"What kind of mind must the child have in order to accomplish this?"

"For millennia, people have been observing children learn to walk, talk, and build an independent life for themselves.
    "Adults have always assumed that it was their work, their efforts, and their control that produced these changes in the child.
    "Not Maria Montessori.
    "She took the approach of a scientist and observed the child with fresh eyes.
    "She cast aside any preconceived notions about what the child could or couldn't do, what capabilities he did or didn't have, and just looked
    "And what did she see?
    "She saw that, contrary to the uncontroversial opinion of the entire world, the child is his own motor.
    "The child creates himself. Every developed capacity, every understanding in the mind, every connection made, it was the child who built it.
    "What kind of mind must the child have in order to accomplish this?
    "It must be a mind different in kind not just in degree from the mind of the adult.
    "It must have powers and modes of functioning completely unalike those of the adult.
    "Read about these unique powers and modes of functioning in my piece this week on Montessorium..."

~ Samantha Blaisdell, introducing her post on 'The Child's Self-Created Mind'