Philosophy & History Paper Maria Interiors was born in 1870 and in 1896 became the first female doctor in Italy, graduating from the University of Romeos medical school. In 1899 she was in charge of director of an Orthographic School, a school for children who were regarded as ‘hopelessly deficient’. For 2 years, she worked with these children and under her direction, the children developed to such an extent that a number of them were able to read & write well enough to be successful at a public examination taken together with normal children.
Soon after this, she gave up her position to work with 0-60 underprivileged normal children in San Lorenz whose parent’s were working and they had no meaner to pay for their education. These are the children that helped formed the basis of Maria Interior’s surprising discoveries of the “new children”. Maria Interior’s discoveries in San Lorenz soon became a worldwide phenomenon, spreading to the US and other parts of the world. In 1913, on Maria’s first visit to US, the American Interiors Society was formed under the presidency of Alexander Graham Bell.
The first of the discoveries was the amazing mental concentration that these children possessed along with a love for repetition. The children often showed an extraordinary amount of concentration on a particular piece of work to the point that they were mentally isolated from the rest of their environment. The concentration did not end when the work was finished; rather the child performed multiple repetitions of the same action until they stopped quite suddenly, having given in to their inner psychological need.
The third important characteristic that Interiors discovered was an innate love for order. The children reveled in putting back their work in the same place it had been taken from and in unreal keeping their environment in order. This love for order extended itself to a strong sense for personal dignity. The fifth surprising discovery was freedom of choice. The children often preferred one material over another and when allowed to do so, reveled in making that choice, establishing their own independence.
There was no need for rewards or punishment in the Interiors classrooms, as the children were quite indifferent to either. Separating the child from the other children and their Interiors materials was a greater punishment for the child. Another discovery as a great love for silence deep down in the souls of these children. The children’s spontaneous discovery of reading & writing was also a surprising discovery as in that era, most shared the general prejudice that writing should begin as late as possible and not before the age of 6.
The result of all these individual discoveries was a child’s spontaneous self-discipline. Given the right atmosphere and allowing the children to develop at their own pace, a new form of goodness began to develop in these children. They began to exhibit an extraordinary spontaneous self-discipline, a reentry of spirit and a great respect for the rights of others. The Interiors classroom is certainly unique. One of the first things that strike a newcomer is the child-sized furniture in the room. The chairs, tables, shelves, washbasins, etc are all designed for a short 3-4 year old child.
The second most striking thing is the absence AT seeks Ana a clearly talent teacher area. I en prepared environment Ana t emphasis of order in this environment are unique to a Interiors classroom Any Interiors teacher would tell a newcomer not to touch any of the shelves or remove any materials. If they do remove, to put it back exactly as it was before. The classroom is child-centric and the family plays a very big role in the holistic education of the child. Interiors children have freedom within the limits of the prepared environment.
Their education is peer-directed due to the multi-aged grouping of the classrooms. 3 to 6 year olds are grouped together to allow maximum learning. The children are involved in various diverse activities and most importantly are given 2-3 hours of uninterrupted “work” time to complete their work cycle and exhibit that amazing mental concentration & focus on one particular work. Maria Interior’s work led her to make discoveries of a child that posses a much higher intellect than adults. A child that even at the age of O had begun to make connections in understanding the world around him.
Maria Interiors described a young child’s mind between the age of 0-6 as the Absorbent Mind. Children in this age group absorbed information; whether it was unconscious (0-3 years) or conscious (3-6 years) by way of manipulating the environment using their hands. The child between the age of ()-3 years is like a camera. He absorbs infinite details of the life around his wrought his very soul. The child in this stage is inward-looking and wholly dependent on the adult. A child between the age of 3-6 years is refining his motor senses, coordinating his movements, exploring the world around him with his hands.
He is testing himself and is constantly learning new things and making connections. A 3 year old child who plays with an geometrical shaped inset work, repeatedly inserts the geometric figures into their respective places. At first he begins with trial & error, figuring out which shape belongs in which hole but eventually after maybe 50 petitions or even 100, his mind suddenly makes that connection of why a particular shape fits only one hole; of how each item in his hand is a particular geometric shape; a square, a triangle.
He then starts making connections outside of his work; finding geometric shapes in his real world. Identifying that his sandwich is triangle shaped or that an orange is round is his real-life connection from his work. Maria Interiors defined sensitive periods in a child’s life as a period of time when a child is particularly sensitive to a kind of external stimuli or interactions. These periods are rainstorm, often replaced by another kind of sensitivity.
Maria Interiors observed several sensitive periods in young children, like the sensitive period for Language (0-6), Order (2-4), Small objects (2-4), Music (2-6), Good Manners (2-6), Perfection of Movement (2-5), Writing (3-5), Reading (3-6) and Reason (4-9). It is not that the child is unable to learn if his sensitive period has passed; it is that it becomes that much more difficult for a child to master that trait and requires a lot more direct training. At a point in this age group of 3-6, the child becomes normalized when all obstacles o his development were removed and he was allowed to grow in a prepared environment.
The child moves into a state of spontaneous self-discipline, care of self & the environment, purposeful productive work, self directed and responsible for his own learning. Concentration is the key that opens the child to his own intellectual power. Maria Interior’s methods have led to a revolutionary change in understanding now a young cinch ‘s Milan works. Her moments nave Eden tested across ten world In different cultures and time & time again, they have led to these ” new children” appearing.
