It will be unfair if we do not acknowledge the services and work of Dr. Maria in discovering the child. She was a keen observer of children. She studied them scientifically. She conducted various studies and found that children loved to do small constructed work provided it suited the age and stage of development. She also found that children reveal inner need for order. Children are also capable of choosing their own activity suitable to their capacity. Following are the main findings she made about the child :- ? Children love to work purposefully. The inner drive is sufficient and important. ? When something that answers the inner needs and meets with that inner argue spontaneous interest is kindled. When their interest finds suitable conditions to work spontaneous repetition is the result. When the spontaneous repetition of an activity is done with interest the natural result is concentration. ? Young children need orders of their development.
This order needs not to be only with things in the environment but also with values, functions and other human activities. ? The child needs freedom to choose the activity he needs to perform. This need that child is capable choosing the type of activity what satisfies his inner urges and offers challenge. ? Normality depended on all the human powers working in unison and in collaboration. It means children can rectify any error and bring the child normality. ? Free activity is essential.
Activities involving sensorial concepts , language, arithmetic culture, art were considered necessary for the children’s education. The introduction of the exercises of practical life as development activities are also a great contribution of Dr. Maria to education. ? For total development of children, several other topics that were considered to enough and too out of reach for the children of 3 to 5 years were introduced. Infact children could assimilate the knowledge if they were given in a suitable form. Discipline, self created and not imposed discipline have to be enforced. The children managed their individual life, their manner of speaking, moving, handling material, interacting with other children. They lean to live and let others to live, helping others, cooperating and having no quarrel. The absence of adults not influences their discipline. Discipline must come within and not imposed from outside because true discipline is born in freedom. ? Real obedience is based on love, respect and faith.
When obedience leads to inner satisfaction it becomes real obedience and hence it becomes read development. ? Children are often seen to believe in a certain manner – destructive, disorderly, disobedient etc but in specially prepared environment and with specially trained adults they show orderly, responsible, loving behaviour. This contradiction is because in the first case the child not finding the right condition of development whereas in the 2nd case child’s attitude is real one and true one.
This is the social question of child. In fact Dr. Maria could witness this grandeur of human activity. ? Constructive discoveries as a result of observing the child are very useful and productive. The silence activity, walking and the line are source of the examples. Human life is a series of steps in gaining independence and it is because of Dr. Maria who pointed out that this is true with child’s life also. We can succeed by developing the humanity to learn from the child in order to create a healthy human being.
