical studies4     
,one's imagination can paint the picture
 from the fact that she was  the first  
woman to obtain the degree of ,doctor of
 ,medicine1 from the  ,university of    
,rome1 an achievement which was probably
 rendered none  the easier by the fact  
that she was both singularly beautiful  
and  singularly ardent4    ,after       
graduation she became attached1 as      
assistant doctor1 to the  ,psychiatric  
,clinic at ,rome4 ,at that time1 one of 
the temporary  expedients of            
self-modernizing ,italy was to treat the
 idiot and  feeble-minded children in   
connection with the really insane1 a    
rough-and-ready classification which    

will serve vividly to illustrate  the   
desperate condition of ,italy of that   
date4 ,the young medical  graduate had  
taken up children's diseases as the     
8specialty0 which no  self-respecting   
modern doctor can be without1 and       
naturally in her  visits to the insane  
asylums 7where the subjects of her      
,clinic lived71  her attention was      
attracted to the deficient children so  
fortuitously  lodged under the same     
roof4    ,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 course1 in  order to  
bring out clearly the fact that she     
approached the field of  pedagogy from  
an entirely new direction1 with         
absolutely new aims and  with a wholly  
different mental equipment from those of
 the technically  pedagogical1          
philosophic1 or social-reforming persons
 who have labored  so conscientiously in

 that field for so many generations4    
,this young doctor1 then1 trained by    
hard knocks to do her own thinking  and 
make her own decisions1 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
 fitfully4 ,the question was evidently  
of getting  at the brain-centers4 ,now  
the name of the process of getting at   
brain-centers is one not usually        
encountered in the life of the  surgeon4
 ,it is education4    ,the doctor at    
work on these problems was all the time 
in active  practice as a physician1 an  
influence in her life which is not to be
  forgotten in summing up the elements  
which have formed her character4  ,she  
was performing operations in the        
hospitals1 taking charge of grave       
diseases in her private practice1       
exposing herself to infection of all    
sorts in the infectious wards of the    

hospitals1 liable to be called up  at   
any hour of the night to attend a case  
anywhere in the purlieus of  ,rome4 ,it 
was a soldier tried and tested in actual
 warfare in another  part of the battle 
for the betterment of humanity1 who     
finally took  up the question of the    
training of the young4 ,she parted      
company with  many of her               
fellow-students of deficient children1  
and faced squarely  the results of her  
reasoning4 ,not for her the position    
aloof1 the  observation of phenomena    
from the detached standpoint of the     
distant  specialist4 ,if nervous        
diseases of children1 leading to        
deficient  intellectual powers1 could be
 best attacked through education1 the   
obvious step was to become an educator4 
,she gave up her active practice as a   
physician which had continued  steadily 
throughout all her other activities1 and
 accepted the post  of ,director of the 
,state ,orthophrenic ,school 7what we   
would call an  ,institute for the       

,feeble-,minded71 and1 throwing herself 
into the work1  heart and soul1 with all
 the ardor of her race and her own      
temperament1  she utilized her          
finely-tempered brain and indomitable   
will1 in  the hand-to-hand struggle for 
the actual amelioration of existing     
conditions4 ,for years she taught the   
children in the ,asylum under her  care1
 devoting herself to them throughout    
every one of their waking  hours1       
pouring into the poor1 cracked vases of 
their minds the full1  rich flood of her
 own powerful intellect4 ,all day she   
worked with her  children1 loved to     
idolatry by them1 exhausting herself    
over their  problems like the simplest1 
most unthinking1 most unworldly1 and    
devout  sister of charity2 but at night 
she was the scientist again1 arranging1 
classifying1 clarifying the results of  
the day's observation1 examining  with  
minute attention the work of all those  
who had studied her  problems before    
her1 applying and elaborating every hint

 of theirs1  every clue discovered in   
her own experiments4    ,those were good
 years1 years before the world had heard
 of her1 years  of undisturbed          
absorption in her work4    ,then1 one   
day1 as such things come1 after long1   
uncertain efforts1 a  miracle happened4 
,a supposedly deficient child1 trained  
by her methods1  passed the examinations
 of a public school with more ease1 with
 higher  marks than normal children     
prepared in the old way4 ,the miracle   
happened again and again and then so    
often that it was no longer a  miracle1 
but a fact to be foretold and counted on
 with certainty4    ,then the woman with
 the eager heart and trained mind drew a
 long breath  and1 determining to make  
this first success only the cornerstone 
of a  new temple1 turned to a larger    
field of action1 the field to which her 
every unconscious step had been leading 
her1 the education1 no longer  only of  
the deficient1 but of all the normal    
young of the human race4    ,it was in  

#aijj that ,dr4 ,montessori left the    
,scuola ,ortofrenica1 and  began to     
prepare herself consciously and         
definitely for the task  before her4    
,for seven years she followed a course  
of self-imposed  study1 meditation1     
observation1 and intense thought4 ,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-psychology4 ,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 field4
 ,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 evidence4    ,no more diverting  
picture can be imagined than the one    
presented  by this keen-eyed1           
clear-headed scientist surveying1 with  
an  astonishment which must have been   
almost dramatically apparent1 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-meaning1            
gesticulating1 explaining1 always       
fatigued1 and always  talking teacher4  
,it was evident at a glance that she    
could not find  there what she had hoped
 to find1 that first prerequisite of the
 modern  scientist1 a prolonged scrutiny
 of the natural habits of the subject of
  investigation4 ,the entomologist      
seeking to solve some of the farmer's   
problems1 spends years with a           
microscope1 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 other4 ,but ,dr4     
,montessori found1 so to  speak1 that   

all the potatoes she tried to           
investigate were being grown  in a      
cellar4 ,they grew1 somehow1 because the
 upward thrust of life is  invincible1  
but their pale shoots gave no evidence  
of the possibility  of the sturdy stems1
 which a chance specimen or two escaped 
by a stroke  of luck from the cellar1   
proved to be possible for the whole     
species4    ,at the same time that she  
was making these amazed and disconcerted
  visits to the primary schools1 she was
 devouring all the books which  have    
been written on her subject4 ,my own    
acquaintance with works on  pedagogy is 
limited1 but ,i observe that people who 
do know them do  not seem surprised that
 this thoroughly trained modern doctor1 
with  years of practical teaching back  
of her1 should have found little aid  in
 them4 ,two highly valuable authorities 
she did find1 significantly  enough     
doctors like herself1 one who lived at  
the time of the ,french  ,revolution and
 one perhaps fifty years later4 ,she    

tells us in her book  what their ideas  
were and how strongly they modified her 
own2 but as we  are here chiefly        
concerned with the net result of her    
thought1 it would  not be profitable to 
go exhaustively into the investigation  
of her  sources4 ,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 them4    ,we have now  
followed the course of ,dr4             
,montessori's life until it  brings us  
back to that chaotic1 ancient-modern    
,rome1 mentioned a few  paragraphs      
above1 struggling with all sorts of     
modern problems of city  life4 ,the     
housing of the very poor is a question  
troublesome enough1  even to ,detroit or
 ,indianapolis with their bright1 new   
municipal  machinery4 ,in ,rome the     
problem is complicated by the medieval  
standards  of the poor themselves as to 
their own comfort2 by the existence of  
many old rookeries where they may roost 
in unspeakable conditions  of filth and 

