The Absorbent Mind

The Absorbent Mind is based on lectures given by Maria Montessori, is an analysis of the physical and psychological aspects of a child's growth during the most significant period of life-the first six years. During this period the child learns motor coordination, language, the making of social adjustments, the setting of work habits, and the beginning of routines that set patterns for life. She illustrates the unique mental powers of the young child which enables him to construct and firmly establish within but a few years-without teachers, without any of the usual aids of education, nay, almost abandoned and often obstructed-all the characteristics of the human personality.

Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Italian physician and educationist, born in Rome, the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree (1894), dedicated her life to learning how best to educate children-particularly the poorest, most challenged children-during their vulnerable beginnings.