{"id":1702,"date":"2018-04-01T08:28:25","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T05:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/osnovata-za-formiraneto-na-choveshkoto-sashtestvo\/"},"modified":"2019-12-13T13:35:14","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T11:35:14","slug":"osnovata-za-formiraneto-na-choveshkoto-sashtestvo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/osnovata-za-formiraneto-na-choveshkoto-sashtestvo\/","title":{"rendered":"The Foundation of the Human Being"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro, M.D.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro received her degree in medicine and surgery, with a specialty\u00a0in psychiatry, from the University of Rome. In 1955 she joined the staff of the Rome Montessori\u00a0School for Assistants to Infancy, where she has taught mental hygiene, child neuropsychiatry,\u00a0nutrition, and obstetrics. Dr. Quattrocchi M. is currently the Director of Training for the Assistants\u00a0to Infancy course in Rome and San Diego. She has been the Director of Training for the AMI\u00a0Assistants to Infancy courses in London and Mexico City and was responsible for bringing\u00a0toddler training to the U.S.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Dear Friends,<\/p>\n

Certainly it is not difficult, before this audience, to present the idea that prenatal time and first years\u00a0after birth are the foundation of the human being. We easily agree that this period is the base on\u00a0which all the subsequent, never-ending process of humanization\/self-perfection will be supported.<\/p>\n

Montessori explains clearly the importance of the first years at the very beginning of her last book,\u00a0The Absorbent Mind (but she gave the Italian edition the better title, The Child\u2019s Mind, i.e. La\u00a0Mente del Bambino):<\/p>\n

The greatness of human personality begins at the hour of birth \u2026 During this\u00a0<\/i>early period education must be understood as a help to the unfolding of the\u00a0<\/i>child\u2019s inborn psychic powers. The child\u2019s true constructive energy, a dynamic\u00a0<\/i>power, has remained unnoticed for thousands of years \u2026 the men of our day\u00a0<\/i>make progress after progress in civilized life without noticing the treasure that lie\u00a0<\/i>hidden in the psychic world of infancy \u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Today we are beginning to see the value of the ungathered fruits, more precious\u00a0<\/i>than gold, for they are man\u2019s own spirit.<\/i><\/p>\n

The first two years of life open new horizons before us, for here we can see the\u00a0<\/i>laws of psychic construction hitherto unknown. It is the child himself who present\u00a0<\/i>us with these revelations \u2026 a kind of psychic life totally different from that of\u00a0<\/i>adults. Here is the new path! (1)<\/i><\/p>\n

By the age of three the children have already laid down the foundations of their\u00a0<\/i>personality as human beings. (2)<\/i><\/p>\n

Of course, these spectacular results are not reached just because the time passes and children\u00a0become three years old. Montessori clarifies that such a miracle happens only when children can\u00a0live and work in a specially prepared environment. This is why Montessori tells us that she could\u00a0envisage the possibility of a New Human Being who become the center of the education itself.\u00a0She also underlines that:<\/p>\n

We do not develop only at university, but we begin our mental growth at birth and\u00a0<\/i>pursue it with the greatest intensity during the first three years of life. To this\u00a0<\/i>period, more than to any other, it is imperative to give active care \u2026 If we follow\u00a0<\/i>these rules, \u2026 we will see in the children the builders of our own minds \u2026 who\u00a0<\/i>labour indefatigably in joy and happiness, at the work of constructing the greatest\u00a0<\/i>marvel of the Universe, the human beings. (3)<\/i><\/p>\n

During this period it is necessary to \u201caid life<\/strong>\u201d so that the enormous inner potential can become a\u00a0reality. Montessori continues saying:<\/p>\n

What has to be defended is the construction of human normality. Have not all\u00a0<\/i>our efforts been aimed at removing obstacles<\/span> from the children\u2019s path of\u00a0<\/i>development, and at keeping away the dangers and misunderstandings that\u00a0<\/i>everywhere threaten it? This is education, understood as help to life<\/span>, an\u00a0<\/i>education from birth which feeds a peaceful revolution and unites all in a\u00a0<\/i>common aim, att5racting them as to a single center. Mothers, fathers, politicians:\u00a0<\/i>all must combine in their respect and help for this delicate work of formation,\u00a0<\/i>which the little child carries on in the depth of a profound psychological mystery\u00a0<\/i>under the tutelage of an inner guide. (4)<\/i><\/p>\n

Meditating about all this, I came to the conclusion that instead of giving advice about what should\u00a0be done, nowadays it is more important to focus on \u201cremoving obstacles<\/strong>\u201d when providing\u00a0education from birth (and even before!) in order to really \u201cchampion the cause of all children<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, year 2005, we are confronted with many great obstacles that can jeopardize forever the\u00a0human development. At the same time, these great obstacles can be eliminated very easily\u00a0because there is no money involved. On the contrary, we can save a lot of money while giving the\u00a0children the possibility of living a better quality of life for themselves and our planet! What is\u00a0needed is the awareness of these obstacles<\/strong> that are all concentrated at the very beginning of life\u00a0and, for this reason, have such great destructive power as they interfere with the first fundamental,\u00a0extraordinary acquisitions of the human personality thus compromising it forever. It is also\u00a0interesting to notice that it is exactly today, when we have so much more knowledge about the\u00a0process of human development, that we produce so many deviations.<\/p>\n

