Philia de Humanitas Friedrich Nietzsche is quoted by many as the father of relativism. I do not want to get into an argument about whether that is true, since I think that the fatherhood of relativism goes a bit further back in history. My purpose for invoking his name is simply to highlight how traditional […]
Category: Sensitive Periods or Stages
Six to Twelve, Mylenated Neurons, Boys and Girls
During the ages 6 – 12, one of the neural developments that takes place is an increasing integration of the brain as a whole through mylinated neurons (white matter). Though boys and girls tend to have the same number of neurons overall, boys will have more white matter in the end. Though there are many […]
Smell and Affectivity in Children
by David Fleischacker One area that would be good to expand in a four-dimensional living classroom (which is the general character of a Montessori classroom) is the opportunities for children to learn about themselves and each other in terms of smell and affectivity.1 Smell is profoundly linked to affectivity. It naturally generates feelings at […]
The Importance of Motor-Sensory Refinement
by David Fleischacker, Ph.D. As one scans the animal world, one notices that in moving from more primitive animals to higher animals, there is an increase in the freedom gained to operate in this world. That freedom is not merely in a single individual of the species but rather found in the species. Every individual […]
On Education
by Phyllis Wallbank, MBE [the following text was a draft of notes used for a series of workshops that Phyllis delivered in 1999. The workshops provided educators with a number of tips about education rooted in Phyllis’ long work and reflection upon education. There are a number of golden nuggets in this piece.] How does one […]
Pre-Natal Neural Research and the Absorbent Mind
by Dr. David Fleischacker During the 1990s, there was an explosion of studies funded and conducted on the brain. These included looking at the brain at different stages of human development and one of those stages was pre-natal development of the brain. Studies continue. This is absolutely fascinating. The vast neural and synaptic explosion that […]
Why Montessori Sensorial Materials Work: The Light of Understanding
by Dr. David Fleischacker During the first 6 years of life, Maria Montessori discovered that the inner being of the child is being formed, literally. Brain research has demonstrated this as well. Just before birth, the child undergoes massive synaptic growth in the brain that sets the child up for absorbing his or her familial […]
Sensitive Periods and Development
One of the major breakthroughs in Maria Montessori is her discovery of the developmental stages of a child. Her discovery flows out of some of the positive developments in modern life, one of which is the realization that there are real and natural stages of development and the second is the growth of modern biology. […]