In the introductory pages of Maria Montessori, Her Life and Work, author E.M. Standing draws on the great educator's many references to the "child". Some of my favorites include:
"I am a pilgrim and you are pilgrims towards an idea. I voyage and you voyage and we unite ourselves together, almost as spiritual pilgrims, to work for the triumph of a principle which does not concern ourselves _but the child for who we are working and wish to work."
" We have come together in this way because we have touched a point which is common to all cultures, nations, societies, religions_The Child.
"Therefore it is not only the adult who must help the child, but also the child who must help the adult."
As I continue to chronicle the stories that tell The Learning Center Story, I am reminded of the sacred work with "the child" referenced and moved to center stage by the legendary educator Maria Montessori. Her revolutionary approach to teaching changed the course of modern education." Without question, more change is needed.
Who will sound the rally cry? Who will stoke the coals of education into the hot flame of change needed for the child, for the adolescent who desperately needs an "open school environment "( From Childhood to Adolescence ) and then on to the "adult-that-is-to-be"?
Year of the Child: Whole Child to Whole Community
A Blu Sky Initiative Commitment FOR Education