The Absorbent Mind is an analysis of the physical and psychological aspects of a child's growth during the most significant period of life. During this period the child learns motor co-ordination, language, the making of social adjustments, the setting of work habits, and the beginning of routines that set patterns for life. Dr. Montessori illustrates the unique mental powers of young children which enable them to construct and establish all the aspects of human personality. Paperback.

The Secret of Childhood

In this book Maria Montessori explains the method which she has developed by observing children. It is here that she discovered the secret of childhood. The child has a spontaneous urge to learn. An understanding of this simple secret....

Maria Montessori discusses some of her basic principles of education and shows why it is so important for adults to ‘follow attentively all the spiritual expressions of a child'. She stresses the importance of adult respect and support for ‘all reasonable forms of activity in which the child engages' and emphasizes the value of understanding rather than interfering with such activity. Adults should help children to become independent while at the same time fully appreciating how sensitive children are to external influences. 

The psychic life in newborns has aroused great interest. Th conclusion of research is that the first two years of life are the most important. So here begins a new path, wherein it will not be the professor who teaches the child, but the child who teaches the professor.