Help Me to Help Myself

‘’Help me to help myself’’
The expression ‘’Help me to help myself’’ means helping children to do things themselves and making them independent. ‘’The child needs to do things by himself from the beginning of life, from the moment he is capable of doing things’’ (Montessori, 1989, pg9). This independence is favourable for their physiological and psychological development. They should be provided with a favourable environment in which their needs/desires are satisfied through their own efforts and enables them to become independent. ‘’This points to the necessity of a House of Children where things are provided according to their needs; where occupations suitable to them are available; and where an understanding teacher is prepared to help them do things to which they have a natural liking’’ (Montessori, 1989, pg10).
‘’The vital force for growth active within the child that stimulates him/her to perform many actions and guides his/her efforts towards their goal was named ‘’horme’’, a term which was borrowed from Sir Percy Nunn’’ (Montessori, 2007, pg76). This urge for doing things without the help of adults is revealed time and again by the child from birth to three years. ‘’Horme’’ stimulates the child to engage in various activities and leads to his/her development. The ‘’mneme’’ (unconscious memory) of the spiritual embryo absorbs unlimited information from the environment to acquire knowledge and experience and uses this information for future development. Three to six year old children make a conscious effort to absorb from the environment. The ‘’horme’’ is replaced by the will. S/he is in the social embryonic stage where awareness of other people and socialisation take place. They develop skills which make them independent.
‘’The teacher should be … someone who intends to help them, or someone to be of service to them’’ (Montessori, 1989, pg5). The most important thing for a teacher is to do spiritual preparation. S/he should have a pure heart filled with...