Maria Montessori's Rules for Adult

Listed below are Dr. Montessori's rules for the treatment of the child by the adult as they are found in the Around the Child .

1. Never touch the child unless invited by him in some form or other.
2. Never speak ill of the child in his presence or in his absence.
3. Concentrate on developing and strengthening what is good in him.
4. Take meticulous and constant care of the environment. Teach the proper use of things and show the place where they are kept.
5. The adult must always be ready to answer the call of the child who stands in need of him and always listen and respond to the child who appeals him.
6. The adult is to be active when helping the child establish a relationship with the environment, and remain outwardly passive, but inwardly active when this relationship has been established.
7. The adult must respect the child who makes a mistake without correcting directly. But he must stop any misuses of the environment and any action which endangers the child or other member of the community.
8. The adult must respect the child who takes rest or watches others working and not disturb him; neither call him nor force him to other forms of activity.
9. The adult must help those who are in search of activity without finding it.
10. The adult must, therefore, be untiring in repeating presentations to the child who refused them earlier, in teaching the child who has yet learned, in helping the child who needs it, to overcome imperfections in animating the environment, with her care, with purposive silence, with mild words, with loving presence. She must make her presence felt to the child who searches and hide from the child who has found.
11. The adult must always treat the child with the best of good manners and in general offer him the best she has in herself and at her disposal.