We have received from Montessori a \u201cdiscovery of the child<\/strong>\u201d that psychology, cognitive and\u00a0neurosciences confirm continually. This discovery and the educational practice born from it have\u00a0been used in the last hundred years everywhere and in every possible condition \u2013 always with\u00a0enormous success.<\/p>\n

As Montessorians, we are committed to protect and \u201cdefend the great inner powers children\u00a0possess<\/strong>\u201d. (5) These powers are a gift of life to all children, but too often after they have lived\u00a0with us for only two or three years, their potential is almost completely ruined. The little that\u00a0remains of this incredible richness, called by Montessori, \u201cmore precious than gold, the real\u00a0spirit of the human being<\/strong>\u201d still allows us to achieve the miracles of our extraordinary science and\u00a0technology! (6) But our personal happiness and our moral qualities do not progress in the same\u00a0way.<\/p>\n

The more we progress, the more we can see that many habits and practices contrary to human\u00a0development are accepted everywhere, and even the natural guardians of our physical and\u00a0psychological health, the medical people, do not take action against them. Many times,\u00a0unfortunately, they even encourage such wrongs!<\/p>\n

It is time for us to wake up, and it is my great hope that this Congress can strongly contribute to the\u00a0comprehension of the difficulties\/obstacles we put on the road of human development during its\u00a0most critical time, the very beginning! In The Formation of Man, Montessori says:<\/p>\n

If the whole universe is governed by fixed laws, is it possible that the human mind\u00a0<\/i>be formed haphazardly, without any laws at all? There is a vacuum in our\u00a0<\/i>present scientific knowledge, an unexplored territory, an unknown factor \u2013 and\u00a0<\/i>this void concerns the process of formation of personality. (7)<\/i><\/p>\n

Since then this void has been replenished for what concerns the scientific knowledge, but there is\u00a0not yet what concerns its practical application. \u201cThe basis of the reform of education and society,\u00a0which is a necessity of our times must be built upon the scientific study of Man the Unknown.\u201d (8)<\/p>\n

Maybe it is necessary to clarify that we are not forgetting the many millions of children who still do\u00a0not reach a mere survival and die every moment because of malnutrition and diseases that could\u00a0also be easily avoided. But today I would like to concentrate our attention on the obstacles that\u00a0have no justification in the so-called developed countries because in these places the new\u00a0scientific knowledge is available and can easily be applied. These obstacles are:<\/p>\n

\u2022 separation of the newborn from the mother after birth and during the following days;<\/p>\n

\u2022 the wrong use of the pacifier;<\/p>\n

\u2022 restriction of movement and observation;<\/p>\n

\u2022 suckling at a bottle forever \u2026 so the process of weaning never occurs!; and,<\/p>\n

\u2022 wrong use of good technology.<\/p>\n

These obstacles can be easily eliminated just with the goodwill of using the right knowledge that\u00a0Montessori gave and that many other scientists have provided for us.<\/p>\n

Of course, I would like very much to have time to talk about the incredible happenings of prenatal\u00a0life and how easily we could improve, both physically and psychologically, this very special period\u00a0of human life by just giving a few advices to perspective parents. But, as this is not possible, let us\u00a0go immediately to the moment of birth where we find the first great obstacles to the good human\u00a0development: separation from the mother immediately after birth and during the following days,\u00a0and also pacifiers and the impossibility of both free movement and exploration of the new\u00a0environment.<\/p>\n

1. Separation of the newborn from the mother after birth and during the following\u00a0<\/b>days<\/b><\/h4>\n

Today still, in many hospitals and maternity clinics exists a place called \u201cnursery\u201d where the\u00a0newborns are brought after birth and kept there all the time, except when it is time for food, so they\u00a0immediately become \u201corphans\u201d<\/b>.<\/p>\n

This practice comes from the inexcusable ignorance of the fact that pregnancy is not only the time\u00a0we pass inside the mother but that it has two periods equally important from physical and\u00a0psychological points of view: the first nine months inside of the womb and another nine months\u00a0outside of it. We distinguish these periods as internal and external pregnancy<\/strong>. Montessori has\u00a0been a pioneer in understanding this important aspect of human development as it appears clearly\u00a0in the conference given in Geneva in 1932 at the International Office of Education:<\/p>\n

