Let us treat them [children], therefore, with all the kindness which we would wish to help to develop in them.
Interpretation
We should nurture children with kindness to foster their own kindness as they grow.
Maria Montessori emphasizes the importance of treating children with kindness, suggesting that this approach will not only benefit their development but also instill in them the values of empathy and compassion. By creating an environment of kindness, we pave the way for children to become kind individuals themselves.
In practice
During a parenting seminar, this quote can be shared to emphasize the importance of fostering kindness.
... the first thing his education demands is the provision of an environment in which he can develop the powers given him by nature. This does not mean just to amuse him and let him do what he likes. But it does mean that we have to adjust our minds to doing a work of collaboration with nature, to being obedient to one of her laws, the law which decrees that development comes from environmental experience.
When we want to infuse new ideas, _x000D_ to modify or better the habits and customs of a people, _x000D_ to breathe new vigor into its national traits, _x000D_ we must use the children as our vehicle; for little can be accomplished with adults.
Noble ideas, great sentiments have always existed and have always been transmitted, but wars have never ceased.
What we need is a world full of miracles, like the miracle of seeing the young child seeking work and independence, and manifesting a wealth of enthusiasm and love.
To aid life, leaving it free, however, that is the basic task of the educator.
It is fortunate, I think, that nature is not bounded by human reason and by laboratory work and experimentation, for by the laws of pure reason and by microscopic investigation, it might easily have been proved, long before this, that children could not be born.
I have met thousands of children now, and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, 'Ms. Rowling, I'm so glad I've read these books because now I want to be a witch.'
I'm pretty omnivorous - in fact, I don't think of books in terms of genres. J. K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' books are no more Y.A. reading, to me, than John le Carre's 'Smiley' novels are spy stories.
If a person has a contribution to make, he must make it in public. If learning is not made public, it is a waste.
When I was growing up, I knew I wanted to be a mathematician, but I had no idea what that entailed.
Child hunger and child obesity are really just two sides of the same coin. Both rob our children of the energy, the strength and the stamina they need to succeed in school and in life. And that, in turn, robs our country of so much of their promise.
Each child should be more intelligent than his parents.
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