Symbiotic Period Montessori

Symbiotic Period: The First 8 weeks of Life “The first weeks after birth have a special significance for the child’s development and are referred to as “symbiotic life”. The word symbiosis means “a life together” and it describes the special situation of two living beings who need each other because each of them gives and receives something absolutely necessary for the continuation and the quality of each of their lives.” – Understanding the Human Being ch. 3 The symbiotic period is a period of time which starts in conception and ends eight weeks after the child's birth. This paper will point out the importance of the prenatal life, and the care that the mother should have since she becomes aware of that pregnancy. She has to know that a lot has been going on by that developing human being, from the moment that egg was fertilized. It will also explain how the nervous system develops and starts creating memory from experiences from inside and outside womb environment. How the unicellular creature reaches the complexity of becoming a human being. It will also explain the different phases of evolution the human brain goes through, and how each of them contains special characteristics of the developing human personalities, and the interesting relationship between the child and the mother during pregnancy. This paper will also point out the phase of birth, and the separation and attachment that both the mother and the child face. How the mother becomes a point of reference from the old environment, (the womb) and how she will be able to help the child adapt to its new environment, the world, which will be the child's home for the rest of his life. It will also explain the term used for external pregnancy, “exterogestation” which is considered to be during the nine months after birth. And finally, the symbiotic life, the relationship between the mother and the child in their separated environment, who each of them help each other, the importance of maternal

References: • Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro Understanding the Human Being: The importance of the First Three Years of Life, 6th edition (2007) • Dr. Mario Salguero Obstetrics Class Notes. (2010)