The human gestation is not as brief as the one in the mother\u2019s womb. The\u00a0<\/i>children go through another kind of gestation in the outside world, incarnating a\u00a0<\/i>mind whose seeds are latent and unconscious within them. Delicate care is\u00a0<\/i>required to protect the children as they do their work, which they perform by\u00a0<\/i>means of experiences in contact with the outside world. The children perform\u00a0<\/i>work with inner wisdom, guided by laws like those that guide every other task that\u00a0<\/i>is accomplished in the realm of nature, following rhythms of activity that do not\u00a0<\/i>have the slightest resemblance to those of the aggressive adult bent on\u00a0<\/i>conquest. (9)<\/i><\/p>\n

This special work of incarnation is called by Montessori \u201cpsychic gestation\u201d (10) and \u2026<\/p>\n

If in this delicate and precious period of life a sacrilegious form of enslavement of\u00a0<\/i>the children is practised, the seeds of life will become sterile, and it will no longer\u00a0<\/i>be possible for the human beings to carry on the works that life has summoned\u00a0<\/i>them to perform. The battle between adults and children takes place in the family\u00a0<\/i>and in the schools during the process that is still referred to by the time-hallowed\u00a0<\/i>word \u2018education\u2019. (11)<\/i><\/p>\n

Montessori expresses again this powerful concept in the 1946 London course in the fifth lecture\u00a0entitled, \u201cExternal Pregnancy in Mammals and Human Beings\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u2026we must come to the conclusion that the first two years of life are a psychic\u00a0<\/i>creation rather than a growth \u2026 The acquisition of the first two years are\u00a0<\/i>miracles, but they depend on the child\u2019s environment. These first two years are\u00a0<\/i>like a nebula which forms a star that will be obedient to its orbit forever! (12)<\/i><\/p>\n

Why is this separation at birth so negative for human development? Modern research describes\u00a0the newborns as \u201cthe most powerful learning machine of the universe\u201d <\/b>(13). They are also\u00a0recognized as having \u201ca brain that is the most complex thing in our galaxy\u201d<\/b> (14). These\u00a0extraordinary human beings we call newborns are separated from the mother and left alone\u00a0immediately after birth, exactly when they are more in need of help for the complex work of\u00a0adaptation to the totally new environment! The separation from the mother means the sudden\u00a0loss of all the points of reference of their previous life, the abrupt disconnection from the natural\u00a0supportive system needed for physical and psychological survival! With no sensorial inputs for\u00a0exploration\/observation of the environment, wrapped in tight, wrong clothes and without any\u00a0freedom for the body movement which they enjoyed even in the very limited environment of the\u00a0womb! What a pitiful situation!<\/b><\/p>\n

We know that the most important points of reference of prenatal life are related to the mother who\u00a0has been the living container of this period. They are the constant sounds of her heartbeat, her\u00a0respiration and, especially the sounds of her voice that has the power of conveying the emotional\u00a0feelings toward the unborn child. We must also consider the sensorial richness of prenatal life,\u00a0like the warm amniotic fluid touching their skin night and day, the floating of their bodies, the\u00a0movement of their limbs. The maternal points of reference are essential for a smooth transition\u00a0into the external environment and are an important part of the external\/psychic pregnancy. So it is\u00a0clear that the mother is the most important person for the newborns, the only person capable of\u00a0really helping them through the demanding process of adaptation to external life. In addition to all\u00a0this, her body also produces the only food newborns are expecting to receive. Fornari, an Italian\u00a0psychoanalyst, says that:<\/p>\n

The newborns come into the external world with the faith that a nurturing breast\u00a0<\/i>exists so they are born with the capacity for hope or despair. This faith must be\u00a0<\/i>saturated by the presence of the mother. (15)<\/i><\/p>\n

Fornari also writes that:<\/p>\n

The protosounds<\/b> (the voices of the mother and father heard during the last\u00a0months of pregnancy) and the protorhythm<\/b> (the mother\u2019s heartbeat) allow the\u00a0continuum<\/b> of the newborn\u2019s personal experience avoiding the trauma of birth\u00a0<\/b>as separation<\/b>. (15)<\/em><\/p>\n

If we study evolution, as Montessori recommends so much, and consider the special\u00a0characteristics of mammals, it is evident that the Wisdom\/Superior Intelligence of Life has planned\u00a0the passage from internal to the external pregnancy extremely well providing newborns with a\u00a0mother! The ethnologist Niko Timbergen affirms:<\/p>\n

The just-born children are awake and vigil and are awaiting anxiously the contact\u00a0<\/i>with the mother. These newborn children are programmed towards things that\u00a0<\/i>must come from her. So we can affirm that a non-conscious mother or a\u00a0<\/i>newborn transferred too quickly to the nursery can put in a vicious circle the\u00a0<\/i>special links between them. (16)<\/i><\/p>\n

This is why it is so important to follow the recommendation of Montessori (London 1946): \u201cWe\u00a0<\/b>must learn the laws of development, the work of construction of the human being<\/b>.\u201d (17)<\/p>\n