promiscuity2 and by the lack of a       
widespread popular  enlightenment as to 
the progress of the best modern         
communities4 ,but1  though ,italian     
public opinion as a whole seems to be in
 a somewhat  dazed condition over the   
velocity of changes in the social       
structure1  there is no country in the  
world which has more acute1 powerful1 or
  original intelligences and consciences
 trained on our modern problems4  ,all  
the while that ,dr4 ,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  methods1 another         
,italian1 an influential1 intelligent1  
and patriotic  ,roman1 ,signor ,edoardo 
,talamo1 was studying the problem of    
bettering at  once1 practically1 the    
housing of the very poor4    ,he had    
decided what to do and had done it1 when
 the line of his  activity and that of  
,dr4 ,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   
tissue4 ,the plan of ,signor ,talamo's  
model tenements was so wise and so      
admirably executed that1 except for one 
factor1 they really deserved  their     
name4 ,this factor was the existence of 
a large number of little  children under
 the usual school age1 who were left    
alone all day  while their mothers1     
driven by the grinding necessity which  
is the  rule in the ,italian lower      
working classes1 went out to help earn  
the  family living4 ,these little ones  
wandered about the clean halls and      
stairways1 defacing everything they     
could reach and constantly getting  into
 mischief1 the desolating ingenuity of  
which can be imagined by  any mother of 
small children4 ,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 place4 ,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 
together4 ,this1 of course1  meant that 
some grown person must be there to look 
after them4    ,now ,rome is1 at least  
from the standpoint of a ,new ,yorker or
 a  ,chicagoan1 a small city1 where     
8everyone who is anyone knows everyone  
else40 ,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-centers1 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 houses1        
collected1 as far  as he was concerned1 
for the purpose of keeping them from    
scratching  the walls and fouling the   
stairways4    ,on her part ,dr4         
,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 education1 and saw in     
them1 as if sent  by a merciful         
,providence1 the experimental           
laboratories which she so  much needed  
to carry on her work and which she had  
definitely found  that primary schools  
could never become4    ,the fusion of   
two elements which are destined to      
combine is not a long  process once they
 are brought together4 ,how completely  
,dr4 ,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    
#fth of  ,january1 #aijg1 and that now1 
only five years after1 there arrive in  
,rome1 from every quarter of the globe1 
bewildered but imperious demands  for   
enlightenment on the new idea4    ,for  
it was at once apparent that the        
fundamental principle of                
self-education1 which had been growing  
larger and larger in ,dr4  ,montessori's

 mind1 was as brilliantly successful in 
actual practice  as it was plausible in 
abstract thought4 ,evidently entire     
freedom for  the children was not only  
better for the purposes of the          
scientific  investigator1 but infinitely
 the best thing for the children4 ,all  
those meditations about the real nature 
of childhood1 over which she  had been  
brooding in the long years of her study1
 proved themselves1  once put to the    
test1 as axiomatic in reality as they   
had seemed4 ,her  theories held water4  
,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 themselves4     
,for instance1 she had not the least    
idea1 when she began1 of teaching       
children under six how to write4 ,she   
held1 as most other educators  did1 that
 on the whole it was too difficult an   
undertaking for such  little ones4 ,it  
was her own peculiar characteristic1 or 

rather the  characteristic of her       
scientific training1 of extreme openness
 to  conviction which induced her1 after
 practical experience1 to begin her     
famous experiments with the method for  
writing4    ,the story of this startling
 revelation of unsuspected forces in    
human  youth and of the almost instant  
pounce upon it by the world1 distracted 
by a helpless sense of the futility and 
clumsiness of present methods  of       
education1 is too well known to need a  
long recapitulation4 ,the  first ,casa  
dei ,bambini was established in         
,january1 #aijg1 without  attracting the
 least attention from the public4 ,about
 a year after  another one was opened4  
,this time1 owing to the marked success 
of  the first1 the affair was more of a 
ceremony1 and ,dr4 ,montessori          
delivered there that eloquent inaugural 
address which is reprinted in  the      
,american translation of her book4 ,by  
,april of #aijh1 only a little  over a  
year after the first small beginning1   

the institution of the  ,casa dei       
,bambini was discovered by the public1  
keen on the scent of  anything that     
promised relief from the almost         
intolerable lack of  harmony between    
modern education and modern needs4      
,pilgrims of all  nationalities and     
classes found their way through the     
filthy streets of  that wretched        
quarter1 and the barely established     
institution1 still  incomplete in many  
ways1 with many details untouched1 with 
many others  provided for only in a     
makeshift manner1 was set under the     
microscopic  scrutiny of innumerable    
sharp eyes4    ,the result1 as far as we
 are concerned1 we all know3 the rumors1
 vague  at first1 which blew across our 
lives1 then more definite talk of       
something really new1 then the          
characteristically ,american promptness 
of response in our magazines and the    
almost equally prompt appearance  of an 
,english translation of ,dr4            
,montessori's book4    ,and1 so far1    

that is all we have from her1 and for   
the present it is  all we can have1     
without taking some action ourselves to 
help her4  ,it is a strange situation1  
intensely modern1 which could only have 
occurred in this age of instantly       
tattling cables and telegrams4 ,it  is1 
of course1 a great exaggeration to say  
that all educated parents  and teachers 
in ,america are interested in the       
,montessori system1 but  the proportion 
who really seem to be1 is astonishing in
 the extreme  when one considers the    
very recent date of the beginning of the
 whole  movement4 ,over there in ,rome1 
in a tenement house1 a woman doctor     
begins observations in an experimental  
laboratory of children1 and in  five    
years' time1 which is nothing to a real 
scientist1 her laboratory  doors are    
stormed by inquirers from ,australia1   
from ,norway1 from  ,mexico1 and1 most  
of all1 from the ,united ,states4       
,teachers of district  schools in the   
,carolinas write their cousins touring  

in ,europe to be  sure to go to ,rome to
 see the ,montessori schools4 ,mothers  
from ,oregon  and ,maine write1         
addressing their letters1 8,montessori1 
,rome10 and  make demands for           
enlightenment1 urgent1 pressing1        
peremptory1 and  shamelessly peremptory1
 since they conceive of a possibility   
that their  children1 their own         
children1 the most important human      
beings in the  world1 may be missing    
something valuable4 ,from innumerable   
towns and  cities1 teachers1 ambitious  
to be in the front of their profession1 
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 them4    
,illustration3 ,,word ,,building ,,with 
,,cut-,,out ,,alphabet4                 
,copyright #aiab1 by ,carl ,r4 ,byoir   
,when they reach ,rome1 most of them    
quite unable to express themselves  in  

,italian or even in ,french1 what do    
they find1 all these tourists  and      
letters of inquiry1 and adventuring     
school-mistresses8 ,they find  a dead   
wall4 ,they have an unformulated idea   
that they are probably  going to a      
highly organized institution of some    
sort1 like our huge  8model schools0    
attached to our normal colleges1 through
 the classrooms  of which an unending   
file of observers is allowed to pass4   
,and they  have no idea whatever of the 
inevitability with which ,italians speak
  ,italian4    ,they find--if they are  
relentlessly persistent enough to pierce
  through the protection her friends try
 to throw about her--only ,dr4          
,montessori herself1 a private          
individual1 phenomenally busy with very 
important work1 who does not speak or   
understand a word of ,english1  who has 
neither money1 time1 or strength enough 
single-handed to cope  with the flood of
 inquiries and inquirers about her      
ideas4 ,in order  to devote herself     

entirely to the great undertaking of    
transmuting  her divinations of the     
truth into a definite1 logical1 and     
scientific  system1 she has withdrawn   
herself more and more from public life4 
,she  has resigned from her chair of    
anthropology in the ,university of      
,rome1  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 means4
 ,she has sacrificed  everything in her 
private life in order to have1 for the  
development of  her educational ideas1  
that time and freedom so constantly     
infringed  upon by the well-meaning     
urgency of our demands for instruction  
from  her4    ,she lives now in the most
 intense retirement1 never taking a     
vacation  from her passionate absorption
 in her work1 not even giving herself   
time for the exercise necessary for     
health1 surrounded and aided by a       
little group of five devoted disciples1 

young ,italian women who live  with her1
 who call her 8mother10 and who exist in
 and for her and her  ideas1 as ardently
 and whole-heartedly as nuns about an   
adored ,mother  ,superior4 ,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 six4 ,for the   
past year1 helped  spiritually by these 
disciples and materially by influential 
,italian  friends1 ,dr4 ,montessori has 
been experimenting with the application 
of  her ideas to children from six to   
nine1 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     
children4    ,it is to this woman       
burning with eagerness to do her work1  
absorbed  in the exhausting problems of 
intellectual creation1 that students    
from all over the world are turning for 

instruction in a phase of her           
achievement which now lies behind her4  
,the woman in the genius is  touched and
 heartened by the sudden homage of the  
world1 but it is the  spirit of the     
investigating scientist which most often
 inhabits that  powerful1 bulky1 yet    
lightly poised body and looks out from  
those dark1  prophetic eyes2 and from   
the point of view of the scientist1 the 
world  asks too much when it demands    
from her that she give herself up to    
normal teaching4 ,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 method1  since she is simply
 a private individual1 has no connection
 with the  official educational system  
of her country1 is at the head of no    
normal  school1 gives no courses of     
lectures1 and has no model schools of   
her  own to which to invite visitors4   
,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 care1 which she   
authorizes in all its  detail1 which is 
really a 8,montessori ,school40 ,there  
are1 it is true1  some which she started
 and which are still conducted according
 to her  ideas in the majority of       
details1 but not one where she is the   
leading  spirit4    ,there are a variety
 of reasons1 natural enough when one has
 once  taken in the situation1 which    
account for this state of things1 so    
bewildering and disconcerting to those  
who have come from so far to  learn at  
headquarters about the new ideas4 ,the  
,italian ,government1  straining to     
carry the heavy burdens of a modern     
,state1 feels  itself unable to         
undertake a radical and necessarily very
 costly  reorganization of its schools1 
the teachers very naturally fear        
revolutionary changes which would render
 useless their hard-won  diplomas1 and  
carry on against the new system a secret

 campaign which  has been so far        
successful4 ,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       
country4    ,in the other camp1 fighting
 just as bitterly1 are the ,montessori  
adherents1 full of enthusiasm for her   
philosophy1 devoting all  the forces at 
their command 7and they include many of 
the highest  intellectual and social    
forces7 to the success of the cause     
which they  believe to be of the utmost 
importance to the future of the race4   
,it  can be seen that the situation is  
not orderly1 calm1 or in any way        
adapted to dispassionate investigation4 
,and yet people who have come from      
,california and ,british ,columbia  and 
,buenos ,ayres to seek for information1 
naturally do not wish to  go back to    
their distant homes without making a    
violent effort to  investigate4 ,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 ,giusti1 or to another     
conducted  by ,signora ,galli among the 
children of an extremely poor quarter of
  ,rome1 or1 innocent and unaware1 in   
all good faith go to visit the          
institutions in the model tenements1    
still called ,case dei ,bambini4  ,but  
,dr4 ,montessori's relations with those 
schools ceased in #aiaa as a  result of 
an unfortunate disagreement between     
,signor ,talamo and herself  in which1  
so far as an outsider can judge1 she was
 not to blame2 and  those infant schools
 are now thought by impartial judges to 
be far  from good expositions of her    
methods1 and in many cases are actual   
travesties of it4 ,furthermore1 ,dr4    
,montessori has now no connection  with 
,signora ,galli's schools4 ,this leaves 
accessible to her care and  guided by   
her counsels only the school held in the
 ,franciscan nunnery1  which is directed

 by ,signorina ,ballerini1 one of ,dr4  
,montessori's own  disciples1 as the    
nearest approach to a school under her  
own control  in ,rome4 ,this is1 in many
 ways1 an admirable example of the      
wonderful  result of the ,montessori    
ideas and is a revelation to all who    
visit it4  ,but even here1 though the   
good nuns make every effort to give a   
free  hand to ,signorina ,ballerini1 it 
can be imagined that the ecclesiastical 
atmosphere1 which in its very essence is
 composed of unquestioning  obedience to
 authority1 is not the most congenial   
one for the growth  of a system which   
uses every means possible to do away    
with dogma of  any sort1 and to foster  
self-dependence and first-hand ideas of 
things4  ,more than this1 if this school
 admitted freely all those who wish to  
visit it1 there would be more visitors  
than children on many a day4    ,it is  
not hard to sympathize with the         
searchers for information who  come from
 the ends of the earth1 who stand aghast

 at this futile ending  of their long   
journey4 ,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 future4 ,how can we expect her1  
against all  manner of material odds1 to
 organize a normal school in a country  
with  a government indifferent1 if not  
hostile to her ideas1 to gather funds1  
to rent rooms1 to arrange hours1 hire   
janitors1 and lay out courses6    ,but  
the proselytizer who lives in every     
ardent believer makes her as            
unreconciled to the state of things as  
we are4 ,she is regretfully aware  of   
the opportunity to spread the new gospel
 which is being lost with  every day of 
silence1 distressed at the thought of   
sending the pilgrims  away empty-handed1
 and above all naturally distracted with
 anxiety lest  impure1 misunderstanding 
caricatures of her system spread abroad 
in  the world as the only answer to the 
demand for information about it4  ,busy 

as she is with the most absorbing       
investigations1 ,dr4 ,montessori  is    
willing to meet the world halfway4 ,if  
those who ask her to teach  them will do
 the tangible1 comparatively simple work
 of establishing an  ,institute of      
,experimental ,pedagogy in ,rome1 the   
,dottoressa1 for all  her concentration 
on her further research1 will be more   
than willing to  give enough of her time
 for making the school as wonderful1    
beautiful1  and inspiring as only a     
,montessori school can be4    ,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 schools1 to give generously to an   
,institute  of ,experimental ,pedagogy1 
and then freely allow her own           
inspiration to  shape its course4       
,surely the terms are not hard ones1 and
 it is to be  hoped that the ,united    
,states1 with the genuine1 if somewhat  
haphazard1  willingness to further the  

cause of education1 which is perhaps our
  most creditable national              
characteristic1 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 generation4 ,the need is urgent1 
the sum required  is not large1 the     
opportunity is one in a century1 and the
 end to be  gained valuable beyond the  
possibility of exaggeration1 for1 as    
,dr4  ,montessori quotes at the end of  
the preface of her book1 8,whoso strives
  for the regeneration of education     
strives for the regeneration of the     
human race40      ,,note4--,since this  
chapter was printed1 ,i have heard the  
good news    that satisfactory          
arrangements have been made by the      
,montessori    ,american ,committee with
 ,dr4 ,montessori for a training class  
to be    held in ,rome for ,american    
teachers4          ,,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     
lines1 from the kindergarten through the
 primary  school1 on through the high   
school to the ,chinese ordeal of the    
college  entrance examination1 an event 
which casts its shadow far down the line
  of school-grades1 embittering the     
intellectual activities and darkening   
the life of teachers and pupils 7even   
pupils who have not the faintest  chance
 of going to college7 for years before  
the awful moment arrives4    ,all really
 good teachers have always been1 as much
 as they were  allowed to be1 some      
variety of what is called in this book  
8,montessori  teacher40 ,but as the     
,state and private systems of education 
have  swollen to more and more          

unmanageable proportions1 and have      
settled  into more and more exact and   
cog-like relations with each other1     
teachers have found themselves required 
to 8turn out a more uniform  product10 a
 process which is in its very essence   
utterly abhorrent to  anyone with the   
soul of an educator4    ,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 ,maine1 and find himself 
in company  with children being ground  
out in precisely the same educational   
hopper he has left4 ,his temperament1   
capacity1 tastes1 surroundings1         
probable future and aspirations may be  
what you will1 he will find all  the    
children about his age of all           
temperaments1 tastes1 capacities1       
probable futures and aspirations        
practically everywhere in the ,united   
,states1 being 8educated0 exactly as he 
was1 in his original graded  school1    

