MARIA MONTESSORI AND THE MONTESSORI METHOD OF EDUCATION

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was a brilliant Italian educator who was the founder of the Montessori method of education. She started hundreds of alternative schools around the world to teach her method, many of which are still going today.

She did not believe in forcing children to learn at a certain pace and in a certain order. Instead, her technique is to provide children with learning materials and then allow each child to largely direct their own education.

The teacher's role changes from that of director of education to a that of helper or facilitator only.

The Montessori method offers some important advantages over current educational methods. It is much less violent to the mind and preserves the creative aspects of learning much better than simply rote memorization and pre-planned lessons all day each day.

SIMILARITIES WITH THE DEVELOPMENT METHOD OF HEALING

The Montessori method is also of great interest to me because it shares certain qualities with the development method of healing.

In most healing sciences, the doctor or healer directs the healing. The practitioner first assesses the health condition or problem. Then the practitioner suggests a course of treatment to alleviate and change the situation.

In contrast, in development science, the practitioner places a person on a life path that renourishes, detoxifies and balances the body. The particular health condition is of much less importance.

Then the planning souls and others in charge of the body bring up hundreds of conditions that need healing. The timing and order of healing are determined by the person, not by the practitioner.

In other words, the role of the practitioner changes from director of healing to a role of facilitator only. This is very similar to the role of the teacher in a Montessori school.

We know that the development method has many advantages over standard healing methods, so it is of great interest that someone has suggested a similar approach to education.

PROBLEMS WITH THE MONTESSORI METHOD

The above quality of the Montessori method we view as excellent. Overall, Montessori schools are better and possibly much better than the public schools that have become left-wing brainwashing centers.

However, the Montessori method is incomplete and we hope this changes. Basic problems are:

1. It does not put the child on a precise life path, other than encouraging learning. We do not feel that just allowing a child to direct his or her education is nearly adequate and is a serious disservice to a child. We can offer much more than this to a child.

In fact, one always teaches values and more just through contact with a child. We think that these values should be spelled out very clearly for children and not left to chance.

2. I do not believe the Montessori method of education emphasizes or perhaps even mentions the Bible and biblical principles of morality and lifestyle. In other words, it is largely a secular education system.

In our view, any secular method is absolutely incorrect. We are spiritual beings, too, and this needs to be taught. Life is much more than physical living. We hope those in charge of this method remedy this situation.

3. As with most all education on earth, the Montessori method is missing a lot of knowledge about nutrition, healing, physics, relationships and more. This knowledge is not widely available, but it is on our website.

4. We dislike schools of any kind today. They are not safe, especially for girls, they are unclean, and unfortunately false teachings have crept into most schools. We think children should be educated at home, away from many negative influences that unfortunately have permeated our towns and people. For details, read What Is Wrong With The School System?, Home Schooling, What Children Often Feel When They Go To School and The College Trap.

There is a great need to improve our educational system and the Montessori technique has value in this regard. For much more about Maria Montessori and her educational innovations, read:

https://montessori.org.au/montessori/biography.htm

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