The Greatness Of Human Personality Begi

“The greatness of human personality begins at the hour of birth” (Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori, chapter 1)
Welcoming a child into this world and into one’s home is one of the happiest moments in anyone’s life. A new life together as a family means parents embark on a significant new challenge to promote their child’s healthy physical, mental and emotional growth and development. As a child’s first contact in the world, a parent’s role is to expose him to age appropriate challenges, situations and prepare an appropriate and realistic environment that will allow him to self-explore and develop independently and with confidence. In this essay, I will consider how the prepared environment relates to a child 's development by considering the elements, namely freedom, order, beauty, nature, social and intellectual aspects.
I would like to begin with the importance of parental bonding with a new born as love and attachment are very key factors for the infant’s development. Hands on parenting where they spend a lot of time close to the child and provide love and comfort through gentle touch is known to have beneficial impacts on a child. During the first year, being the most important for the brain development of the child, they must provide a rich and a stimulating environment. (Ref: notes, Daureena Facchini). The mother typically provides the child with food and physical comfort, but the father must also contribute to the wellbeing of the child and the mother and serve as a protective buffer between them and the rest of the world. Having direct contact with the infant nurtures this bond by attending to a child’s biological and psychological needs.
The first aim of the prepared environment is, as far as it is possible, to render the growing child independent of the adult. (The Secret of Childhood, chapter 18)
Dr. Montessori always emphasized the importance of a “prepared environment" and I believe this is the most important aspect in her method of education. Her concept was that “the environment can be designed to facilitate maximum independent learning and exploration by the child”. In her book Education for a New World, she states that the infant’s natural environment is the world itself and the manners, habit and customs can be derived from experiencing the world around him. (Ref: notes, Daureena Facchini)
“If what we have to do is to help man’s mental life, then the first lesson we must learn is that the tiny child’s absorbent mind finds all its nutrients in its surroundings. Here it has to locate itself and build itself up from what it takes in. Especially at the beginning of life we must, therefore, make the environment as interesting and attractive as we can.” (The Absorbent Mind, Pg. 88)
I understand from Dr. Montessori’s quote that a child learns and absorbs from everything around them and hence providing an attractive and pleasing environment, whether at home or elsewhere is critical to a child’s development. As the child grows and changes, the environment must also change to reflect his physical, emotional, social and intellectual needs. Dr. Montessori believed that for any activity or learning to be chosen by a child, it must be inviting and attractive and set in an appropriate environment.
I would like to discuss the principles of the prepared environment according to Dr. Montessori.
Freedom: An infant must be allowed to move freely, explore his environment and develop a sense of independence. Dr. Montessori believed that children should not be confined to places. For example she felt a child would feel caged in a crib and parents should instead place a child on a bed on the floor to let them move freely. This concept worked miraculously in my own life even though we were at the time unaware of the Montessori learning principles. Our daughter was very restless and would cry uncontrollably when she first started sleeping in her crib. Contrary to common wisdom, we moved her to a bed on the floor. It only took her a couple of days to ease into a calm routine and be comfortable in her new surroundings. Once she started crawling, sleeping on a bed on the floor allowed her to move as needed and come to us to get our attention. It is amazing to see how an infant goes from feeling helpless to being able to move and have a sense of freedom.
Order: This is a very important aspect of the prepared environment. Dr. Montessori believed that a child’s environment must have consistency, repetition and established routines. A well organized and orderly home goes hand-in-hand with freedom and promotes and encourages both independence and self-discipline in the child. It helps children to know where to find what they need, and putting things back where they belong helps them understand consistency and routine. She notes: “Order is one of the needs of life, when it is satisfied, produces a real happiness. Order consists in recognizing the place for each object in relation to its environment and in remembering where each thing should be” (The Secret of Childhood, chapter 8)
Children can become deeply disturbed by disorder and hence the environment must be carefully ordered with a place for everything. A simple example is where a child who usually has a favorite toy or blanket next to him on his bed when he goes to bed is upset when one day sees that the toy or blanket is missing. I have observed a similar situation with my children. When my son and I picked up my daughter from school every day, she would have to go past him to get to her seat in the car. This always amused him as she would give him a little pat on his cheek to say hello on the way in. If this routine changed, he would be so disturbed that he would not let her sit down till she performed her daily routine.
Beauty: A beautiful, attractive, uncluttered home is very inviting to adults and even more so to children. Similarly a classroom setting that is beautiful, with vibrant colours and organized and interesting materials is very pleasing to the child and contributes to their learning.
Nature and Reality: Using nature to inspire children rather than keeping them confined to their home provides a great environment for development. Going on nature walks helps the child absorb everything in his surroundings by exploring different textures and smells. This again goes along with the concept of freedom as a key element of the prepared environment. Reality, in the form of child sized, yet real life, materials is just as important for the appropriate learning environment. Child-sized tables and chairs, real ceramic cups, pitchers, rakes, shovels, etc. that fit a child’s height and hands allows them to complete tasks without frustration. This also means the child can be part of regular activities and increases confidence in using things in their environment. A simple example is child-sized snow shovel that allows a child to help in clearing the snow and therefore providing a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
Social Environment: With freedom to interact, children develop a sense of compassion and empathy for others. Sharing and playing with others at the appropriate times makes the child more socially aware. It is important for parents to allow the children to vocalize their needs and express themselves verbally. Dr. Montessori says “mothers, and society in general, far from keeping babies in isolation, should let them live in contact with grownups.” (The Absorbent Mind, Pg. 120). This means that social interaction is a much a part of a child’s learning as academic or classroom learning.
Intellectual Environment: The environment must be intellectually stimulating and inviting to the child since a child absorbs everything in his environment and uses all of his senses to learn different things. From the age of one to two, the child develops intellectually through tasks like placing things in and out, finding hidden objects, stacking and so forth.
Parents who understand this must help by providing opportunities for the child to experiment as well as spend time reading and playing. They can involve them in purposeful work to grow and move toward independence. Children can help fold laundry, set the table, dust, wash dishes and pick up their toys. Providing them a low shelf for their things that where they can access easily increases independence and routine. Teaching them to put things away and cleaning up after play or work contribute to the order in their environment. They develop strength and confidence in their new skills while imitating the adults around them.
To summarize, I believe the elements of the prepared environment provides the child with the opportunity to grow and satisfy his intellectual and physical needs. Freedom and order, though they may seem to be conflicting concepts, in fact work together to encourage creativity. Beauty, nature and reality make everyday things and activities real, tangible and allow a sense of accomplishment. The social environment allows the child to fit into his surroundings. The intellectual environment brings all the other elements together and encourages him to develop his unique potential through the activities allowing him to absorb from his experiences and grow with ease and confidence. A prepared environment is essential to providing positive development in the child during the first three years of life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Montessori, M., The Absorbent Mind - The Clio Montessori Series. (1988), ABC-Clio Ltd, Oxford, UK
Montessori, M., The Discovery of the Child - The Clio Montessori Series (1997), ABC-Clio Ltd, Oxford, England
Montessori, M., The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori (1966), Ballantine Books, Fides Publishers, New York
Daureena Facchini, Reference notes on Dr. Montessori

Bibliography: Montessori, M., The Absorbent Mind - The Clio Montessori Series. (1988), ABC-Clio Ltd, Oxford, UK Montessori, M., The Discovery of the Child - The Clio Montessori Series (1997), ABC-Clio Ltd, Oxford, England Montessori, M., The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori (1966), Ballantine Books, Fides Publishers, New York Daureena Facchini, Reference notes on Dr. Montessori