Chapter 3 of Dr. Montessori's own handbook by Maria Montessori
This Libravox recording is in the public domain, recording by Phil Schenevere.
Chapter 3 the Method
The technique of my method, as it follows the guidance of the natural physiological and
cyclical development of the child, may be divided into three parts, motor education,
sensory education, language.
The care and management of the environment itself afford the principal means of motor education,
while sensory education and the education of language are provided for by my didactic
The didactic material for the education of the senses consists of a three sets of solid
insets, B, three sets of solids in graduated sizes, comprising one pink cubes, two brown
prisms, three rods, color green, and colored alternately red and blue.
C, various geometric solids, prisms pyramid sphere, cylinder, cone, etc., D, rectangular
tablets with rough and smooth surfaces, E, a collection of various stuffs, F, small
wooden tablets of different weights, G, two boxes, each containing 64 colored tablets,
H, H, chest of drawers containing plain insets, I, three sets of cords on which are pasted
geometrical forms in paper, K, a collection of cylindrical closed boxes sounds, L, a double
series of musical bells, wooden boards on which are painted the lines used in music, small
wooden discs for the notes, didactic material for the preparation for writing and arithmetic,
M, two sloping desks with various iron inserts, N, cards on which are pasted sand paper
letters, O, two alphabets of colored cardboard and of different sizes, P, a series of cards
on which are pasted sand paper figures, 1, 2, 3, etc., Q, a series of large cards bearing
the same figures in smooth paper for the enumeration of numbers above ten, R, two boxes
with small sticks for counting, S, the volume of drawings belonging specifically to the
method and colored pencils, T, the frames for lacing, buttoning, etc., which are used
for the education of the movements of the hand.
