The Absorbent Mind
Chapter 13 - Summary
October 19th, 2013.
In this chapter, Dr. Montessori passionately expresses the importance of the nervous, the sensory, and the muscular systems being harmoniously utilized, to aide in the general development of the human race. In the past, at educational institutions, intellectual conditioning has been approached as an entity on its own, whilst training the muscular system, has been left to physical education classes. By integrating the two forces, man is able to enrich his life, and the others around him, putting him in touch with all aspects of the world, both physically and spiritually.
Dr. Montessori is keen to draw attention to the fact that if we separate the physical and the spiritual, meaning if we were to operate using only one or the other, it would ‘break the continuity that should reign between them.’ (The Absorbent Mind, page 141) It is through the use of the muscles that the mind is expressed to its full potential. Coordination between movement and the mind are perfected through persistence and practice. Otherwise, a person may linger with a diminished intellect. The human body is designed with a seemingly endless array of opportunity, and it is up to us to employ every aspect, in order to live a successful life, both individually and socially.
The Absorbent Mind
Chapter 14 - Summary
October 19th, 2013.
In this next chapter, Dr. Montessori continues her quest of instilling the importance of the use of the hand in the first stages of life, in order to flourish to our maximum potential. She supports her theory, linking it to the pieces of history that have been left for us to see in the form of scriptures, art, and monuments. If humans of the past centuries expressed themselves without the use of their hands, we would not have inherited the knowledge of our ancestors.
A most overlooked phenomenon regarding the development of the foot, compared with that of the hand, indicates as...