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Child Development in a Montessori School

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Freedom and discipline develop together in a normalized child. But a child who has been given unlimited license to do as he wishes, who has no will with which to direct his activity, behaves in a disorderly fashion, following no path, “is at the mercy of every wind, like a ship without a rudder” (Montessori, Maria, The Absorbent Mind p. 267). It is only through the exercise of self-discipline and the strengthening of his will that the child may develop the ability to make intelligent choices which help him on his journey towards self-reliance and independence. As he naturally adapts himself to his environment, growing more autonomous, he is becoming free. Yet man’s ultimate aim is not to be free, but to wisely exercise freedom in order to discover and serve his unique purpose in life, the fulfillment of which is his true and joyful destiny. Mankind, with the unique potential for true freedom, can create a harmony. Animals achieve harmony through independence limited by instinct. Mankind, unrestricted by instinct, must begin with independence and develop as second nature those self-made limits that would seem to operate on his movements as does instinct on the action of animals. Independence is not synonymous with freedom, although the two concepts are related. Freedom, true liberty of choice, can be realized only through the intelligent exercise of our adaptive potential. An animal can be independent, surviving within or without its society as nature dictates. But an animal can never be free, for it cannot choose its own destiny. Nature has made that choice for him. He is born into his limitations and must abide by them, or he will not survive. The blending of his independence and instinct assure his physical survival. Each person seeks to create a harmony within that assures his spiritual survival. Independence is the starting point from which one may bring together those things which he chooses from his environment to create himself. Independence can be viewed as a help to the realization of freedom, making it more accessible. “To further distinguish independence from freedom, and at the same time shed light on their most intimate relationship, and also their hierarchical relationship, we might say that independence concerns primarily man’s action, and freedom, his being. Both, however, lose sense, function and reality if absolutized and divorced from their role as means for the fulfillment of man’s task, mission and ultimate goal” (Joosten, A.M. ‘Freedom and Independence’ Communications p. 7) The child’s Hormic drive for independence often sets him at odds with the adults in his home. “We can now state with certainty that the naughtiness of young children represents a disorder regarding the natural laws of psychic life in course of construction. It is not badness but it does compromise the future normality of the psychic functioning of the individual (Montessori, Maria The Formation of Man p.

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