Drawn from my three-year immersion for the film Let the Child Be the Guide, my research, and my Montessori teacher training (AMI), this quote is an excerpt from a thematic selection I compiled to remove the primary obstacle to education: our adult prejudices. This post presents one of the themes from this collection, designed to transform, step by step, our gaze upon the child.
“We speak of caprice to describe everything that seems to us to have no apparent cause, every action that we consider illogical and unyielding […] Caprices are the expression of an inner disturbance, of an unsatisfied need, which creates a state of tension. They represent an attempt at reclamation by the soul seeking to defend itself.” — Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood
“Yet, the child’s goal is not to defend himself, but to conquer.” — Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
“It is therefore necessary to seek the cause of every childish manifestation that we call capricious, precisely because it eludes us. This is because it could serve as a guide for us to explore the mysterious corners of the child’s soul, and to prepare a period of understanding and peace in our relationships with them.” — Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood