WILL FORMATION
The ability to consciously will or do something develops gradually in the first stage of life and is strengthened through repetition. The Montessori environment provides the child with
opportunities to make a knowing free choice.
WORK
From an evolutionary perspective, humans have a very long childhood in which they can learn and try things out. Most social scientists refer to this unguided learning as ‘play’ (see e.g. Groos,
1901). Maria Montessori, on the other hand, preferred to refer to playful activities as ‘work’. Ultimately, these freely chosen activities bring children into contact with their environment and
help them to cope better with reality. The work of artists, just like the free and creative work of inventors, comes close to the actual work character of children. This is why in Montessori
education we also speak of the child as the ‘master builder of the human being’. The early years of childhood, puberty and adolescence in particular are years of creative activity, at first
unconsciously, then more and more consciously. Not least, however, Maria Montessori's aim was to sensitise adults to take children's activities and needs just as seriously as their own by calling
them ‘work’ instead of ‘play’.