Also very remarkable is what Montessori wrote in 1949: \u201cThere is a special bond uniting\u00a0<\/b>mother and newborn, almost like a magnetic attraction<\/b>\u201d. (18)\u00a0I have been profoundly touched when I learned about the discoveries of Neurocardiology, a new\u00a0branch of medicine. We have a fifth brain which is not in our head but in our heart (19). The\u00a0HeartMath Institute found that:<\/p>\n

The electromagnetic energy produced by the heart forms a \u2018torus\u2019 or field that\u00a0<\/i>extends as far as twelve to fifteen feet from the body where it is generated. The\u00a0<\/i>first three feet are the strongest. (20)<\/i><\/p>\n

We all produce such an electromagnetic field so, during pregnancy the torus produced by the heart\u00a0of the mother and the heart of the fetus come into connection establishing a very special bond\u00a0between them. Keeping the newborns far from the mother more than one meter (the three feet),\u00a0interrupts this special connection so when newborns are separated from the mother, who is the\u00a0only necessary human being for them at this moment, they are alone, feel abandoned, are very\u00a0unhappy and cry. As the crying of a baby is unbearable, we do not solve the situation according to\u00a0the scientific knowledge we possess, of keeping mother and newborn together. We use something\u00a0that proves to be another great obstacle on the road of human development, we give newborns a\u00a0pacifier!<\/p>\n

2. The use of a pacifier<\/b><\/h4>\n

The pacifier is a clear demonstration of our lack of right knowledge as to who newborns are, that\u00a0we ignore completely their vital necessities and their profound expectations. Pacifiers also show\u00a0clearly that we believe that to suckle is the most gratifying experience for them, and this perpetual\u00a0movement of the mouth is able to satisfy the hundred billion neurons (100,000,000,000) of their\u00a0brains. The use of pacifiers also shows that we are not aware that:<\/p>\n

The newborn\u2019s ability and desire of suckling is part of the evolutionary program\u00a0<\/i>for re-establishing, in a different but even more satisfying way, the preferential\u00a0<\/i>relationship of the internal pregnancy. Breastfeeding not only provides the best\u00a0<\/i>nutritional food but, due to the intimate way necessary for getting this milk, it\u00a0<\/i>provides also the possibility of a repeated daily experience of a \u201crenewed and\u00a0<\/i>special attachment\u201d keeping mother and newborn together for reciprocal physical\u00a0<\/i>and psychological welfare.<\/i><\/p>\n

The strict relationship with the mother; the vision of her loving face; the hearing of her voice,\u00a0heartbeat and respiration \u2013 all are sensorial gratification added to the necessity of food. The great\u00a0emotional side of breastfeeding can never be underestimated. Newborns are waiting for this\u00a0encounter in order to have all their necessities satisfied. They are waiting to receive not only the\u00a0milk necessary to survival and physical growth but, as Erich Fromm puts it, they are waiting for\u00a0\u201cmilk and honey\u201d<\/b>. Body and mind are in need of a mother who can offer the right food necessary\u00a0for optimal human development.\u00a0And, the 6-8 weeks immediately after birth, a time called \u2018symbiotic life\u2019 or external\/psychic\u00a0pregnancy, have a special meaning. Its successful completion produce the \u201cbasic trust in the\u00a0<\/b>environment<\/b>\u201d which means that forever this human being will feel the world as a positive place.\u00a0Optimism is achieved!<\/p>\n

The necessity of food that is especially prepared in the mother\u2019s body is intertwined with the\u00a0necessity of acceptance and love so that the newborns can be protected not only from physical\u00a0diseases but, through the experience of the great joy coming from such a strong human\u00a0relationship, they can love the new environment and love the fellow human people in it. With this\u00a0understanding, it is easy to see that breastfeeding greatly surpasses the offer of a very good food\u00a0and becomes \u201cthe prototype of any subsequent human and social relationship<\/b>\u201d. (21)<\/p>\n

It makes possible the direct experience of how wonderful it is to be accepted in the arms of a\u00a0loving person. It makes possible to learn the profound gratification of social life and how to\u00a0respond appropriately.<\/p>\n

Unaware of these great and so well-programmed happenings, we dismiss the Wisdom of Life and\u00a0give newborns a pacifier, a piece of awful rubber intended to substitute for the human presence,\u00a0for the tangible expression and incarnation of acceptance and love!<\/p>\n

There is another very negative consequence in the use of a pacifier when we consider the\u00a0development of language, one of the greatest achievements of our species! Keeping the mouth\u00a0always occupied with the movement of suckling, we make it impossible for our children to manifest\u00a0the first phases of language development. At birth children have a very limited possibility of\u00a0voluntary movement \u2013 they can only suckle, swallow and cry. These voluntary actions make it\u00a0possible for the newborns to perform the strong muscular effort necessary for bringing maternal\u00a0milk from inside the breast into their mouth and then sending the milk down in order to digest it and\u00a0for crying whenever they are in need of attention. This is really \u201ca survival kit\u201d!<\/p>\n

