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Introduction
There are pine trees in the western United States that make two different kinds of cones1. The
first kind functions in the usual way: at maturity the cone opens and the pine seeds hidden
inside fall to the earth. Those that escape the hungry birds and squirrels lie in the soil until
spring when the soil warms and if conditions are right, sprout into tiny pine trees. But summer
is very dry in the west, and when forest fires rage through they destroy seed, sprout and
mature tree alike. This would soon be the end of the forests, but for a tiny miracle. The second
kind of pinecone does not open at maturity. These cones remain tightly closed, year after year,
and their seeds are unaffected by the warm spring sunshine. These cones remain dormant and
seemingly lifeless until the intense heat of the forest fire awakens the life inside the cone. Only
then do the cones open, and the stored seeds are released in huge numbers to repopulate the
burnt ground. In the devastating aftermath of the fire, these seeds, inert and overlooked, are
the forest heroes.
Phenomena like this are all around us; but in order to recognize them we need knowledge of
their existence, and a willingness to look. Perhaps the most extraordinary event of all exists
right in front of us, but only recently has society begun to recognize the remarkable creative
force that is the mind of the very young child; what Montessori called the Absorbent Mind.
Often overlooked and insignificant, the power hidden inside the childs mind is the secret of
childhood. Within every child is a new hope, a potential for greatness. It is there for anyone
with the willingness to look for it. Montessori wrote, The child is neither feeble nor poor. The
child is the father of humanity and of civilization; he is our teacher, even where his own
education is concerned. This is not an extravagant exaltation of infancy; it is a great truth. It
is difficult to discern a truth in a mass of facts; however, when we succeed in isolating it, its
light fascinates us. It is precisely in the child that I have discovered a light of immense
significance for all of humanity. (Montessori, The 1949 San Remo Lectures, p. 21, AMI)
The first plane of development, birth to around age 6, is a period of profound importance.
Although our experiences during the first plane shape the adults we become, we remember
almost nothing of this time. Nature has given the small child unique, unconscious powers and
abilities so that she can create the person she is to become. This is not an extravagant
exaltation of infancy, it is a great truth. Understanding the nature of these unique powers
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Monterey pine and pond pines are two types that produce these serotinous, or closed, cones.
Sarah Werner Andrews Montessori Institute Northwest
No portion may be reproduced without express written permission from the author
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Montessoris camera analogy appears in The Formation of Man pp.72-73, The Absorbent Mind, pp.
114-115, and The 1946 London Lectures, Lecture #7, p. 28.
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Montessori also gives the analogy of a sponge, to illustrate that a sponge will absorb any type of liquid
with equal indifference; clean fresh water, or dirty used water. A sponge also must be primed, or
dampened to begin to absorb liquid- a completely dry sponge doesnt take on liquid as easily.
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Montessori continues the analogy by comparing the camera to a drawing in the Formation of Man, pp.
72-73, and The Absorbent Mind, pp. 114-115.
Sarah Werner Andrews Montessori Institute Northwest
No portion may be reproduced without express written permission from the author
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See Absorbent Mind Update in the NAMTA Journal, Spring, 1993 by Annette Haines. Haines presents
evidence from brain research that supports Montessoris idea that the childs brain is significantly
different from an adults brain.
Sarah Werner Andrews Montessori Institute Northwest
No portion may be reproduced without express written permission from the author
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In The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 8, Montessori attributes the term horme to Sir Percy Nunn. In the
footnote, she comments that it resembles the ideas of lan vital from Bergson, and Freuds libido.
In the journal of the American Academy of Family Physicians, September 2003, failure to thrive is
described as a condition often stemming from medical and social factors; either extreme of parenting,
hypervigilance or neglect, can lead to this condition, which may result in malnutrition and
developmental delays if not corrected.
Sarah Werner Andrews Montessori Institute Northwest
No portion may be reproduced without express written permission from the author
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Engrams
Montessori referred to these traces of experience as engrams, another term borrowed
from psychology. Our subconscious is full of these engrams that assist with the association of
ideas stored in our unconscious.10 Montessori gives an example of the mathematics student
who goes to sleep with an unsolved problem and wakes up the solution.11 These are engrams at
In The Absorbent Mind, Montessori attributes the word, mneme, first to a German biologist, Richard
Semon, but indicates the concept was developed by Sir Percy Nunn, as well as concepts of horme, and
engrams in his book, Education, its Data and First Principles (1920).