wherever it was4 ,school superintendents
 hold conferences of                    
self-congratulation over this           
8standardizing0 of ,american education1 
and some teachers are so hypnotized by  
this mental attitude on the  part of    
their official superiors1 that they come
 to take pride in  the ,procrustean     
quality of their schoolroom where all   
statures are  equalized1 and to labor   
conscientiously to drive thirty or more 
children slowly and steadily1 like a    
flock of little sheep1 with no          
stragglers and no advance-guard allowed1
 along the straight road  to the next   
division1 where another shepherdess1    
with the same  training1 takes them in  
hand4 ,there is a significant anecdote  
current  in school-circles1 of an       
educator rising to address an           
educational  convention which had been  
discussing special treatment for        
mentally  slow and deficient children1  
and solemnly making only this pregnant  
exclamation1 8,we have special systems  

for the deficient child1 and the  slow  
child and the stupid child 444 but ,god 
help the bright child60    ,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 country4  ,our educational system
 is a monument to the energy1           
perseverance1 and  organizing genius of 
the various educational authorities1    
city1 county1  and state superintendents
 and so on1 who have created it4 ,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 wheels4 ,that there is 
plenty of the right spirit  fermenting  
among educators is evident4 ,for1 even  
along with the mighty  development of   
this educational machine1 has gone a    

steadily increasing  protest on the part
 of the best teachers and               
superintendents1 against  its quite     
possible misuse4    ,few people become  
teachers for the sake of the money to be
 made in that  business2 it is a        
profession which rapidly becomes almost 
intolerable  to anyone who has not a    
natural taste for it2 and1 as a         
consequence  of these two factors1 it is
 perhaps1 of all the professions1 the   
one  which has the largest proportion of
 members with a natural aptitude  for   
their lifework4 ,with the instinctive   
right-feeling of human beings  engaged  
in the work for which they were born1 a 
considerable proportion  of teachers    
have protested against the tacit demand 
upon them by the  machine organization  
of education1 to make the children under
 their  care1 all alike4 ,they have felt
 keenly the essential necessity of      
inculcating initiative and              
self-dependence in their pupils1 and in 
many  cases have been aided and abetted 

in these heterodox ideas by more or     
less sympathetic principals and         
superintendents2 but the ugly1 hard     
fact remains1 not a whit diminished for 
all their efforts1 that the  teacher    
whose children are not able to 8pass0   
given examinations on  given subjects1  
at the end of a given time1 is under    
suspicion2 and  the principal whose     
school is full of such teachers is very 
apt to  give way to a successor1 chosen 
by a board of business-men with a cult  
for efficiency4 ,to advise teachers     
under such conditions to 8adopt         
,montessori ideas0 is to add the        
grimmest mockery to the difficulties  of
 their position4 ,all that can be hoped 
for1 at present1 in that  direction1 is 
that the strong emphasis placed by the  
,montessori method  on the necessity for
 individual freedom of mental activity  
and growth1  may prove a valuable       
reinforcement to those ,american        
educators who are  already struggling   
along towards that goal4    ,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 teachers4 ,the   
natural development of ,montessori      
ideas1 the natural  results of the      
introduction of 8,children's ,homes0    
into the ,united  ,states1 without this 
already existing fixed educational      
organization  convinced of its own      
perfection1 would be entirely in accord 
with the  general1 vague1 unconscious   
socialistic drift of our time4 ,little  
by  little1 various enterprises which   
used to be private and individual1  are 
being carried on by some central1 expert
 organization4 ,this is  especially true
 as regards the life of women4 ,one by  
one1 all the old  8home industries0 are 
being taken away from us4 ,our          
laundry-work1  bread-making1 sewing1    
house-furnishing1 and the like1 are all 
done  in impersonal industrial centers  
far from the home4 ,the education of    
children over six has already followed  

this general direction and is  less and 
less in the hands of the children's     
mothers4 ,and now here is  the ,casa dei
 ,bambini1 ready to take the younger    
children out of our  yearning arms1 and 
sternly forbidding us to protest1 as our
 mothers  were forbidden to protest when
 we1 as girls1 went away to college1 or 
when trained nurses came in to take the 
care of their sick children  away from  
them1 because the best interests of the 
coming generation  demand this          
sacrifice4    ,but as things stand now1 
we mothers have a little breathing-space
 in  which to accustom ourselves        
gradually to this inevitable change in  
our  world4 ,at some time in the future1
 society will certainly recognize  this 
close harmony of the successful ,casa   
dei ,bambini with the rest of  the      
tendencies of our times1 and then there 
will be a need to address  a detailed   
technical book on ,montessori ideas to  
teachers1 for the  training of little   
children will be in their hands1 as is  

already the  training of older children4
    ,and then will be completed the     
process which has been going on so long1
  of forcing all women into labor       
suitable to their varying temperaments4 
,the last one of the so-called          
8natural10 8domestic0 occupations will  
be  taken away from us1 and very shame  
at our enforced idleness will drive  us 
to follow men into doing1 each the work 
for which we are really  fitted4 ,those 
of us who are born teachers and mothers 
7for the two  words ought to mean about 
the same thing7 will train ourselves    
expertly  to care for the children of   
the world1 collected for many hours a   
day  in school-homes of various sorts4  
,those of us who have not this natural  
capacity for wise and beneficent        
association with the young 7and many    
who love children dearly are not gifted 
with wisdom in their treatment7  will do
 other parts of the necessary work of   
the world4    ,but that time is still in
 the future4 ,at present our teachers   

can  no more adopt the utter freedom and
 the reverence for individual           
differences1 which constitute the       
essence of the 8,montessori method10    
than a cog in a great machine can1 of   
its own volition1 begin to turn         
backwards4 ,and here is the opportunity 
for us1 the mothers1 perhaps  among the 
last of the race who will be allowed the
 inestimable delight  and joy of caring 
for our own little children1 a delight  
and joy of  which society1 sooner or    
later1 will consider us unworthy on     
account of  our inexpertness1 our       
carelessness1 our absorption in other   
things1 our  lack of wise preparation1  
our lack of abstract good judgment4     
,our part1 during this period of        
transition1 is to seize upon            
regenerating influences coming from any 
source1 and shape them  with care into  
instruments which will help us in the   
great task of  training little children1
 a complicated and awful responsibility1
 our  pathetically inadequate training  

for which is offset somewhat by our     
passionate desire to do our best4    ,we
 can collaborate in our small way with  
the scientific founder of  the          
,montessori method1 and can help her to 
go on with her system  7discovered      
before its completion7 by assimilating  
profoundly her  master-idea1 and        
applying it in directions which she has 
not yet had  time finally and carefully 
to explore1 such as its application to  
the  dramatic and sthetic instincts of  
children4    ,above all1 we can apply it
 to ourselves1 to our own tense and     
troubled  lives4 ,we can absorb some of 
,dr4 ,montessori's reverence for vital  
processes4 ,indeed1 possibly nothing    
could more benefit our children  than a 
whole-hearted conversion on our part to 
her great and calm trust  in life       
itself4          ,,index        ,adult  
analysis of children's problems1 #adc1  
#adg1 #aed4      ,animal training       
different from child training1 #aee4    
,apparatus3      ,big stair1 #gb1 #ajj4 