But newborns cannot produce the sounds of human languages yet because their larynx is still in a\u00a0pre-human anatomical situation. This is due to the size of their brain that is much bigger than the\u00a0brain of our evolutionary ancestors, called \u2018superior mammals\u2019 and, more colloquially, \u2018monkeys\u2019.\u00a0It takes a couple of months after birth for the larynx to descend and reach the appropriate human\u00a0position, and this is when newborns can start emitting the sounds of vowels like \u201ca a a, o o o<\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0When this happens, children are very surprised but also very happy and, through continuous\u00a0repetition, they become aware that these sounds come from their own voluntary work. They\u00a0realize that they are able to send out, whenever they wish, the same sounds they were hearing\u00a0since prenatal life!<\/p>\n

This incredible achievement, whose profound meaning is that the process of humanization of these\u00a0children, is on the right way. They are starting the acquisition of a special, unique way of\u00a0communication \u2013 the spoken language. As we all know, this capacity is also prerequisite for\u00a0reaching the possibility of reflexive, abstract and imaginative thinking.<\/p>\n

If there are no impediments, the second phase of this development happens at five months when\u00a0children become able to put together the vowels with some consonants, the consonants that\u00a0require the movement of the lips, like m, n, d, t<\/strong>, etc. So we have everywhere the words ma-ma,\u00a0pa-pa, da-da. Are we aware that a pacifier impedes the first manifestations of such great\u00a0achievements in the domain of spoken language?\u00a0We should not only make possible these acquisitions but should also celebrate them as the\u00a0cornerstones of our evolutionary development.\u00a0Let us now consider some other obstacles that newborns find on their way, also immediately after\u00a0birth.<\/p>\n

3. Restriction in Movement and Observation<\/b><\/h4>\n

These are also obstacles in the road of optimal human development. Let us listen to Montessori:<\/p>\n

The first activity of the newborn, which may well be called a conquest, is the use\u00a0<\/i>of the senses. The eyes are bright and eager, not only affected by light.\u00a0<\/i>Newborns are active seekers<\/strong> in the world and looking for impressions<\/strong>. (22)\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

The newborns are endowed with an urge or need to face the outer world and to\u00a0<\/i>absorb it. We might say that they are born with the psychology of the world\u00a0<\/strong><\/i>conquest<\/strong>. They are in love<\/strong> with the world. (23)<\/i><\/p>\n

It is clear that children come into this world eager to explore it in order to know it, to orient\u00a0themselves in the new place and to make sense of it. Let us remember that they already have all\u00a0the hundred billion neurons in their brain!<\/p>\n

What do we usually offer in response to this necessity and eagerness for knowledge? With\u00a0affection and best intentions we buy fancy clothes that restrict movements and cribs and beds with\u00a0bars. Imagine the type of vision available for these children who, being in the supine position,\u00a0must look night and day to a white ceiling. And, if this is not enough, let us think about the type of\u00a0fragmented environment they can see because of the bars of their bed.<\/p>\n

What happens to the psychology of the conquest and to the love for the external world that these\u00a0children have inside? How can they use the human tendencies at work in this period, especially\u00a0the human tendencies of exploration, orientation and order that are there exactly for helping them\u00a0enter happily and securely into the new life? Montessori gave us, a long time ago, the right\u00a0answer:<\/p>\n

One of the greatest helps that could be given to the psychological development\u00a0<\/i>of children would be to give them a bed suited to their needs \u2026 Children should\u00a0<\/i>be given a low couch resting practically upon the floor, where they can lie down\u00a0<\/i>and get up as they wish. Like all the new helps for children\u2019s psychic life, a low\u00a0<\/i>bed is economical! In many families this reform in a child\u2019s sleeping habits has\u00a0<\/i>been achieved by placing a small mattress on the floor and covering it with a\u00a0<\/i>large blanket. Children can thus of their own accord go off cheerfully to bed in\u00a0<\/i>the evening and rise in the morning without disturbing anyone. (24)<\/i><\/p>\n

The low bed Montessori proposes is the true, first act of love towards the newborns! We, the\u00a0people who work with children at the beginning of life, use these beds, and we can testify that\u00a0newborns love them, look around with great interest, concentrate for a long time on the objects\u00a0available to them. Sooner than we can think, they come out of these beds and also slither back\u00a0there when they want to sleep. They have perfectly understood that it is comfortable to stay there\u00a0when in need of rest.<\/p>\n

What about another sensitive period, the one for assimilation of images that also starts at birth in\u00a0order to make it possible for these children the storage of perceptions in the part of the brain that\u00a0can be considered their personal illustrated dictionary?<\/p>\n

