Maria Montessori Quotes

Children need models rather than critics.

It surprises me how much children like me, you know? If they look at me as an example, I have a big responsibility.

Teachers are unparalleled in the role they play in children's lives.

Encourage good music and art and literature in your homes. Homes that have a spirit of refinement and beauty will bless the lives of your children forever.

Kids are great imitators. Give them something great to imitate.

The child becomes largely what it is taught; hence we must watch what we teach it, and how we live before it.

Showing up in the lives of children is everything.

One of the things that I learned at a very young age is the power of a parent's words to their children.

I'm all about living however you want, but if you make the decision to get married and have children, then you have an obligation to raise them in an environment that isn't going to ruin them, warp their perception of the world, or close doors for them.

I think anybody, not just children, is a product of a great environment. If you put them in a better environment from a sad situation, nine times out of 10, they'll go in the right direction.

The child has a different relation to his environment from ours... the child absorbs it. The things he sees are not just remembered; they form part of his soul. He incarnates in himself all in the world about him that his eyes see and his ears hear.

Both of my parents are teachers. One is in the Waldorf school system in Louisville, Ky., and the other runs a music school. I grew up with loving, supportive, encouraging parents that let me make my own world, and I wish that for every single child.

The roots of a child's ability to cope and thrive, regardless of circumstance, lie in that child's having had at least a small, safe place (an apartment? a room? a lap?) in which, in the companionship of a loving person, that child could discover that he or she was lovable and capable of loving in return. If a child finds this during the first years of life, he or she can grow up to be a competent, healthy person.

Often the only thing a child can remember about an adult in later years, when he or she is grown, is whether or not that person was kind to him or her.

The best way to raise positive children in a negative world is to have positive parents who love them unconditionally and serve as excellent role models.

It is almost possible to say that there is a mathematical relationship between the beauty of his surroundings and the activity of the child; he will make discoveries rather more voluntarily in a gracious setting than in an ugly one.

The most important influence on a child is the character of its parents, rather than this or that single event.

You may speak but a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian Church in years to come.

To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.

the most important thing one can do for children is not accept the limitations they are so willing to impose on themselves.

Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits, and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

Government, obviously, cannot fill a child's emotional needs. Nor can it fill his spiritual and moral needs. Government is not a father or mother. Government has never raised a child, and it never will.

I believe the only people that should be around a child and raising a child are people who absolutely, 100 percent love that child

When children listen to music, they don't just listen. They melt into the melody and flow with the rhythm. Something inside starts to unfold its wings - soon the child and the music are one.

Whatever landscape a child is exposed to early on, that will be the sort of gauze through which he or she will see all the world afterwards.