On Top of the World, by Dr Maria Montessori

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THEN, full of enthusiasm, he wrote also ‘chimney,’ ‘roof.’ As he wrote, he continued to cry out, ‘I can write! I know how to write!’ His cries of joy brought the other children, who formed a circle about him looking down at his work in stupefied amazement. Two or three of them said to me, trembling with excitement, ‘Give me the chalk. I can write too’ and indeed they began to write various words: mama, hand, John, chimney, Ada.

Not one of them had ever taken chalk or any other instrument in hand for the purpose of writing. It was the first time that they had ever written, and they traced an entire word, as a child, when speaking for the first time, speaks the entire word.

by Dr Maria Montessori 1870-1952

From a pamphlet for the Board of Education entitled ‘The Montessori System of Education’ (1912) by E. G. A. Holmes.

Précis

The boy to whom Dr Montessori had given chalk had never written before, but crying ‘I can write’ began to do so. The other children gathered around, and several of them also began to write — not letters only, as happens in conventional schooling, noted Montessori, but whole words, just as a baby will suddenly utter a whole word.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate her ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

Why was Montessori surprised when the boy wrote ‘hand’ onto the tiles?

Suggestion

He had never written anything before this.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Montessori gave a boy some chalk. He wrote ‘hand.’ He had never written before.

Précis

Questions for Critics

Sevens

Jigsaws

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