Montessori Great Story: God With No Hands, Part 2

Dive into the second part of the Montessori Great Story, "God with No Hands"! This story sparks imagination, introducing light years to show the cosmic scale and illustrates the birth of stars and the formation of solids, liquids, and gases. Explore the vastness and marvel at the natural laws that shape our universe! ✨

In a Montessori Primary classroom, stories are used to spark imagination and deepen understanding. These impressionistic stories paint vivid pictures of the world and its origins, inviting children to explore grand ideas. One of the most captivating of these is "The God with No Hands," the first of the five Great Stories in Montessori. It tells the tale of how the universe began, where forces unseen and hands unformed shaped the cosmos, bringing order from chaos. This story invites children to wonder about the mysteries of the universe and helps them grasp the concept of creation in an imaginative, awe-inspiring way.

This episode presents the significance of Arithmetic, the reasons for giving Arithmetic to children of 3 ½ years, how it is presented, the importance of 0 and 1 to 9, the decimal system and the basic combinations around the four Arithmetical operations.

This episode compares language teaching in traditional and Montessori schools and presents the steps in delivering language in the Montessori method. Discuss the phenomenon of the explosion into writing and reading, the probable mistakes children would make while writing, and the steps teachers take to help children overcome these errors.  

This episode presents the senses as the Gateway to Intelligence and discusses the qualities and differences that make a human being unique compared to animals. The characteristics of Sensorial Materials, the steps followed while working with them, and their purpose is explained in detail.

In India, more and more children are getting enrolled on preschools. The increase in early school enrolment shows that parents are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of early childhood education. Even a remote village has a private preschool and an Anganwadi. But their quality is not on par with other countries. In this episode, Dr S Rekha Reddy discusses India's present early childhood education issues with Mrs Nandini Prakash, the Director of the Indian Institute for Montessori Studies, Bangalore. 

This episode presents how the invention of writing affected civilisation leading to recorded history and the development of science and technology. In the beginning, reading and writing were not open for an ordinary man. He achieved it after many bloodsheds. After getting the Right to Write, the adults forced their children to learn instead of learning to write themselves. Many countries made learning to write compulsory for children. What was the result of this compulsory education? Tune in.

This episode discusses how Maria Montessori discovered the fundamental nature of children in the first house of children - like repetition, ability to choose, disregard for dolls, rejection of sweets, exploding into writing and reading. These qualities are not confined only to the children of Casa Dei Bambini but all Montessori children across the globe belonging to different caste, creeds, cultures and times.

Casa dei Bambini was inaugurated on 6th Jan. 1907. It was neither similar to the present Montessori Houses of Children nor the schools of those days. During the nineteenth century, it was thought that young children could not be educated as they were immature; the teacher should be highly qualified, and parents to be well educated. Casa dei Bambini proved that all these were mere misconceptions.

After deciding to work with normal children, Maria Montessori educated herself about the education field, which was new to her. The works of experimental psychologists, educational pedagogues, and anthropologists influenced Montessori. Through these studies, Montessori learnt the importance of sensory education, the value of movements and auto-education, which further enabled her to develop a clear understanding of freedom and discipline.

Maria Montessori introduced the concepts of Learning through activity; Play is the work of the child etc. The Montessori method is not based on predetermined philosophies or ideas but on child psychology and the developmental needs of children. Dr Montessori began her work with differently-abled children but ended up working with normal children. The inception of the Montessori Method is an exciting story. Tune in!

This episode presents the other three sensitive periods – interest in small objects, sensitive period for refinement of senses and sensitive period for grace and courtesy and good manners. In the first six years children are interested in small objects that adults normally disregard. This is also an age for refining and perfecting their senses. Hence, the children after working with Sensorial Activities are able to find the minute differences in the various qualities of objects like colour, dimensions, shape, taste, smell, texture, sound and so on. Children of this age are drawn towards graceful movements and good manners that are unique to their culture.

The Sensitive Period for Order starts when a child steps into two years and continues till three years. During this period, the child internalized the order in the environment, whether it is person, place or time. The child enjoys seeing things getting back to their positions. A routine helps him feel secure and stable in an environment that is new to him. 

This episode discusses the sensitive period of language, the first of all sensitive periods in the first stage of development. The child absorbs the language and its nuances without much effort in the first two years. If he misses the opportunity to develop the language in this period, he may have to put additional efforts to learn without reaping the same benefits.  

This episode presents how Dr Maria Montessori applied the sensitive periods for human development that were first recognized in the animal world.  It discusses the characteristics, significance and consequences of neglecting the sensitive periods. One of the neglected sensitive periods was evidenced in the life of Aveyron boy, the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book's Mogli. The concept of dropped stitches in our mental life when the sensitive periods are not fully utilized is explored.

This episode gives you a picture of an adolescent child between 12 and 18 years. The third stage of development is similar to the first stage of development in many ways. The child goes through several changes, transformations like in the first stage. The child is newly born during adolescence again as he has a new set of physical and psychological characteristics. He is getting prepared for the social life of society. Now, he needs a different type of prepared environment called ‘Erde-Kinder’ (Children of Earth). In these youth settlements around villages, the adolescents develop faith in themselves, gain economic independence, learn to participate in social life and get ready for the bigger adult society.

Tune in!