BIRTH TO THREE - EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

A sparse environment of carefully chosen materials calls the child to work, concentration, and joy. A crowded or chaotic environment can cause stress and can dissipate a child's energy.

Before the age of six, a child learns from direct contact with the environment, by means of all the senses, and through movement; the child literally absorbs what is in the environment. The toys and materials in the home and school should be of the very best quality to call forth self-respect, respect and care from the child toward the environment, and the development of an appreciation of beauty.

Montessorians are very cautious about allowing children to be guinea pigs for the use of new inventions, and in the long history of humans on earth, both computers and televisions are very recent inventions. We are finding out that even such relatively simple objects as pacifiers and walkers get in the way of optimal and healthful development, and recent brain research reveals to us that computers and television may have far more negative influences on our children's development than positive. They affect the child so much more because of the inordinately large amount of time spent in front of them in some situations. Here are some excerpts on these subjects:

Television . . .is an anti-experience and an anti-knowledge machine because it separates individuals from themselves and from the environment and makes them believe they are living while they are only observing passively what other people decide to make them see.
—Dr. Silvana Montanaro, MD, psychiatrist, pediatrician, international director of the Montessori Assistants to Infancy courses

Maria Montessori's view on the learning child sees not so much the task of filling the mind with information, but rather of constructing the mind through activity according to inner directives and urges. For children age six and older, the computer can be a very positive part of the environment, but it is still important to decide what to do with it. Such a decision should be carefully based on the children's developmental needs and their well-being. —Dr. Peter Gebhardt-Seele, physicist, computer author, Montessori teacher-trainer

Conclusion
We did not have this wonderful Montessori 0-3 information when our children were babies. But we are excited about the value of its influence for other families, or all who are interested in the child from 0-3. Over and over we hear of the success and happiness of families and professionals who are using these principles in their homes and centers.
We sincerely hope that it will be valuable to you and your children.
Madame Montessori,

You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children and if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won't have to struggle, we won't have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whole world is hungering.
—M. Gandhi, 1943