If I had ever suffered from the enforced repression5 within my own soul of my various European experiences I was more than indemnified by the reception which awaited this last return to my native land. For I found myself set upon and required to give an account of what I had seen, not only by my family and friends, but by callers, by acquaintances in the streets, by friends of acquaintances, by letters from people I knew, and many from those whose names were unfamiliar6.
The questions they all asked were of a striking similarity, and I grew weary in repeating the same[vi] answers, answers which, from the nature of the subject, could be neither categorical nor brief. How many evenings have I talked from the appearance of the coffee-cups till a very late bedtime, in answer to the demand, “Now, you’ve been to Rome; you’ve seen the Montessori schools. You saw a great deal of Dr. Montessori herself and were in close personal relations with her. Tell us all about it. Is it really so wonderful? Or is it just a fad7? Is it true that the children are allowed do exactly as they please? I should think it would spoil them beyond endurance. Do they really learn to read and write so young? And isn’t it very bad for them to stimulate8 them so unnaturally9? And....” this was a never-failing cry, “what is there in it for our children, situated10 as we are?”
Staggered by the amount of explanation necessary to give the shortest answers that would be intelligible11 to these searching, but, on the whole, quite misdirected questions, I tried to put off my interrogators with the excellent magazine articles which have appeared on the subject, and with the translation of Dr. Montessori’s book. There were various objections to being relegated12 to these sources of information. Some of my inquisitors had been too doubtful of the value of the perhaps over-heralded new ideas to take the trouble to read the book with the close and serious attention necessary to make anything out of its careful and scientific presentation of its theories. Others, quite honestly, in the breathless whirl of[vii] American business, professional and social life, were too busy to read such a long work. Some had read it and emerged from it rather dazed by the technical terms employed, with the dim idea that something remarkable13 was going on in Italy of which our public education ought to take advantage, but without the smallest definite idea of a possible change in their treatment of their own youngsters. All had many practical questions to put, based on the difference between American and Italian life, questions which, by chance, had not been answered in the magazine articles.
I heard, moreover, in varying degree, from all the different temperaments14, the common note of skepticism about the results obtained. Everyone hung on my first-hand testimony15 as an impartial16 eye-witness. “You are a parent like us. Will it really work?” they inquired with such persistent17 unanimity18 that the existence of a still unsatisfied craving19 for information seemed unquestionable. If so many people in my small personal circle, differing in no way from any ordinary group of educated Americans, were so actively20, almost aggressively interested in hearing my personal account of the actual working of the new system, it seemed highly probable that other people’s personal circles would be interested. The inevitable21 result of this reasoning has been the composition of this small volume, which can claim for partial expiation22 of its existence that it has no great pretensions23 to anything but timeliness.
[viii]I have put into it, not only an exposition, as practical as I can make it, of the technic of the method as far as it lies within the powers of any one of us fathers and mothers to apply it, but in addition I have set down all the new ideas, hopes, and visions which have sprung up in my mind as a result of my close contact with the new system and with the genius who is its founder24. For ideas, hopes, and visions are as important elements in a comprehension of this new philosophy as an accurate knowledge of the use of the “geometric insets,” and my talks with Dr. Montessori lead me to think that she feels them to be much more essential. Contact with the new ideas is not doing for us what it ought, if it does not act as a powerful stimulant25 to the whole body of our thought about life. It should make us think, and think hard, not only about how to teach our children the alphabet more easily, but about such fundamental matters as what we actually mean by moral life; whether we really honestly wish the spiritually best for our children, or only the materially best; why we are really in the world at all. In many ways, this “Montessori System” is a new religion which we are called upon to help bring into the world, and we cannot aid in so great an undertaking26 without considerable spiritual as well as intellectual travail27.
The only way for us to improve our children’s lives by the application of these new ideas is by meditating28 on them until we have absorbed their very essence and then by making what varying applications[ix] of them are necessary in the differing condition of our lives. I have set down, without apology, my own Americanized meditations29 on Dr. Montessori’s Italian text, simply because I chance to be one of the first American mothers to come into close contact with her and her work, and as such may be of value to my fellows. I have, however, honestly labeled and pigeon-holed these meditations on the general philosophy of the system, and set them in separate chapters so that it should not be difficult for the most casual reader to select what he wishes to read, without being forced into social, philosophical30, or ethical31 considerations. I confess that I shall be greatly disappointed if he takes too exclusive advantage of this opportunity, for I quite agree with the Italian founder of the system that its philosophical and ethical elements are those which have in them most promise for a new future for us all.
Finally, in spite of all my excuses for the undertaking, I seem to myself, now that I am fairly embarked32 upon it, very presumptuous33 in speaking at all upon such high and grave matters, fit only for the sure and enlightened handling of the specialist. But this is a subject differing from biology, physiological34 psychology35, and philosophy (although the foundations of the system are laid deep in those sciences), inasmuch as its usefulness to the race depends upon its comprehension by the greatest possible number of ordinary human beings. I hearten myself by remembering that if it is not to remain an interesting[x] and futile36 theory, it must be, in its broad outlines at least, understood and practised by just such people as I am. We must all collaborate37. And here is the place to say that I consider this book a very tentative performance; and that I will be very grateful for suggestions from any of my readers which will help to make a second edition more useful and complete.
This volume of impressions, therefore, lays no claim to erudition. It is not written by a biologist for other biologists, by a philosopher for an audience of college professors, or by a professional pedagogue38 to enlighten school-superintendents. An ordinary American parent, desiring above all else the best possible chance for her children, addresses this message to the innumerable legion of her companions in that desire.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Miss M. I. Batchelder and Miss Mary G. Gillmore, both of the Horace Mann School, for helpful suggestions; to Miss Anne E. George, who also read the manuscript; to Dr. Maria Montessori’s book “The Montessori Method” (Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York); and to the House of Childhood, Inc., 200 Fifth Avenue, New York, for the use of illustrations. Dr. Montessori’s didactic apparatus39 is manufactured and distributed by the House of Childhood, Inc.
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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rebound
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| v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回 | |
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repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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fad
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| n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好 | |
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stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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9
unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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12
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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13
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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temperaments
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| 性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁 | |
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15
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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18
unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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19
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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expiation
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| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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stimulant
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| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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32
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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34
physiological
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| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
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psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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36
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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37
collaborate
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| vi.协作，合作；协调 | |
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38
pedagogue
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| n.教师 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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