“It is a commonplace that the child must be free. But what kind of freedom has he been given? The only true freedom for an individual is to have the opportunity to act independently. That is the condition sine qua non of individuality. There is no such thing as anindividual until a person can act by himself. The instinct guiding the child to seek his independence thus leads us to realize what the whole of nature demonstrates – that any sort of association is composed of separate individuals. Otherwise there would be no such thing as societies, but only colonies. Education must foster both the development of individuality and that of society. Society cannot develop unless the individual develops, as we learn from observing the child, who immediately uses his newly won independence to act on a social environment.” — Dr. Maria Montessori Education and Peace, page 55

(A Montessori quick bite from The Center for Guided Montessori Studies)

Adults enjoy more freedoms than children. We can eat ice cream when we want. We can stay up as late as we wish. We can watch TV until our eyes fall out. We may choose to quit an unsatisfying job, or to move to a better house. We may choose to do more of the things that we enjoy, some of which may not be good for us.

The freedom to do what we want carries with it the burden of making good choices. How do we prepare children for this freedom?

Let’s consider this example.

The girl will tell you she’s four and a half, and that’s a very important distinction to her. Her brow is creased in concentration as she [Read more...]