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From Childhood to Adolescence: Including 'Erdkinder' and the Functions of the University
Emphasizes the educational preparation, needs, and concerns of the adolescent and views the function of university education
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
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About the author
Maria Montessori
572 books704 followersMaria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, philosopher, humanitarian and devout Catholic; she is best known for her philosophy and the Montessori method of education of children from birth to adolescence. Her educational method is in use today in a number of public as well as private schools throughout the world.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 10, 2013
This compilation of Montessori's work, her explanation of her method of "cosmic education" for the child from ages 7-12 as well her conception of the adolescent, ages 12-18 as "erdkinder," is rounded out by her essay regarding university education for the young adult. Around the age of seven, the child begins her long journey into the world of abstractions, imagination, and finally into society as a whole. The goal for the educator is to present rich, learning opportunities based upon meaningful, real-life experiences, with independence for the student increasing incrementally, from the personal and physical realms to the moral and economic. In essence, the child continues to move from dependence upon adults for physical as well as intellectual needs to dependence upon herself and knowledge of her usefulness in society. Montessori outlines lessons for the 7-12 year old child in geology, biology,and chemistry, with particular emphasis on the interconnection between these disciplines and of nature. Also included are her ideas for Montessori boarding schools for the 12-18 year old and her critique of and suggestions for university education.
This book is far less specific than her books that delineate specific activities in detail for her method for 3 to 6 year old children. As such, I find it more stimulating, in that it outlines her philosophy, but leaves the educator and educational institution to fill in the blanks about its execution. Though she has some specific experiments and presentations and strongly believes that Montessori boarding schools should be established only in the country, one is able to really consider how Montessori's philosophy of teaching and learning can be applied in today's world, even in an urban setting. In many ways, this work is far less dated than much of her other work. It should be an essential read for the progressive educator.
This book is far less specific than her books that delineate specific activities in detail for her method for 3 to 6 year old children. As such, I find it more stimulating, in that it outlines her philosophy, but leaves the educator and educational institution to fill in the blanks about its execution. Though she has some specific experiments and presentations and strongly believes that Montessori boarding schools should be established only in the country, one is able to really consider how Montessori's philosophy of teaching and learning can be applied in today's world, even in an urban setting. In many ways, this work is far less dated than much of her other work. It should be an essential read for the progressive educator.
March 21, 2024
An interesting overview of older Montessori (7-12, 12-18, 18+); not entirely sure why there were sections on inorganic or organic chemistry (because I was LOOOOOOST😂) but good reminders of developmental changes during the 7-12 years especially.
June 22, 2021
This is the education of the child 6 to 12 years of age. Here is where the seeds of all the sciences are to be sown and where all things should be shown as interconnected. Montessori uses water as the beginning for sciences and more -- biology, chemistry, physical science, geography, cultural geography.
Montessori believed that students should have a more open classroom so they can be connected to the world with more practical works along with taking jobs and taking care of self. There should be more than usual teachers like gardeners, cooks, business role models, etc. to teach the practical side of life. She seems to advocate for a boarding school in the country or that children go to school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. She had definite ideas on what is proper for diet in each age.
Interesting. Old school writing style. Interesting ideas.
Montessori believed that students should have a more open classroom so they can be connected to the world with more practical works along with taking jobs and taking care of self. There should be more than usual teachers like gardeners, cooks, business role models, etc. to teach the practical side of life. She seems to advocate for a boarding school in the country or that children go to school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. She had definite ideas on what is proper for diet in each age.
Interesting. Old school writing style. Interesting ideas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2021
This book briefly explains parents/educator the changes of needs and psychic development of the child. Since the 2nd plane of development is a new world, the educator must evaluate the environment and rearrange things.
Imagination, the need for adventure and challenges, and moral sense takes a big part in this stage.
Imagination, the need for adventure and challenges, and moral sense takes a big part in this stage.
June 21, 2022
I very much enjoyed this compilation of Maria Montessori’s thoughts on the second plane of development and Cosmic Education. I found it to be inspiring and an easier text to navigate than some of her other works.
April 17, 2022
Everything has been said in the comments of others. Recommending to read for guides 6-9 yo.
September 5, 2022
I had to read this for my Montessori 6-9 training. I found some of the chapters dry but some like the one on water very interesting.
July 10, 2024
From seven to twelve years, the child needs to enlarge his field of action. As we have seen (in The Secret of Childhood), a limited environment is suited to the small child. There, social relations are established with others. In the second period the child needs wider boundaries for his social experiences. Development cannot result by leaving him in his former environment.
-//-
The child needs, then, to establish social relationships in a larger society. The closed school, as it is conceived today, can no longer be sufficient for him. Something is lacking for the full development of his personality. We note a certain regression — manifestations ofhis character which we call anomalies; they are merely his reactions to an environment that has become inadequate. But we do not notice that. And since it is understood that the child must do what adults tell him, even though his environment no longer suits his needs, if he does not comply we say that he is “naughty” and correct him. Most of the time we are unaware of the cause of his “naughtiness.” Yet the child, by his conduct, proves what we have just said. The closed environment is felt as a constraint, and that is why he no longer wishes to go to school. He prefers to catch frogs or play in the street. These seemingly superficial factors prove that the child needs wider boundaries than heretofore.
-//-
When the child is placed in certain conditions that favour him, he manifests an extraordinary activity. His intelligence surprises us because all its powers work together, as is normal for man. We are no longer dealing with the problem of transforming the methods of education: it is properly a problem of life that is being posed.
-//-
To consider the school as the place where instruction is given is one point of view. But to consider the school as a preparation for life is another. In the latter case the school must satisfy all the needs of life.