Psychosomatic medicine explains to us that: \u201cIn the first phase of organization of our perception it is fundamental to have the possibility of coordination between motility and sensations.\u201d (25) In this same book we find: \u201cWhen the energy of the sensitive periods cannot be used in real situations, it loses its right direction and it remains fixed in a lower stage of development.\u201d (26)<\/p>\n

Simplifying these mental, evolutionary mechanisms, we can say that the internal program of the\u00a0newborns must find in the environment the possibility of being satisfied so that the sensorial\u00a0impressions can become perceptions, be stored in the memory and, when needed, be retrieved for\u00a0their mental work.<\/p>\n

CLOTHES are another tragedy for newborns during the first months and years of life. In some\u00a0maternity hospitals, during the preparation courses, mothers are told to contain tightly the newborn\u00a0because they need to be contained! What about the significance of coming out of the womb,\u00a0called by Montessori \u201cthe first act of independence<\/strong>\u201d and \u201ccoming out of a prison<\/strong>\u201d? (27)<\/p>\n

We can conclude that the basic needs of human newborns are:<\/p>\n

\u2022 direct contact with mother;<\/p>\n

\u2022 space for unhindered vision and movement;<\/p>\n

\u2022 exploration of the new environment with all senses; and<\/p>\n

\u2022 order in which actions are done to them and order in the environment.<\/p>\n

More recently, many researchers and scholars have tried to better understand prenatal life,\u00a0newborns and children of the first three years. None of them refers to Montessori, but they say\u00a0exactly what she discovered so much before. Let me give just two examples:<\/p>\n

1) From A Primer of Infant Development:<\/i><\/p>\n

Infancy, the brief period between birth and the use of language, is the most\u00a0<\/i>critical period of human life, the period when all the basic human abilities and all\u00a0<\/i>processes of thought are formed. The newborn is a fascinating organism and\u00a0<\/i>can learn from the first day. The experiences of this period have a permanent\u00a0<\/i>effect on the following development. (28)<\/i><\/p>\n

2) From The Scientist in the Crib:<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2022 in the crib is the greatest mind \u2026 p. 1<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2022 at birth newborns have in their original program \u2026 p. 7<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2022 they have a flexible brain \u2026 p. 8<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2022 they are scientists capable of thinking, observing, reasoning, and actively\u00a0<\/i>research in the environment \u2026 p. 13 (29)<\/i><\/p>\n

4. Suckling at a bottle forever \u2026<\/b><\/h4>\n

The process of weaning never occurs!<\/b><\/p>\n

The second act of independence is lost!<\/b><\/p>\n

While suckling at breast or at a bottle in the arms of the mother is beneficial for both the physical\u00a0and psychological development, still this special way of getting food is part of a special period and,\u00a0as everything else in life, it becomes soon the moment for change. A new step in independence is\u00a0reached, and we must be attentive to acknowledge it and make it happen.<\/p>\n

Weaning time is clearly linked to physical and psychological achievements that are all intended to\u00a0faster great advancements in the life of children. There is a sensitive period for waning that shows\u00a0in the interest they have towards the environment, the beginning of the sitting position, the eruption\u00a0of teeth, the increasing refinement of eye-hand coordination. With attention to these changes and\u00a0with a little investment of time, we can help our children to become more a part of the human\u00a0community, sharing not only the variety of food available in every environment but also the social\u00a0value of eating with people.<\/p>\n

It is important to underline that the new food requires a completely different way of using the\u00a0mouth, a movement we call mastication, that goes from up to down different from the aspiration\u00a0necessary for suckling. This movement is also the one needed for producing the spoken\u00a0language.<\/p>\n

The process of weaning should start at 5-6 months and be completed around 9-10 months exactly\u00a0when the external pregnancy, or psychic pregnancy in Montessori words, is also over. The\u00a0children of this age are greatly progressing in the process of humanization, have reached complete\u00a0independence from the mother\u2019s body (womb and breast) and have also achieved freedom of\u00a0movement in the space with the ability of crawling.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, many of us do not acknowledge all these advancements and do not offer the new\u00a0experience of food at the right time. We just change what is in the bottle but not the way of eating\u00a0so children continue to suckle for many, many years until when the bottle is changed with a mineral\u00a0water bottle that has a very long top very similar to a nipple. These bottles are accepted as a\u00a0necessity everywhere and in every circumstance, starting from the classroom setting. There are\u00a0two obstacles for development in this situation:<\/p>\n

\u2022 reduced experience and use of language; and<\/p>\n

\u2022 addiction to a perpetual oral gratification at the expense of other, more advanced ways of\u00a0interacting with the external world.<\/p>\n

5. Wrong use of good technologies<\/b><\/h4>\n

There is no necessity of talking much to say that TV, video cassettes and video games are\u00a0absolutely of no help in the development of the first years. We have now a great body of research\u00a0demonstrating that these good technologies become wrong when used at the beginning of life, the\u00a0time when the brain is growing rapidly and needs to create its optimal neural paths. We also now\u00a0have the official confirmation from a study of the American Academy of Paediatrics showing that\u00a0watching videos as a toddler (but many start as newborns!) may lead to Attention Deficit\u00a0Hyperactivity Disorder in later life. TV watching rewires the infant\u2019s brain and the damage shows\u00a0up at age 7.<\/p>\n

The Academy of American Paediatrics already in 1998 recommended that children under two\u00a0years of age not watch TV at all. Today doctors also blame TV for increasing aggression and\u00a0obesity in children.<\/p>\n

Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, lead researcher and director of the Child Health Institute at Children\u2019s\u00a0Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, Washington tell us:<\/p>\n

In contrast to the way real life unfolds and is experienced by young children, the\u00a0<\/i>pace of TV is greatly sped up. Quick scene shifts of video images become\u00a0<\/i>normal<\/strong> to a baby when, in fact, it is decidedly not normal or natural. Exposing a\u00a0<\/i>baby\u2019s developing brain to videos may over-stimulate it, causing permanent\u00a0<\/i>changes in developing neural pathways. (30)<\/i><\/p>\n

In the study of more than two thousand children, Dr. Christakis found that for every hour watched\u00a0at age one to three, the children had a ten percent higher chance of developing attention problems\u00a0in school. (30)<\/p>\n

Are parents who use infant videos such as Baby Einstein, Baby Mozart, So\u00a0<\/i>Smart, etc. aware of putting their children at risk for a lifetime of Special Ed\u00a0<\/i>classes, school \u201cbehavioural therapy\u201d and Ritalin? (April 2004 issue of\u00a0<\/i>Paediatrics) These videos are peddled as \u201ceducational tools\u201d to give your baby\u00a0<\/i>a head start. The truth is, they are a video-tether that keeps baby out from\u00a0<\/i>underfoot. (Jean Lotus) (31)<\/i><\/p>\n

Yale University Television Researcher Dorothy Singer says:<\/p>\n

When one-year olds are playing with a toy, they can explore it, poke it, drop it.\u00a0<\/i>They are learning about space, about sound, and they are developing a sense of\u00a0<\/i>competence. Watching a TV show just does not provide the same sensory\u00a0<\/i>experiences. (31)<\/i><\/p>\n

This is exactly what Montessori said so long ago: \u201cChildren can only develop fully by means of\u00a0experiences in the environment. We call such experience work.\u201d (32)<\/p>\n

And, we know very well that children need to satisfy also the human tendency of repetition in order\u00a0to reach exactness and self-perfection?<\/p>\n

The family psychologist Mary Pipher in her best-selling books says that TV is one of the main\u00a0culprits in the breakdown of family life and that:<\/p>\n

What TV does is to set children up for conduct disorders, for addiction. We have\u00a0<\/i>TV in the birthing room so the first thing a baby can hear when it pops out of its\u00a0<\/i>mother is a commercial! And kids may get 400 ads a day. (33)<\/i><\/p>\n

Brian Swimme maintains that television is teaching primarily consumerism and that:<\/p>\n

A three-year-old child, a typical child in America, is taking in ten thousand of\u00a0<\/i>these advertisements a year. These are put together by extremely intelligent\u00a0<\/i>people, using an understanding of human psychology and using art and the\u00a0<\/i>power of archetypal symbols \u2013 they are using all of this power in a way that\u00a0<\/i>swamps the defence of a young child. So they are being drawn into a particular\u00a0<\/i>worldview that eventuates in a demand for more and more, and the ongoing\u00a0<\/i>destruction of so much of the earth. (34)<\/i><\/p>\n

Twenty-six percent of U.S. children younger than two have TV in their bedrooms \u2013 often watched\u00a0from the crib, and thirty-six percent of families leave the TV on almost all of the time, even when no\u00a0one is watching. (35)<\/p>\n

It is not necessary to continue, but let us remember that it is our responsibility to become aware of\u00a0the obstacles which impede the right development of our children\u2019s lives. Montessori\u00a0recommends this when she says:<\/p>\n

What has to be defended is the construction of human normality. Have not all\u00a0<\/i>our efforts aimed at removing obstacles from the child\u2019s path of development and\u00a0<\/i>at keeping away the dangers and misunderstandings that everywhere threaten\u00a0<\/i>it? This is education as help to life, an education from birth, which feeds a\u00a0<\/i>peaceful revolution and unites all in a common aim, attracting them to a single\u00a0<\/i>center. Mothers, fathers, politicians: all must combine in their respect and help\u00a0<\/i>for this delicate work of formation, which the little child carries on in the depth of a\u00a0<\/i>profound psychological mystery, under the tutelage of an inner guide. This is the\u00a0<\/i>bright new hope for mankind. Not reconstruction but help for the constructive\u00a0<\/i>work that the human mind is called upon to do, and to bring to fruition, a work of\u00a0<\/i>formation which brings out the immense potentialities with which the children, the\u00a0<\/i>sons and daughters of human beings, are endowed. (36)<\/i><\/p>\n

And this is the bright new hope that we wish to support with our presence at the Congress today.\u00a0Please let us help children enter and stay in the world with the joy arising from fulfilled expectations\u00a0that are their birthright! We want to champion the cause of all newborns and children of the first\u00a0years and make them all free of obstacles<\/b> in their development in order to become the great<\/p>\n

HOPES and PROMISES <\/b>they are supposed to become.\u00a0And let me add something Montessori tells us, and I like so much:<\/p>\n

Through long experimentation we have now arrived at much elimination of error\u00a0<\/i>and the possession of a key which can unlock for children the gates of a happy\u00a0<\/i>education. On our courage and perseverance and its use depends the future of\u00a0<\/i>humanity.<\/i><\/p>\n

Thank you for listening to my bad English!<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro, M.D., 2005<\/p>\n

\n

References<\/b><\/p>\n

1. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. Clio Press Ltd. 2000. p. 4<\/span><\/p>\n

2. ibidem, p. 6<\/span><\/p>\n

3. ibidem, p. 8<\/span><\/p>\n

4. ibidem, pp. 15, 16<\/span><\/p>\n

5. ibidem, p. 3<\/span><\/p>\n

6. ibidem, p. 5<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Maria Montessori, La Formazione dell\u2019Uomo. Garzanti, Milano 1970. p. 13<\/span><\/p>\n

8. ibidem, p. 15<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Maria Montessori, Education and Peace. Clio Press Ltd. p. 16<\/span><\/p>\n

10. ibidem<\/span><\/p>\n

11. ibidem, p. 17<\/span><\/p>\n

12. 1946 London Course, unpublished. AMI property.<\/span><\/p>\n

13. A. Gopnik, A.N. Meltzoff, P.K. Khul. The Scientist in the Crib. Morrow, New York 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/span><\/p>\n

14. M. C. Diamond, A.B. Scheibel, L.M. Elson. The Human Brain Coloring Book. Harper & Row,<\/span><\/p>\n

New York 1985<\/span><\/p>\n

15. F. Fornari, Affetti e Cancro. Cortina, Milano 1985. p. 7<\/span><\/p>\n

16. Niko Timbergen in an interview<\/span><\/p>\n

17. 1946 London Course, unpublished. AMI property.<\/span><\/p>\n

18. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. Clio Press Ltd. 2000. p. 19<\/span><\/p>\n

19. J. Chilton Pearce, Biology of Transcendence. p. 55<\/span><\/p>\n

20. ibidem, p. 57<\/span><\/p>\n

21. S. Quattrocchi Montanaro, M.D., Understanding the Human Being<\/span><\/p>\n

22. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. Clio Press Ltd. 2000. p. 90<\/span><\/p>\n

23. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood. 23ibidem, p. 91<\/span><\/p>\n

24. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood. Ballantine Books 1972. p. 74, 75<\/span><\/p>\n

25. U. Piscicelli, Introduzione alla Psicosomatica. P. 172<\/span><\/p>\n

26. ibidem, p. 119<\/span><\/p>\n

27. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. Clio Press Ltd. 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

28. T.G. Bower, A Primer of Infant Development. Freeman USA 1977. pp. 1, 2<\/span><\/p>\n

29. A Gopnik, A.N. Meltzoff, P.K. Khul. The Scientist in the Crib. Morrow, New York 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/span><\/p>\n

30. D.A. Christakis, Paediatrics. April 2004<\/span><\/p>\n

31. \u201cIt\u2019s Official: TV linked to Attention Deficit\u201d by Jean Lotus.<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.whitedot.org\/issue\/iss-story.asp?slug=ADHD Toddlers<\/span><\/p>\n

32. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. Clio Press Ltd. 2000. p. 80<\/span><\/p>\n

33. \u201cThe Case Against Television\u201d KCBX Public radio, 12 April 1999. Program 515. \u00a91999<\/span><\/p>\n

Scott London. p. 4<\/span><\/p>\n

34. ibidem, p. 4<\/span><\/p>\n

35. \u201cIt\u2019s Official: TV linked to Attention Deficit\u201d by Jean Lotus. p. 2<\/span><\/p>\n

36. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind. Clio Press Ltd. 2000. pp. 15, 16<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro, M.D. Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro received her degree in medicine and surgery, with a specialty\u00a0in psychiatry, from the University of Rome. In 1955 she joined the staff of the Rome Montessori\u00a0School for Assistants to Infancy, where she has taught mental hygiene, child neuropsychiatry,\u00a0nutrition, and obstetrics. Dr. Quattrocchi M. is currently the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[94],"class_list":["post-1702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publication","tag-montessori-education-2"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imontessori.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}