,broad stair1 #ajj4                     
,buttoning-frames1 #ac1 #ae1 #ee1 #acd4 
,color spools1 #gc4      ,explanation   
of1 #ii ff4      ,geometric insets1     
flat1 #gf4      ,geometric insets1      
solid1 #gj4      ,how to use1 #fg ff41  
#ia1 #ib1 #ii4      ,long stair1 #ajj1  
#aib4      ,the ,tower1 #ga1 #ajj4      
,age of children in ,montessori schools1
 #h4      ,apathetic child1 the1 #da ff4
      ,arithmetic1 beginnings of1 #af1  
#ajj4        8,bad child10 the1         
treatment of1 #cb4      ,big stair1 the4
 ,see ,apparatus4                       
,buttoning-frames4 ,see ,apparatus4     
,democracy1 basis of ,montessori system1
 #aah1 #ahg4      ,discipline1 #ca1 #ada
 ff4        ,exercises1 gymnastic1 #adf1
 #adh2      for legs1 #aab2      for    
balance1 #aac1 #aae1 #adi4              
,exercises1 sensory3      ,baric1 #fe1  
#aja4      ,blindfolded1 #ag4           
,color games1 #gd4      ,color matching1
 #gc4      ,hearth-side seed-game1 #aaj4
      ,in dimension1 #af4      ,in      

folding up1 #ajg ff4      ,instinctive  
desire for1 #eb-ed4      ,not entire    
occupation of children1 #fh4            
,simplicity of1 #ed4      ,in smelling1 
#fd4      ,tactile1 #ei1 #fj1 #ajj1     
#aae4      ,in tasting1 #fd4      ,by   
use of water1 #aej1 #aea4      ,by use  
of weights1 #fe1 #aja4        ,family   
life1 how affected by ,montessori       
system1 #aba4      ,freedom1 #ca1 #ajc1 
#aah1 #aai1 #abc1 #aca4        ,gardens1
 value of1 in child-training1 #bja1     
#bjd4      ,geometric insets4 ,see      
,apparatus4        ,individuality1      
respect for1 of ,montessori system1 #dj1
 #ic4      ,interest1 a prerequisite to 
education1 #cj1 #id ff41 #aij4          
,kindergarten compared with ,montessori 
system1 #bj1 #agc1 #agi2      as to     
self-annihilation of teacher1 #ahj2     
as to absence of supervision1 #ahj2     
as to social life of children1 #ahd2    
as to overstimulation1 #ahh1 #ahi4      
,lesson of silence1 #dc ff4      ,long  
stair4 ,see ,apparatus4        ,mental  

concentration1 #adc1 #ade4      ,music1 
#ai4        ,new pupils1 #cg ff4        
,number of pupils in ,montessori school1
 #h4        ,obedience1 #aee1 #aei1     
#afa4      ,observation of children1    
necessity for1 #ib4                     
,overstimulation1 #ahh1 #ahi4           
,patience of children1 #acg1 #ach1 #aij4
      ,plants1 care of1 for children1   
#bjb1 #bjd4        ,reading1 #hi4       
,responsibility1 inculcation of1 #cd1   
#ce1 #fi1 #gj1 #acf1 #bja4              
,school day1 length of1 #cg4            
,school-equipment1 #h1 #ei4             
,self-control of children1 #adb1 #add1  
#ade4      ,self-dependence of children1
 #bc1 #ajb1 #aaj1 #acc1 #acg1 #aef1     
#ahf4      ,slowness of children1 #ba1  
#ace4      ,social life of children1    
#ahd1 #bjf1 #bjg4      ,supervision1    
absence of1 #aj1 #ajb1 #ajc1 #ahj1 #aia1
 #aic4        ,theoretic basis of       
,montessori system1 vi1 #di1 #ef1 #ajc1 
#abj1 #abc1--see      also under        
,democracy1 ,freedom1 ,interest1        

,individuality1      ,responsibility1   
,self-dependence4      ,touch1 sense of1
 #eg1 #eh2      exercises for1--see     
,exercises1 ,sensory4      ,tower1 the4 
,see ,apparatus4        ,writing1       
training for1 beginnings of1 #ei2       
theory underlying1 #gi ff42             
alphabet1 #hb2      spontaneous writing1
 #hd2      time required to learn1 #hg4 
,,dorothy ,,canfield',s ,,the           
,,squirrel-,,cage    ,illustrated by ,j4
 ,a4 ,,williams4 #dth printing4 #a4ce   
net4    ,this is1 first of all1 an      
unusually personal and real story of    
,american  family life4      8,one has  
no hesitation in classing #8,the        
,squirrel-,cage' with the    best       
,american fiction of this or any season4
 ,regarded merely as a    realistic     
story of social ambitions in a typical  
,ohio town1 it has    all the elements  
of diversity1 feeling1 style1           
characterization and    plot to         
captivate almost any member of that     
large and growing public    which knows 

vital fiction from brummagem4 ,the      
author has a moving    story to tell1   
and with a calm1 sure art she tells it  
by stirring    our sympathies for the   
singularly appealing heroine4 ,the      
characters    are all alive1 well       
contrasted1 wonderfully                 
grouped40--,chicago    ,record-,herald4 
8,she brings her chief indictment       
against the restless ambition of    the 
,american business man1 and the         
purposeless and empty life of the       
,american wife4444 ,the story of a young
 girl's powerlessness to resist    the  
steady pressure of                      
convention40--,bookman4      8,a        
remarkable story of ,american life      
to-day1 worth reading and worth         
pondering4444 ,her book is1 first of    
all1 a story1 and a good one            
throughout40--,new ,york ,tribune4      
,,beulah ,,marie ,,dix',s ,,the         
,,fighting ,,blade      ,by the author  
of 8,the ,making of ,christopher        
,ferringham10 8,allison's    ,lad10 etc4

 ,with frontispiece by ,,george         
,,varian4 #crd printing4 #a4cj    net4  
,the 8fighting blade0 is a quiet1 boyish
 ,german soldier serving  ,cromwell1    
who1 though a deadly duelist1 is at     
bottom heroic and  self-sacrificing4 ,he
 loves a little tomboy ,royalist        
heiress4      ,new ,york                
,tribune4--8,lovers of this kind of     
fiction will find here    all that they 
can desire of plot and danger and       
daring1 of desperate    encounters1     
capture and hiding and escape1 and of   
nascent love amid    the alarums of war1
 and it is all of excellent quality40   
,chicago ,inter-,ocean4--8,the best     
historical romance the man    who writes
 these lines has read in half a dozen   
years4444 ,the    heroine is a dear maid
 and innocent1 yet nowise sweetish or   
tamely    conventional4444 ,the story's 
hero 444 is certainly as fine a specimen
    of fighting manhood 7with a gentle  
heart7 as ever has been put before      
us4444 ,he lives1 mind you1 he's wholly 

natural4444 ,oliver ,cromwell    makes a
 brief appearance1 but a striking       
one4444 ,some of the minor    characters
 444 are as well drawn4444 ,from the    
beginning 444 until the    very end the 
story holds the reader's glad1 intimate 
interest40        ,,henry ,,holt ,,and  
,,company    ,,publishers      ,,new    
,,york          ,,new ,,popular         
,,edition1 ,,with ,,appendix            
,containing tables1 etc41 of the ,opera 
,season #aijh-aa4      8,the most       
complete and authoritative 444          
pre-eminently the man to    write the   
book 444 full of the spirit of          
discerning criticism4444                
,delightfully engaging manner1 with     
humor1 allusiveness and an    abundance 
of the personal note40--,richard        
,aldrich in ,new ,york ,times           
,review4 7,complete notice on           
application47      ,,chapters ,,of      
,,opera    ,being historical and        
critical observations and records       
concerning the  ,lyric ,drama in ,new   