An education that suppresses the true nature ofthe child is an education that leads to the development of anomalies.
-//-
The passage to the second level of education is the passage from the sensorial, material level to the abstract. The need for abstraction and intellectual activity makes itself felt around the seventh year. Until that age the establishment of the relationships between objects is what is important to the child. This is to say that the child needs to classify and absorb the exterior world by means of his senses.
A turning toward the intellectual and moral sides of life occurs at the age of seven.
One could draw a parallel between the two periods. But they still remain on different levels. It is at seven years that one may note the beginning of an orientation toward moral questions, toward the judgment of acts. One of the most curious characteristics to be observed is the interest that occurs in the child when he begins to perceive things which he previously failed to notice. Thus he begins to worry about whether what he has done has been done well or poorly. The great problem of Good and Evil now confronts him. This preoccupation belongs to an interior sensitivity, the conscience. And this sensitivity is a very natural characteristic.
The seven-to-twelve-year-old period, then, constitutes one of particular importance for moral education. The adult must be aware of the evolution that is occurring in the mind of the child at this time and adapt his methods to conform with it.
-//-
To think that the problem of morality only occurs later is to overlook the change that is already going on. Later, the moral problem becomes a good deal more difficult unless the child has been helped during this sensitive period. Social adaptations will become more thorny. It is at this age also that the concept of justice is born, simultaneously with the understanding of the relationship between one’s acts and the needs of others. The sense of justice, so often missing in man, is found during the development of the young child. It is the failure to recognize this fact that engenders a false idea of justice.
-//-
The child needs, then, to establish social relationships in a larger society. The closed school, as it is conceived today, can no longer be sufficient for him. Something is lacking for the full development of his personality. We note a certain regression — manifestations ofhis character which we call anomalies; they are merely his reactions to an environment that has become inadequate. But we do not notice that. And since it is understood that the child must do what adults tell him, even though his environment no longer suits his needs, if he does not comply we say that he is “naughty” and correct him. Most of the time we are unaware of the cause of his “naughtiness.” Yet the child, by his conduct, proves what we have just said. The closed environment is felt as a constraint, and that is why he no longer wishes to go to school. He prefers to catch frogs or play in the street. These seemingly superficial factors prove that the child needs wider boundaries than heretofore.
-//-
When the child is placed in certain conditions that favour him, he manifests an extraordinary activity. His intelligence surprises us because all its powers work together, as is normal for man. We are no longer dealing with the problem of transforming the methods of education: it is properly a problem of life that is being posed.
-//-
To consider the school as the place where instruction is given is one point of view. But to consider the school as a preparation for life is another. In the latter case the school must satisfy all the needs of life.
An education that suppresses the true nature ofthe child is an education that leads to the development of anomalies.
-//-
The passage to the second level of education is the passage from the sensorial, material level to the abstract. The need for abstraction and intellectual activity makes itself felt around the seventh year. Until that age the establishment of the relationships between objects is what is important to the child. This is to say that the child needs to classify and absorb the exterior world by means of his senses.
A turning toward the intellectual and moral sides of life occurs at the age of seven.
One could draw a parallel between the two periods. But they still remain on different levels. It is at seven years that one may note the beginning of an orientation toward moral questions, toward the judgment of acts. One of the most curious characteristics to be observed is the interest that occurs in the child when he begins to perceive things which he previously failed to notice. Thus he begins to worry about whether what he has done has been done well or poorly. The great problem of Good and Evil now confronts him. This preoccupation belongs to an interior sensitivity, the conscience. And this sensitivity is a very natural characteristic.
The seven-to-twelve-year-old period, then, constitutes one of particular importance for moral education. The adult must be aware of the evolution that is occurring in the mind of the child at this time and adapt his methods to conform with it.
-//-
To think that the problem of morality only occurs later is to overlook the change that is already going on. Later, the moral problem becomes a good deal more difficult unless the child has been helped during this sensitive period. Social adaptations will become more thorny. It is at this age also that the concept of justice is born, simultaneously with the understanding of the relationship between one’s acts and the needs of others. The sense of justice, so often missing in man, is found during the development of the young child. It is the failure to recognize this fact that engenders a false idea of justice.
February 25, 2017
brilliant conception of how concepts are to be presented and the beauty of how the learning interlinks for children ages 6 to 12 in the Montessori system
January 11, 2016
This book outlines the difference of learning between the first level (0-6 years old) and the second level (7-12 years old) and how to address the latter. Maria Montessori's books were written long time ago and somehow a bit abstract for me. I had to reread it a couple times to completely understand her concept and application.
June 18, 2017
Re-read this book after 2 years of working with adolescents in a Montessori school. Helpful insights and powerful statements about what is important when educating adolescents, particularly in the appendices of the book.
November 1, 2024
Recommended to prepare for the AMI Montessori 12-18 Orientation course
Bit of a hodgepodge; some lovely ideas, some real food for thought, some seemingly a bit outdated and a bit of waffle.
Definitely inspired by the gems.
Bit of a hodgepodge; some lovely ideas, some real food for thought, some seemingly a bit outdated and a bit of waffle.
Definitely inspired by the gems.
June 16, 2016
I wasn't sure what to expect of this book but I learned about how she thinks of the teenage years in this one.
July 5, 2015
Montessori addressing the ill preparation of youth entering university: "He who one day wants to see before him a man, must first have sought the child."Appendix C; p. 89
October 5, 2015
This is another amazing Montessori text. While she is well known for her work with younger children, her approaches to adolescence is even more inspiring.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews