“To consider the school as a place where instruction is given is one point of view. But, to consider the school as a preparation for life is another. In the latter case, the school must satisfy all the needs of life.”

“The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child's own natural desire to learn.”

“The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school, but for life.”

“Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and when the grass of the meadows is wet with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning.”

“To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.”

“There is a great sense of community within the Montessori classroom, where children of differing ages work together in an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competitiveness. There is respect for the environment and for the individuals within it, which comes through experience of freedom within the community.”

“The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six.”