,york from its earliest days down to the
 present time4      ,by ,,henry ,,edward
 ,,krehbiel1 musical critic of the ,new 
,york ,tribune1    author of 8,music and
 ,manners in the ,classical ,period10   
8,studies in    the ,wagnerian ,drama10 
8,how to ,listen to ,music10 etc4 ,with 
over #gj    portraits and pictures of   
,opera ,houses4 #dej pp4 #abmo4 #b4ej   
net2 by    mail1 #b4fh4 ,illustrated    
circular on application4    ,this is    
perhaps ,mr4 ,krehbiel's most important 
book4 ,the first seven  chapters deal   
with the earliest operatic performances 
in ,new ,york4  ,then follows a         
brilliant account of the first          
quarter-century of the  ,metropolitan1  
#ahhc-aijh4 ,he tells how ,abbey's first
 disastrous ,italian  season was        
followed by seven seasons of ,german    
,opera under ,leopold  ,damrosch and    
,stanton1 how this was temporarily      
eclipsed by ,french and  ,italian1 and  
then returned to dwell with them in     
harmony1 thanks to  ,walter ,damrosch's 

brilliant crusade1--also of the burning 
of the opera  house1 the vicissitudes of
 the ,american ,opera ,company1 the     
coming  and passing of ,grau and        
,conried1 and finally the opening of    
,oscar  ,hammerstein's ,manhattan ,opera
 ,house and the first two seasons       
therein1  #aijf-jh4      8,presented not
 only in a readable manner but without  
bias 444    extremely interesting and   
valuable40--,nation4      8,the         
illustrations are a true embellishment  
444 ,mr4 ,krehbiel's style    was never 
more charming4 ,it is a                 
delight40--,philip ,hale in ,boston     
,herald4      8,invaluable for purpose  
of reference 444 rich in critical       
passages    444 all the great singers of
 the world have been heard here4 ,most  
of the great conductors have come to our
 shores4444 ,memories of    them which  
serve to humanize1 as it were1 his      
analyses of their    work40--,new ,york 
,tribune4      ,if the reader will send 
his name and address1 the publishers    

will send1  from time to time1          
information regarding their new books4  
,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company          
,,publishers      ,,new ,,york          
,,the ,,child    ,,its ,,care1 ,,diet   
,,and ,,common ,,ills    ,,by ,e4       
,,mather ,,sill1 ,m4,d4    ,lecturer in 
,diseases of ,children at the ,new ,york
 ,polyclinic ,medical  ,school and      
,hospital2 ,attending ,physician at the 
,good ,samaritan  ,dispensary and       
,assistant ,attending at the ,new ,york 
,polyclinic ,hospital    ,with #cd      
illustrations4 #a4jj net2 by mail #a4jh 
,contains just the information a young  
mother ought to have1 about the         
feeding1 clothing1 airing1 and exercise 
of infants and young children4  ,it is  
written in very simple language4 ,it    
teaches how to distinguish  the         
different diseases of children4 ,it     
gives a carefully prepared  list of     
antidotes for poisons4 ,it aims to give 
the kind of help a  mother needs before 
a physician can arrive1 with suggestions

 when a  physician is needed4 ,it is    
written on the assumption that the young
  mother of to-day is not satisfied with
 the knowledge handed down to  her from 
mother and grandmother1 but wishes a    
more thorough up-to-date  acquaintance  
with the modern methods of child care4  
,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company    #cd   
,,west #cc;,d ,,st4      ,,new ,,york   
,,new ,,books ,,primarily ,,for ,,women 
,buy of your bookseller4 ,postage is #h 
additional    ,a ,,montessori ,,mother4 
,by ,dorothy ,canfield ,fisher    ,a    
thoroly competent author who has been   
most closely associated with  ,dr4      
,montessori tells just what ,american   
mothers want to know about this  new    
system of child training4 7,helpfully   
illustrated4 #a4be net47      ,,the     
,,child2 ,its ,care1 ,diet1 and ,common 
,ills4    ,by ,dr4 ,e4 ,mather ,sill    
,lecturer in ,new ,york ,polyclinic1    
,attending ,physician at ,good          
,samaritan  ,dispensary1 ,new ,york1    
etc4 ,with #cd illustrations4 #bjg pp42 

#afmo4 7#a4jj  net47 ,circular with     
sample pages on request4      8,very    
well calculated to meet the needs of the
 young mother4    ,especially it        
contains much useful information which  
,i have not found    in other books of  
the kind40--,,dr4 ,,henry ,,mcmahon     
,,painter1 of the ,new    ,york ,nursery
 and ,child's ,hospital4      ,,making  
,a ,,business ,,woman4      ,by ,anne   
,shannon ,monroe    ,a young woman whose
 business assets are good sense1 good   
health1 and  the ability to use a       
typewriter1 goes to ,chicago to earn her
 living4  7#a4cj net47      ,,why       
,,women ,,are ,,so4      ,by ,mary ,r4  
,coolidge    ,explains and traces the   
development of the woman of #ahjj into  
the woman  of to-day4 7#a4ej net47      
,,the ,,squirrel-,,cage4      ,by       
,dorothy ,canfield    ,a novel          
recounting the struggle of an ,american 
wife and mother to call  her soul her   
own4 7#crd printing4 #a4ce net47        
,,heredity in ,,relation to ,,eugenics4 

,by ,c4 ,b4 ,davenport      8,one of the
 foremost authorities 444 tells just    
what scientific    investigation has    
established and how far it is possible  
to control    what the ancients accepted
 as inevitable40--,n4 ,y4 ,,times       
,,review4    7,with diagrams1 #crd      
printing4 #b4jj net47      ,,the        
,,gleam4      ,by ,helen ,r4 ,albee     
,a frank spiritual autobiography4 7#dth 
printing4 #a4ce net47        ,,henry    
,,holt ,,and ,,company    ,,publishers  
,,new ,,york          ,,the ,,home      
,,book ,,of ,,verse    ,american and    
,english 7#aehj-aiab7      ,compiled by 
,,burton ,e4 ,,stevenson4 ,collects the 
best short poetry of    the ,english    
language--not only the poetry everybody 
says is good1 but    also the verses    
that everybody reads4 7#cgdb pages2     
,india paper1 #a    vol41 #hvo1 complete
 author1 title and first line indices1  
#g4ej net2    carriage #dj cents extra47
    ,the most comprehensive and         
representative collection of ,american  

and  ,english poetry ever published1    
including #c1abj unabridged poems from  
some #a1ajj authors4    ,it brings      
together in one volume the best short   
poetry of the ,english  language from   
the time of ,spencer1 with especial     
attention to ,american  verse4    ,the  
copyright deadline has been passed1 and 
some three hundred recent  authors are  
included1 very few of whom appear in any
 other general  anthology1 such as      
,lionel ,johnson1 ,noyes1 ,housman1     
,mrs4 ,meynell1 ,yeats1  ,dobson1 ,lang1
 ,watson1 ,wilde1 ,francis ,thompson1   
,gilder1 ,le ,gallienne1  ,van ,dyke1   
,woodberry1 ,riley1 etc41 etc4    ,the  
poems as arranged by subject1 and the   
classification is unusually  close and  
searching4 ,some of the most            
comprehensive sections are3  ,children's
 rhymes 7#cjj pages72 love poems 7#hjj  
pages72 nature poetry  7#djj pages72    
humorous verse 7#ejj pages72 patriotic  
and historical poems  7#fjj pages72     
reflective and descriptive poetry 7#djj 

pages74 ,no other  collection contains  
so many popular favorites and fugitive  
verses4      ,,delightful ,,pocket      
,,anthologies    ,the following books   
are uniform1 with full gilt flexible    
covers and  pictured cover linings4     
#afmo4 ,each1 cloth1 #a4ej2 leather1    
#b4ej4      ,,the ,,garland ,,of        
,,childhood    ,a little book for all   
lovers of children4 ,compiled by ,percy 
,withers4      ,,the ,,vista ,,of       
,,english ,,verse    ,compiled by ,henry
 ,s4 ,pancoast4 ,from ,spencer to       
,kipling4      ,,letters ,,that ,,live  
,compiled by ,laura ,e4 ,lockwood and   
,amy ,r4 ,kelly4 ,some #aej letters4    
,,poems ,,for ,,travellers    7,about   
8,the ,continent407    ,compiled by     
,miss ,mary ,r4 ,j4 ,du,bois4      ,,the
 ,,open ,,road    ,a little book for    
wayfarers4 ,compiled by ,e4 ,v4 ,lucas4 
,,the ,,friendly ,,town    ,a little    
book for the urbane1 compiled by ,e4 ,v4
 ,lucas4      ,,the ,,poetic            
,,old-,,world    ,compiled by ,miss ,l4 

,h4 ,humphrey4 ,covers ,europe1         
including ,spain1  ,belgium and the     
,british ,isles4      ,,the ,,poetic    
,,new-,,world    ,compiled by ,miss     
,humphrey4        ,,henry ,,holt ,,and  
,,company    #cd ,,west #cc,,rd ,,street
      ,,new ,,york          ,,the       
,,theory ,,of ,,the ,,theatre    ,and   
,other ,principles of ,dramatic         
,criticism    ,by ,,clayton ,,hamilton4 
,author of 8,materials and ,methods of  
,fiction40  #a4ej net2 by mail1 #a4fj4  
,,contents3    ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,the
 ,,theatre4--,what is a ,play8--,the    
,psychology of ,theatre                 
,audiences4--,the ,actor and the        
,dramatist4--,stage ,conventions in     
,modern  ,times4--,economy of ,attention
 in ,theatrical                         
,performances4--,emphasis in  the       
,drama4--,the ,four ,leading ,types of  
,drama3 ,tragedy and ,melodrama2        
,comedy and ,farce4--,the ,modern       
,social ,drama4    ,,other ,,principles 
,,of ,,dramatic ,,criticism4--,the      

,public and the  ,dramatist4--,dramatic 
,art and the ,theatre ,business4--,the  
,happy ,endings  in the ,theatre4--,the 
,boundaries of ,approbation4--,imitation
 and  ,suggestion in the                
,drama4--,holding the ,mirror up to     
,nature4--,blank  ,verse on the         
,contemporary ,stage4--,dramatic        
,literature and ,theatric               
,journalism4--,the ,intention of        
,performance4--,the ,quality of ,new    
,endeavor4--,the ,effect of ,plays upon 
the ,public4--,pleasant and  ,unpleasant
 ,plays4--,themes in the ,theatre4--,the
 ,function of ,imagination4             
,,dramatists ,,of ,,to-,,day            
,,rostand1 ,,hauptmann1 ,,sudermann1    
,,pinero1 ,,shaw1 ,,phillips1           
,,maeterlinck    ,by ,,prof4 ,,edward   
,,everett ,,hale1 ,,jr41 of ,union      
,college4 ,with gilt top1  #a4ej net4   
7,by mail1 #a4fj47    ,an informal      
discussion of their principal plays and 
of the performances  of some of them4   
,the volume opens with a paper 8,on     

,standards of  ,criticism10 and         
concludes with 8,our ,idea of ,tragedy10
 and an appendix  of all the plays of   
each author1 with dates of their first  
performance  or publication4      ,new  
,york ,evening ,post3 8,it is not often 
nowadays that a theatrical    book can  
be met with so free from gush and mere  
eulogy1 or so    weighted by common     
sense 444 an excellent chronological    
appendix and    full index 444          
uncommonly useful for reference40       
,dial3 8,noteworthy example of literary 
criticism in one of the most            
interesting of literary fields4444 ,well
 worth reading a second time40          
,,the ,,german ,,drama ,,of ,,the       
,,nineteenth ,,century    ,by ,,georg   
,,witkowski4 ,translated by ,,prof4 ,l4 
,e4 ,,horning4 #abmo4 #a4jj4    ,kleist1
 ,grillparzer1 ,hebbel1 ,ludwig1        
,wildenbruch1 ,sudermann1 ,hauptmann1   
and minor dramatists receive attention4 
,new ,york ,times ,review3 8,the        
translation of this brief1 clear1 and   

logical account was an extremely happy  
idea4 ,nothing at the same time    so   
comprehensive and terse has appeared on 
the subject1 and it is a    subject of  
increasing interest to the              
,english-speaking public40              
,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company          
,,publishers      ,,new ,,york          
,coningsby ,dawson's    ,,the ,,garden  
,,without ,,walls    ,the triple romance
 of a ,pagan-,puritan of to-day1 with   
three heroines of  unusual charm4 #a4ce 
net4      ,boston ,transcript3--8,all   
vivid with the color of life2 a novel to
    compel not only absorbed attention1 
but long remembrance40      ,cosmo      
,hamilton in ,the ,new ,york ,sun3--8,a 
new writer who is an old    master4444  
,he lets all the poet in him loose4444  
,he has set himself    in line with     
those great dead to whom the novel was a
 living1    throbbing thing1 vibrant    
with the life blood of its creator1     
pulsing    with sensitiveness1 laughter1
 idealism1 tears1 the fire of youth1    

the joy of living1 passion1 and         
underlying it all that sense of the     
goodness of ,god and ,his earth and ,his
 children1 without which nothing    is  
achieved1 nothing lives40               
,life3--8,the first treat of the new    
season40      ,chicago                  
,record-,herald3--8,his undercurrents   
always are those of hope    and sympathy
 and understanding4 ,moreover1 the book 
is singularly    touched to beauty1     
alive with descriptive gems1 and gently 
bubbling    humor and humanization of   
unusual order4 ,generous and clever and 
genial40      ,marjorie ,patterson's    
,,the ,,dust ,,of ,,the ,,road    ,a    
vivid story of stage life by an actress4
 ,her characters are  hard-working1 but 
humorous and clean-living4 ,with colored
 frontispiece1  #a4cj net4      ,new    
,york ,tribune3--8,her story would not  
be so vivid and convincing    if its    
professional part1 at least1 had not    
been lived4 ,the glamor of    the stage 
is found here where it should be1 in the

 ambition of the    young girl1 in the  
fine enthusiasm of the manager4 ,there  
is humor    here1 and pathos1           
friendship1 loyalty1 the vanity of which
 we hear so    much40      ,new ,york   
,sun3--8,in a particularly illuminating 
way1 many points    are touched upon    
which will be read with interest in     
these days when    the young daughters  
of families are bound to go forth and   
attack the    world for themselves40    
,henry ,l4 ,mencken in ,baltimore       
,evening ,sun3 8,lively and interesting 
human beings 444 dramatic situations 444
 a vivid background 444    she knows how
 to write 444 amazing plausibility4     
,these stage folk    are real 444       
depicted with humor1 insight1 vivacity  
444 abounding    geniality and good     
humor40        ,,henry ,,holt ,,and     
,,company    ,,publishers      ,,new    
,,york          ,,henri ,,bergson',s    
,,creative ,,evolution    ,translated   
from the ,french by ,arthur ,mitchell of
 ,harvard ,university4  #cgjcg pp4      

index1 #hvo1 #b4ej net4,c               
8,bergson's resources in the way of     
erudition are remarkable1 and    in the 
way of expression they are simply       
phenomenal4 ,open ,bergson1    and new  
horizons open on every page you read4   
,nothing in ,bergson is    shop-worn or 
at second hand40--,,william ,,james4    
8,than its entrance upon the field as a 
well-armed and militant    philosophy1  
there have been not many more memorable 
occurrences in    the history of        
ideas40--,the ,nation4      ,,helen ,r4 
,,albee',s ,,the ,,gleam    ,by the     
,author of 8,hardy ,plants for ,cottage 
,gardens0 and 8,mountain  ,playmates40  
#a4ce net4,c      8,might be called the 
autobiography of a soul--,a record of   
the    development of the spiritual     
instinct from its dawn in a child of six
    to its fruition in a woman of       
forty-seven4444 ,told with sincerity and
    simplicity1 with a childlike        
frankness1 and at the same time great   
reticence in all matters except those of

 the spirit1 and also with    an        
astonishing lack of what is commonly    
called egotism4444 ,those    interested 
in psychic experiences will find matter 
here that piques    and holds the       
interest1 and that larger body intent   
upon some way of    escape out of the   
limitations of daily living and the     
difficulties    and disorder of daily   
thinking1 will find #8,the ,gleam'      
practically    helpful and              
illuminating40--,the ,nation4      8,the
 record of a woman's religious doubts1  
her revolt from orthodoxy    and her    
unsatisfactory appeal to science to     
appease the craving of    her spiritual 
nature1 and her final discovery of the  
means within    herself to gratify her  
longings4 ,it is an intimate account of 
a    struggle for peace and comfort told
 without reservation40--,new ,york      
,sun4      ,j4 ,,novicow',s ,,war ,,and 
,,its ,,alleged ,,benefits    ,by the   
,vice-,president of the ,international  
,institute of ,sociology4    ,translated

 by ,thomas ,seltzer4 #acj pp4 #afmo4   
#a4jj net4,c    ,the ,contents include3 
,war as an ,end in ,itself--,one-,sided 
,reasoning--,war  a                     
,solution--,physiological               
,effects--,economic ,effects--,political
  ,effects--,intellectual               
,effects--,moral ,effects--,survivals1  
,routine ,ideas1  and ,sophistries--,the
 ,psychology of ,war--,war ,considered  
as the ,sole ,form  of ,struggle--,the  
,theorist of ,brute ,force--,antagonism 
and ,solidarity4      8,a small volume  
with a large purpose4444 ,a large number
 of the    arguments of war as a        
beneficial agent are considered and     
vigorously    and clearly refuted4444   
,very simple and clear1 bristling with  
crisp1    epigrammatic sentences4444    
,the author has accomplished a marvelous
    lot in a very small compass2 there  
is no wilderness of words here2         
instead1 facts sent out with gatling gun
 briskness40--,chicago    ,tribune4     
,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company    #cd   

