Maria Montessori portrayed the living art of the Montessori environment in this beautiful idea:

"When we took the personality of the child into account in and of itself and offered it full scope to develop in our school, where we constructed an environment that answered the needs of his spiritual development, he revealed to us a personality entirely different from the one we had previously taken into consideration...

With his passionate love of order and work, the child gave evidence of intellectual powers vastly superior to what they were presumed to be. It is obvious that in traditional systems of education the child instinctively resorts to dissemblance in order to conceal his capabilities and conform to the expectations of the adults who suppress him."
- Maria Montessori [1870 - 1952]-

Children are born with self-motivation, creativity and tons of love. If we are able to hold ourselves back and watch them blossom, they will surprise us all with their beauty, ingenuity and innocence. However, if we ignore these qualities in our children, and let them know how we think they should bloom, they will never be good enough for us, or for themselves.

In traditional education facilities the child is shown what he/she should become in order to succeed. By doing this, we make it much harder for the child to find who he/she really is.

However, in Montessori Schools, through careful observation and the use of the Montessori environment (prepared to meet the needs of a child's spiritual development), we are shown who the child is, not the other way around.

In this way, our children can grow to their full potential, and will have the chance to amaze all of us with their fantastically, original qualities.

It is much better to watch a flower take its time and blossom, than to kill the flower by rushing it and guiding the way it blooms. Most importantly, we must give our children the kind of love that allows them to be themselves.

Other pertinent Montessori Links:

http://www.nh-montessori.org
http://www.montessori.org
http://www.amshq.org
http://www.mthemagazine.com
http://www.naturalchild.org
http://www.raffinews.com