"The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn."
"A child is an eager observer and is particularly attracted by the actions of the adults and wants to imitate them. In this regard an adult can have a kind of mission. He can be an inspiration for the child's actions, a kind of open book wherein a child can learn how to direct his own movements. But an adult, if he is to afford proper guidance, must always be calm and act slowly so that the child who is watching him can clearly see his actions in all their particulars."
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Source: The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori, Part II, (p. 121), 1949.
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