Montessori children - 1 - Carolyn Sherwin Bailey

Patient waiting for the earth to bloom develops a little child spiritually.

MONTESSORI CHILDREN

BY
CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY

ILLUSTRATED FROM SPECIALLY POSED PHOTOGRAPHS

NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1915

Published February, 1915

THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS
RAHWAY, N. J.

PREFACE

As a student of child psychology and always most deeply interested in the welfare problems that confront us in connection with the upbringing of little children, I went to Rome in 1913 to study, first-hand, the results of the Montessori system of education. A great deal had been written and said in connection with the technic of the system. Little had been given the world in regard to individual children who were developing their personalities through the auto-education of Montessori. I wished to observe Montessori children.

Through the gracious courtesy of Dr. Montessori, I was given the privilege of observing in the new Trionfale School where the method could be watched from its inception, and in the Fua Famagosta and Franciscan Convent Schools. I was also given the privilege of hearing Dr. Montessori lecture, elucidating certain problems in her theory of education not previously given publicity.

I found little ones of three, four, and five years, surrounded by the many observers of the first international Montessori training class, yet so marvelously poised and self-controlled that they went through the days as if alone. I saw such proofs of the integrity of the system as the instances of Otello, Bruno, and others.

The pages which follow constitute a series of pictures of real child types showing Montessori results. As a record of results, I hope they may contribute to the world’s greater faith in the discovery of Montessori—the spirit of the child.

Carolyn Sherwin Bailey.

New York, 1915.

	PAGE
Dr. Montessori, the Woman	[3]
With Margherita in the Children’s House	[13]
Showing the Unconscious Influence of the True Montessori Environment.
Valia	[26]
The Physical Education of the System.
The Freeing of Otello, the Terrible	[39]
Montessori Awakening of Conscience Through Directed Will.
The Christ in Bruno	[54]
About the New Spiritual Sense.
Mario’s Finger Eyes	[67]
Montessori Sense-Training.
Raffaelo’s Hunger	[81]
Color Teaching. Its Value.
The Going Away of Antonio	[94]
Directing the Child Will.
Andrea’s Lily	[108]
The Nature-Training of the Method.
The Miracle of Olga	[119]
Reading and Writing as Natural for Your Child as Speech.
Clara—Little Mother	[135]
The Social Development of the Montessori Child.
Piccola—Little Home Maker	[148]
The Helpfulness of the Montessori Child.
Mario’s Plays	[163]
Montessori and the Child’s Imagination.
The Great Silence	[176]
Montessori Development of Repose.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Patient Waiting for the Earth to Bloom Develops a Little Child Spiritually	[Frontispiece]
	FACING PAGE
Back-yard Apparatus for the Physical Development of Children Is Valuable	[28]
An Important Physical Exercise of Montessori	[30]
Hand and Eye Work in Connection in Exercises of Practical Life	[32]
Walking upon a Line Gives Poise and Muscular Control	[34]
The Kind of Toy Dr. Montessori Recommends for Physical Development	[36]
Replacing the Solid Insets by the Sense of Touch Alone	[70]
Building the Tower and the Broad Stair	[70]
A Fineness of Perception Is Developed by Discriminating Different Textiles Blindfolded	[74]
Perfecting the Sense of Touch with the Geometric Insets	[76]
To Match the Colors Two by Two Is the First Exercise	[84]
Grading Each Standard Color and Its Related Colors in Chromatic Order	[88]
All the Colors of Nature May be Found	[88]
Every Child Should Have a Pet	[110]
The Loving Care of a Dumb Animal Results in Child Sympathy	[114]
To Feel that Something Is Dependent upon Him for Care and Food Helps a Child to Reverence Life	[116]
Building Words with the Movable Alphabet	[122]
Learning the Form of Letters by the Sense of Touch	[126]
Filling in Outlines with Color to Gain the Muscular Control Necessary for Writing	[126]

PREFACE

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS