The great constructive energies of the child ... have hitherto been concealed beneath an accumulation of ideas concerning motherhood. We used to say it was the mother who formed the child; for it is she who teaches him to walk, talk, and so on. But none of this is really done by the mother. It is an achievement of the child. What the mother brings forth is the baby, but it is the baby who produces the man. Should the mother die, the baby still grows up and completes his work of making the man.
Maria MontessoriExcept when he has regressive tendencies, the child's nature is to aim directly and energetically at functional independence.
Maria MontessoriThe adult ought never to mold the child after himself, but should leave him alone and work always from the deepest comprehension of the child himself.
Maria MontessoriTo stimulate life, leaving it then free to develop, to unfold, herein lies the first task of the teacher.
Maria Montessori