Montessori taught us of the absorbent mind.
She helped us to
see that a child, beginning at birth, has a tremendous capacity for
processing things that is radically different from the reasoning mind of
the adult.
She believed so strongly in the achievement of a human
— that humans can invent things and build things and achieve great
strides, but she believed equally in the achievement of the child, and
this was because of their absorbent intelligence.
Up until the age
of six, she saw that young children do not consciously filter
everything they experience. They simply observe, absorb and learn, and
to achieve this, their brains must be making language and motor
connections that happen subconsciously.
This all seemed to her so momentous, and the achiever in that was not the adult, but the child.
All
children learn how to walk and how to talk, and not because someone
taught them, but because they were watching the environment around them,
captivated by us, these fascinating and bigger versions of themselves.
They continue to be in awe of you and me. How could we ever return the
esteem?
Before a child learns how to walk, they learn how to
engage their muscles and coordinate their body that gets them to a place
where they can use their legs like the adults around them do. They use
their hands, they scoot across the room, they find ways to pull up their
little bodies to the table or the chair, and these precursors to walk
are merely the child figuring it all out on their own — with only this
raw potential, curiosity, and delight!
But there is a difference
between the child who stumbles happily while learning how to walk and
the child who is saddened by the stumble because the adult was fearful
of the stumble first.
Children need loving adults around them.
We know what is safe and how to set limits, and they need for us to
prepare that environment in which to be curious. They also need to feel
connected to us — to allow them to stumble as they learn how to walk is
not a lack of presence on part of the parent; rather, it’s a
hyper-presence with the child and a keen acknowledgement of his
capabilities. It’s the origin of a trusting relationship between the two
of you.
Every child will learn how to walk, how to talk and how to zip up their coat. But how are they going to get there? Will
the exploration be theirs to keep, or will it be met with an
expectation that the world is scary and that they need us to lead the
journey? Who will guide whom along the way?
Whenever
out and about with your infant, change how he sees the world around
him. Wear him in his carrier the other way, for example, and watch how
he responds. To the young child, everything is new and bright, even if
they’ve been there before. They enjoy a trip to the grocery store or
even to a familiar park far longer than you are I ever could, because
their curiosity never wanes. The world is so new, and we could only wish
for this kind of enchantment.
His eyes will hold wide as he soaks in every voice, every color, and every smell, and this is how the child will show you his capabilities. This is how he will always surprise you, and this is the very foundation of the great absorbent mind.
The child has so much to show us.