CK Montessori Montessori Vocabulary

Normalization: This strange word (my spell checker doesn’t like it) essentially means to be in complete harmony with your
environment. Dr Montessori felt that this was perhaps her most important discovery – that children returned to a normal
state through work.

As part of her experiment at the first Casa Dei Bambini, she placed certain materials in the classroom and made notations
as to the children’s behaviors. She found that children loved to ‘work’! (Note: In addition to activities such as sweeping the
floor, Montessorians use the word ‘work’ for any learning type of activity, such as a puzzle.) How different our little ones are
compared to us! We work and we get tired. They work and are refreshed! We appreciate help. They want to do it by
themselves! We would rather play. They would rather work! We work and receive an extrinsic reward. They work and
receive an intrinsic reward! They seek out work – our whole environment is based on this simple fact!!

Back to ‘normalization’; When and how does normalization occur? It can appear gradually or occur all of a sudden. In any
given child, it follows invariably upon a spell of deep concentration on some activity or work. It is reinforced each time that
the child has opportunity to work uninterrupted. Again, our environment is set up based on the value of deep concentration
as well as the child's need to master certain skills. Our ‘works’ are so interesting to the different levels of development of
the young child. They WANT to work and they WANT to master skills. There is such inner satisfaction in these masteries
and it is through these opportunities for ‘work’ that a child becomes normalized.

No matter how wonderful we Montessorians think we are – LOL – normalization is not something that the teacher does, but
it is a natural process that develops spontaneously in the human being! In order to develop his mind a child must have
objects in his environment which he can hear and see. He must develop himself through his movements, through the work
of his hands. He has need of objects with which he can work that provide motivation for his activity. It’s never us that
normalize a child. It’s the work!

How do you know if your child is normalized? He has the ability to concentrate well, a sense of personal dignity, can be
independent, is self-motivated, has a love of order, enjoys repetition, has the ability to work alone, is self-disciplined, has a
desire for freedom of choice, takes pleasure and fulfillment in work for its own sake, is obedient, preference for work over
play and has a real love of learning. That’s quite a list and if your child is not all the way there yet – don’t worry! That’s what
we do! We work with you, as a team to get there!

In Dr. Montessori’s old Italian and it’s translation – some of her quotes come out a bit funny. I particularly like this one:
‘Work’ could straighten out defective children!