AN ABSORBING MIND

"The child absorbs its surroundings. It takes everything from its surroundings and incarnates it in him/herself (...)The child builds itself using its surroundings." (M. Montessori, The Secret of Childhood)

From birth, children experience things through their senses, which their absorbing mind organizes into knowledge. At first, almost immobile, they observe and listen; then they begin to move, drawn by their surroundings, touching, and perceiving with all their other senses. Free, spontaneous, unhindered movement is thus the key to understanding and processing, even at a still unconscious level. The Montessori environment is scientifically designed, from the first months of life, to offer children opportunities for experience and work that develop and acquire crucial skills: from the development of visual discrimination to the refinement of all the senses; from linguistic skills to the ability to concentrate and the development of the mathematical mind.