Maria Montessori Quotes

The child's conquests of independence are the basic steps in what is called his 'natural development'.

When a child is given a little leeway, he will at once shout, "I want to do it!" But in our schools, which have an environment adapted to children's needs, they say, "Help me to do it alone." And these words reveal their inner needs.

The child seeks for independence by means of work; an independence of body and mind.

These words reveal the child’s inner needs; ‘Help me to do it alone’.

A child is being properly educated only when he is learning to become independent of his parents.

Never miss an opportunity to allow a child to do something she can and wants to on her own. Sometimes we're in too much of a rush--and she might spill something, or do it wrong. But whenever possible she needs to learn, error by error, lesson by lesson, to do better. And the more she is able to learn by herself the more she gets the message that she's a kid who can.

This is the treasure we need today - helping the child become independent of us and make his way by himself, receiving in return his gifts of hope and light.

We must clearly understand that when we give the child freedom and independence, we are giving freedom to a worker already braced for action, who cannot live without working and being active.

The ideal of helping is to make others independent of you. You help them to become more independent rather than making them addicted to you.

I've always believed that parents are not for leaning upon, but rather exist to make leaning unnecessary.

children once settled and confident can mostly be left, it seems, to manage their difficulties without us. Only what we must do, always and unalterably, is hold their hand firmly in general goodwill, then they themselves seem to deal with their own particular troubles far better than we can.

Furnish an example, stop preaching, stop shielding, don't prevent self-reliance and initiative, allow your children to develop along thier own lines.

No one can be free unless he is independent. Therefore, the first active manifestations of the child's individual liberty must be so guided that through this activity he may arrive at independence.

Except when he has regressive tendencies, the child's nature is to aim directly and energetically at functional independence.

The child's conquest of independence begins with his first introduction to life. While he is developing, he perfects himself and overcomes every obstacle that he finds in his path. A vital force is active within him, and this guides his efforts towards their goal. It is a force called the 'horme', by Sir Percy Nunn.

Under the urge of nature and according to the laws of development, though not understood by the adult, the child is obliged to be serious about two fundamental things ... the first is the love of activity... The second fundamental thing is independence.

He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand.

I think it is important to let your kids have independence and ownership. Let your kids do what they have a passion for.

Kids are smart. Knowledge is power. Let them figure things out. Don't turn into that grown-up who they won't come to.

By the age of 9 or 10, I knew that I had to cut my own cloth and make my own way.

I hope my books empower kids, and that they learn how to work out their problems themselves.

Is it important to have a crew behind me? No, it's important to have me behind them. That's how I look at it. You can't just roll with a situation like you're depending on somebody to help you. You're supposed to help the situation, whatever the situation is that you're in.

Our aim is to help the clients help themselves, not to tell them what to think.

In America we tell our parents to bring their child home and put him or her in a crib; as they get older, children sleep in they own room not in Mom and Dad's room. What are we training them for? It's independence, because that's what being empowered is all about.

When we protect children from every possible source of danger, we also prevent them from having the kinds of experiences that develop their sense of self-reliance, their ability to assess and mitigate risk, and their sense of accomplishment.