Their design frees the child from constant adult direction and offers them the opportunity for independent discovery and achievement. Never let the child risk failure until he has a reasonable chance of success, said Dr. Montessori, understanding the need to acquire basic skills before participating in a competitive learning situation. The years between three and six are those when a child learns the ground rules of human behavior most easily. These years can be devoted constructively to preparing the child to take his place in society through the acquisition of good manners and habits. Dr. Montessori recognized that self-motivation is the only valid impulse to learning.
Children move themselves toward learning.
The teacher prepares the environment, programs the activities, functions as the reference person and exemplar, and offers the child stimulation. But it is the child who learns, motivated through the work itself, to persist in his chosen task. The Montessori child is free to learn because he has acquired an inner discipline from exposure to both physical and mental order. This is the core of Montessori s educational philosophy. Historically, schools have taught children to observe, to think, to judge.