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October 28, 2024

Montessori's Thoughts on Babies - 3 Quotes To Consider

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Is Montessori really for babies? What did Montessori herself say about babies? Recently I had a post go viral on Instagram (come follow me there for a lot of real life, everyday fun) and one of the comments made me laugh a bit. See the post was about spills while offering a baby an open cup - the weaning cup - a quintessential Montessori babyhood thing. The comments went a little crazy, as they do on viral posts, but one stood out to me. 

The comment, "Montessori was a preschool educator starting at age 2.5," highlighted a very common misconception about Montessori and the method itself. But, this myth remains pervasive in our culture. So often the word Montessori is slapped on products that have nothing to do with the method, and it makes people think it's just a marketing gimmick by companies. It's important to remember that Montessori is not exclusive to preschool, and talked extensively about babies under age 2. 




3 Quotes from Maria Montessori on Babies for Parents to Know


While we could quite literally read books about Montessori and babies, I wanted to pull three quotes to consider when we encounter people who believe Montessori is for preschool. By using Montessori with our babies we are not "rushing them" to their preschool years, trying to form small geniuses out of them, or any other such claim. But we are literally respecting the unique and fascinating developmental period that they are in. 

"The newborn child is an inert being, but this inert being has this power and we must marvel at it. Our attitude must be to do what we can to nurture the creation of man." Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures (34)


Here Montessori is talking about the power that young children have to learn and develop themselves through action in their environment. So often we assume that newborns are empty blobs just driven by primal instincts and reflexes. But Montessori reminds us that they are so much more than that. They hold within themselves the entire power to develop themselves. Thinking strictly about babies, this power allows them to learn language, learn how to move, learn how to explore - all without conscious effort. 


"So the first period of life has been fixed  for the storing of impressions from the environment, and is therefore the periods of the greatest psychic activity; it is the activity of absorbing everything that there is in the environment...the chief characteristic of the human babe is intelligence." Maria Montessori, Education for a New World (24)


Montessori reminds us here about the importance of the environment for babies. Babies are intelligent. While they may not be able to move their bodies, their brains are wired to absorb impressions from the environment. They are soaking everything in around them at all times. They don't turn off these powers, they don't tire of them, and we can't control them. We can only recognize how incredibly special this period is in human development and prepare ourselves accordingly. 


"From the moment of a child's birth, the mind of an adult is dominated by this thought: 'Take care that the infant doesn't not soil anything or become a nuisance. Watch out! Be on your guard!'" Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood (23)


Maria Montessori is often biting in her words, and this is no exception. She is calling out parents, even all these years ago. It's the same as all the parents in the comments of my viral post exclaiming they could never because a baby will make a mess. Here she is saying our fears of what the child could or would do get in the way of us allowing our children to exercise their powers of development. Instead parents fight the instinct to control them so that we can keep our environment's tidy. But beyond that we control them because we believe we know better, and if we don't they will become misbehaving, little chaotic beings. 


Considerations for Parents of Montessori Babies


I could pull a million more of these quotes. But I'll leave you just with these three. They beg the questions for me: 1) How are we resecting and understanding the powers of the infant brain? 2) Are we preparing our environment for the enrichment of a child endowed with incredible powers from birth? 3) Are we prepared ourselves to allow our children to unfold in front of us without interference?

These questions are not easily answered, but one question is - and that is whether or not Montessori was really only for the preschool years. A hearty no can ring out the next time you encounter that myth!  


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