,west #cc;d ,street      ,new ,york     
,,new ,,books ,,on ,,the ,,living       
,,issues ,,by ,,living ,,men ,,and      
,,women      ,the ,home ,university     
,library    ,cloth ,bound #ej;c per     
volume net2 by mail #ef;c4    ,points   
about ,,the ,,home ,,university         
,,library    ,every volume is absolutely
 new1 and specially written for the     
,library4  ,there are no reprints4      
,every volume is sold separately4 ,each 
has illustrations where needed1  and    
contains a ,bibliography as an aid to   
further study4    ,every volume is      
written by a recognized authority on its
 subject  and the ,library is published 
under the direction of four eminent     
,anglo-,saxon scholars--,,gilbert       
,,murray1 of ,oxford2 ,h4 ,a4 ,l4       
,,fisher1 of  ,oxford2 ,j4 ,,arthur     
,,thomson1 of ,aberdeen2 and ,prof4 ,w4 
,t4 ,,brewster1 of  ,columbia4    ,every
 subject is of living and permanent     
interest4 ,these books tell  whatever is
 most important and interesting about   

their subjects4    ,each volume is      
complete and independent2 but the series
 has been  carefully planned as a whole 
to form a comprehensive library of      
modern  knowledge covering the chief    
subjects in ,history and ,geography1    
,literature and ,art1 ,science1 ,social 
,science1 ,philosophy1 and ,religion4   
,an order for any volume will insure    
receiving announcements of future       
issues4    ,,some ,,comments ,,on ,,the 
,,series ,,as ,a ,,whole3               
8,excellent40--,the ,outlook4           
8,exceedingly worth while40--,the       
,nation4      8,the excellence of these 
books40--,the ,dial4      8,so large a  
proportion with marked                  
individuality40--,new ,york ,sun4       
,,volumes ,,on ,,literature ,,and ,,art 
,,now ,,ready      ,landmarks in ,french
 ,literature ,by ,g4 ,l4 ,,strachey4    
,architecture ,by ,w4 ,r4 ,,lethaby4    
,mediaeval ,english ,literature ,by     
,prof4 ,w4 ,p4 ,,ker4      ,modern      
,english ,literature ,by ,g4 ,h4 ,,mair4

      ,the ,english ,language ,by ,l4   
,,pearsall ,,smith4      ,shakespeare   
,by ,,john ,,masefield4      ,great     
,american ,writers ,by ,w4 ,p4 ,,trent  
,,john ,,erskine4      ,writing ,english
 ,prose ,by ,w4 ,t4 ,,brewster4         
,dr4 ,johnson and ,his ,circle ,by      
,,john ,,bailey4      ,the ,victorian   
,age in ,literature ,by ,g4 ,k4         
,,chesterton4      ,the ,literature of  
,germany ,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,robertson4       
,painters and ,painting ,by ,,frederick 
,,wedmore4      ,shelley1 ,godwin1 and  
their ,circle ,by ,h4 ,n4 ,,brailsford4 
,ancient ,art and ,ritual ,by ,,jane    
,,harrison4      ,euripides and ,his    
,age ,by ,,gilbert ,,murray4            
,,henry ,,holt ,,and ,,company    #cd   
,,west #cc;,d ,,street      ,,new ,,york
          ,,standard ,,contemporary     
,,novels      ,,william ,,de ,,morgan',s
 ,,joseph ,,vance    ,the story of a    
great sacrifice and a lifelong love4    
,over fourteen  printings4 #a4ge4       
,list of ,mr4 ,de ,morgan's other novels

 sent on application4      ,,paul       
,,leicester ,,ford',s ,,the ,,hon4      
,,peter ,,stirling    ,this famous novel
 of ,new ,york political life has gone  
through over  fifty impressions4 #a4ej4 
,,anthony ,,hope',s ,,prisoner ,,of     
,,zenda    ,this romance of adventure   
has passed through over sixty           
impressions4  ,with illustrations by ,c4
 ,d4 ,gibson4 #a4ej4      ,,anthony     
,,hope',s ,,rupert ,,of ,,hentzau       
,this story has been printed over a     
score of times4 ,with illustrations  by 
,c4 ,d4 ,gibson4 #a4ej4      ,,anthony  
,,hope',s ,,dolly ,,dialogues    ,has   
passed through over eighteen printings4 
,with illustrations by ,h4 ,c4          
,christy4 #a4ej4      ,,charles         
,,battell ,,loomis',s ,,cheerful        
,,americans    ,by the author of 8,poe's
 ,raven in an ,elevator0 and 8,a        
,holiday ,touch40  ,with #bd            
illustrations4 ,tenth printing4 #a4be4  
,,may ,,sinclair',s ,,the ,,divine      
,,fire    ,by the author of 8,the       

,helpmate10 etc4 ,fifteenth printing4   
#a4ej4      ,,burton ,e4 ,,stevenson',s 
,,marathon ,,mystery    ,this mystery   
story of a ,new ,york apartment house is
 now in its seventh  printing1 has been 
republished in ,england and translated  
into ,german  and ,italian4 ,with       
illustrations in color4 #a4ej4      ,e4 
,l4 ,,voynich',s ,,the ,,gadfly    ,an  
intense romance of the ,italian uprising
 against the ,austrians4  ,twenty-third 
edition4 #a4be4      ,,david ,,dwight   
,,wells',s ,,her ,,ladyship',s          
,,elephant    ,with cover by ,wm4       
,nicholson4 ,eighteenth printing4 #a4be4
      ,c4 ,n4 and ,a4 ,m4               
,,williamson',s ,,lightning ,,conductor 
,over thirty printings4 #a4ej4      ,c4 
,n4 and ,a4 ,m4 ,,williamson',s ,,the   
,,princess ,,passes    ,illustrated by  
,edward ,penfield4 ,eighth printing4    
#a4ej4        ,,henry ,,holt ,,and      
,,company    ,,publishers      ,,new    
,,york          ,,footnotes3      ,a ,at
 first he traces only the outline of the

 inside figure4 ,later the  square frame
 is also outlined4    ,b ,a note here   
may perhaps clear up a possible         
misconception4 ,it is  to be remembered 
that all these statements about the     
necessity for  interest in the child's  
mind refer only to educative processes4 
,occasions may arise when it is         
desirable that a child shall do         
something which does not interest       
him--for instance1 sit still in a       
railway train until the end of the      
journey4 ,but no one need think that  he
 will ever acquire a taste for this     
occupation through being forced  to it4 
,c ,postage on net books is #h          
additional4          ,,transcriber',s   
,,notes3        ,italicized text is     
surrounded by underscores3 italics4     
,emboldened text is surrounded by equals
 signs3 bold4      ,obvious             
typographical errors have been          
corrected4      ,inconsistencies in     
hyphenation have been standardized4