Customer Reviews

The Absorbent Mind

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This book spells out Maria Montessori's most salient observations about child development. An absolute 'must read'.
As for the reviewer who bought the school, I'd suggest he sell it and go work in a nursing home.

This is Montessori's last book, and the most in-depth discussion of her theory based on decades of scientific observation of children. It discusses the special mind of the child, and how nurturing the special potentialities that only children have is the only way to change (and save) humanity. Montessori's theories are particularly interesting today in light of recent neurological discoveries, especially those related to critical periods and language.

This is a very dense book, and requires a good deal of concentration and time to read. I would recommmend The Child in the Family as the first book for one wanting an overview of Montessori ideas.

I first read The Absorbant Mind" in 1969, It changed the way I raised my children, how I valued their "work" of being children, and how I now work with the mentally ill. I find myself often reviewing the concept that all people really do the best they can, and that using her respect of others, and her method,of going from concrete to abstract concepts is a useful baseline. Dr. Montessori never wasted words in this book, I had to concentrate on each sentance, or I'd miss something. I thank my sister, a Montessori teacher, for introducing it to me, she is Joanna Taylor, who taught for 3o years in SLC.

This book is wonderful for the people who are going into the field of montessori education, actually it is on the required list of any teacher training program, and in there lays the misunderstanding. One must read this book to understand Dr. Montessori's philosophy of education, not to implement it in your home. there are parent-friendly montessori books that are watered down and written with the intention of being an introduction, not an indepth study of montessori's essence and history. As for the interviewer who bought the school, I wish he'd name it so I can avoid it because he sadly only grabbed the shell and lost the spirit of the method.

I just bought a Montessori prescchool & kindergarten and changed the name. I use 'Montessori tools,' yet I feel there are more 'updated' tools to use as well. After reading this book and other materials about Montessori, I feel that the Montessori way of teaching as a foundation is fantastic, but there are so many 'updated' ways to enhance the Montessori Method. I got 'lost' several times reading this book, particularly the first half of the book. I just think, like most information out there, some of the material is worth using.

The first half of this book is not for the general lay-person, or someone looking for a quick overview of the Montessori Method. Granted, the text was translated from Italian into English, and may have something to do with readability, but I found it dry and pedantic, and almost gave up reading. The second half of the book is a little easier to read and filled my need (a general idea of what Montessori was all about, and help deciding if this was something I wanted to pursue for my child). While this book is not very specific in how she applied her method, the second half did give me an idea about what she believed in and advocated. Some of her statements seem outdated, and when you realize that her research was conducted in the early 1900's, and she's writing about schools during the period between our two World Wars, it's easier to take some of her statements in context. It also makes me wonder whether subsequent research may have rendered some of her findings obsolete.

Maria was light years ahead of her time. Although the reading is a bit dry at times, I can personally attest to the effectiveness of the method, as my daughter is a "Montessori" child, and I am a teacher (I did,however, go through public schools, and received a decent education, and don't feel that I am "defective", nor are those who are not "normalized" in the Montessori sense). The Montessori method,as put forth in the book, is, simply put, extremely effective, and it works!

Her philosophy of child education is refreshing, but the methods used are discussed in too little detail. The book claims that bad behavior spontaneously disappears in children who enter Montessori schools. The method may work well with sheltered, naive, and conforming kids but not with many kids today. Also the positive aspects of a Montessori educated child are exagerated. The argument is made that those of us who were not "normalized" in a Montessori school are permanently defective. Oh well.

In this her concluding text, Dr. Maria Montessori summarized her observations of the amazing learning processes of young children. But her conclusions were only marginally accessible to most readers, including this one, until the onset of current brain, mind, and cognitive science research. Now, knowing more about how the brain works, her insights into meme and horme, the planes of development and sensitive periods, all bring fresh insight into every encounter with the amazing learners, young children