9
Montessori describes this experiment in To Educate the Human Potential, The New Psychology of the
Unconscious, p.20, Kalakshetra.
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Websters Medical Dictionary explains engrams as An enduring change in the brain postulated to
account for the persistence of memory. The term engram was coined in 1908 to denote the permanent
trace left in the brain by a remembered stimulus, the lasting latent memory engraved into the psyche.
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Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, The New Psychology of the Unconscious, p. 22.
Sarah Werner Andrews Montessori Institute Northwest
No portion may be reproduced without express written permission from the author
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Dr. Montanaro uses the term external pregnancy, and exterogestation in Understanding the
Human Being, pp.21-22, to describe the nine months following birth as a continuation and completion
of the first internal pregnancy.
Sarah Werner Andrews Montessori Institute Northwest
No portion may be reproduced without express written permission from the author
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As this forest is maturing in the babys mind, the brain is creating, or wiring itself. The
creation is the result of an intricate dance between nature and nurture. Genes direct the
growth of the neurons, but the neurons themselves take over the connections and
communications shaping themselves according to the experiences that come in from the
senses. In the forest, trees that do not get enough light or nutrients die off. Similarly,
infrequently used neural connections die off, and those connections that are repeated are
strengthened. In this manner, the circuits of the childs brain are customized to her unique
environmental experiences. (Eliot, Whats Going on in There? p. 29) This is what Dr. Montessori
described as the very young child constructing her intelligence and personality based on her
experiences in the environment.
Anecdotally, when our children were very young, we always noticed how they seemed to grow
up just a little bit more whenever we returned from some new experience, like going to
Grammas house and sleeping in a different environment, or on a hike in the woods where they
saw and felt different things. The boys just seemed, in some way, to be a little different, a little
more confident or independent. Were these new experiences, creating new synapses in their
brains, shaping their personalities and constructing aspects of their intelligence?
Just as genes, hormones, and external experiences influence how the embryos physical organs
develop, there are also internal influences that effect how the spiritual or psychic embryo
develops. The little child is guided by special sensitivities that direct his attention. For
example, the newborns hearing is well developed at birth and he is especially sensitive, or
Sarah Werner Andrews Montessori Institute Northwest
No portion may be reproduced without express written permission from the author
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References
Montessori, Dr. Maria, (1946). Education for a New World. Madras, India: Kalakshetra Publications,
1974.
Montessori, Dr. Maria, (1948). To Educate the Human Potential. Madras, India: Kalakshetra
Publications, 1985.
Montessori, Dr. Maria, (1949). The Absorbent Mind. Claude A. Claremont trans. Madras, India:
Kalakshetra Publications, 1984.
Montessori, Dr. Maria, (1955). The Formation of Man. A.M. Joosten trans. Madras, India: Kalakshetra
Publications, 1985.
Montessori, Dr. Maria (1946). Lecture #4. Unpublished lecture, September 9th, 1946, London, England.
Montessori, Dr. Maria (1946). Lecture #5. Unpublished lecture, September 11th, 1946, London,
England.
Montessori, Dr. Maria (1946). Lecture #6. Unpublished lecture, September 13, 1946, London, England.
Montessori, Dr. Maria (1946). Lecture #7. Unpublished lecture, September 17, 1946, London, England.
Montessori, Dr. Maria (1949). Lecture III. The San Remo Lectures, 1949, San Remo, Italy. AMI,
2003/2004.
Montessori, Mario M. Jr. (1976) Education for Human Development. New York: Schocken Books, 1977.
Eliot, Dr. Lise (1999). Whats Going on in There? New York: Bantam Books, 2000.
Haines, Annette (1993). Absorbent mind update. The NAMTA Quarterly, Vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 1-20.
Haines, Annette, (2008) The Absorbent Mind. Unpublished lecture, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Montanaro, Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi (1991). Understand the Human Being. Mountain View, California:
Nienhuis Montessori USA. 2007.
Sackett, Ginni (2008) The Absorbent Mind. Unpublished lecture, Montessori Institute Northwest,
Portland, Oregon.
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