This document outlines an evening presentation for parents on cosmic education in the Montessori classroom. It includes an overview of the agenda which covers philosophical principles, the planes of child development, the role of imagination, and the presentation of the First Great Lesson. It also discusses how cosmic education helps children develop morality and character by making connections between themselves, the universe, and their place within it.

1. Cosmic Education
in the Montessori Classroom
A Parent
Education
Evening
April 13, 2017

2. Overview of the Evening
Staff Introductions
Philosophical Framing
The Planes of Development
The Role of Imagination
Cosmic Education
Presentation of “The First Great Lesson”
Weaving the Cosmos
The Development of Morality & Character
Tour of Key Materials
Questions & Comments

3. Staff Introductions
Who We Are & What We Do

4. Philosophical Framing
The Principles Behind the Practice

5. “[T]he whole concept of education changes. It becomes
a matter of giving help to the child’s life, to the
psychological development of man. No longer is it just
an enforced task of retaining our words and ideas. This
is the new path on which education has been put; to
help the mind in its process of development, to aid its
energies and strengthen its many powers.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 24

6. “We see the figure of the child who stands before us
with his arms held open, beckoning humanity to follow.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, Education and Peace, p. 119

7. “[We] must have the greatest respect for the young
personality… in the mind of these boys and girls there
lies all our hope of future progress and the judgement
of ourselves and our times.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 72

8. “This world, marvelous in its power,
needs a ‘new man’.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 84

9. The Planes of Development

19. The First Plane
The Absorbent Mind

20. “It may be said that we acquire knowledge by using
our minds; but the child absorbs knowledge directly
into his psychic life…. the child undergoes a
transformation. Impressions do not merely enter his
mind; they form it. They incarnate themselves in
him. The child creates his own ‘mental muscles’,
using for this what he finds in the world about him.
We have named this type of mentality, The
Absorbent Mind.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, pp.25-26

21. “The child has a different relation to his
environment from ours. Adults admire their
environment; but the child absorbs it. These things
he sees are not just remembered; they form part of
his soul.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 54

23. “There is in the child a special kind of sensitivity,
which leads him to absorb everything around him,
and it is this work of observing and absorbing that
alone enables him to adapt himself to life. He does
it in virtue of an unconscious power that only exists
in childhood.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 55

24. “A sensitive period refers to a special sensibility
which a creature acquires in its infantile state, while
it is still in the process of evolution. It is a transient
disposition and limited to the acquisition of a
particular trait. Once this trait, or characteristic has
been acquired, the special sensibility disappears.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, p. 38

25. The Second Plane
The Acquisition of Culture

27. Key Questions of The Second Plane

28. Key Questions of The Second Plane
Where Do I Come From?
(past / ancestry)

29. Key Questions of The Second Plane
Where Do I Come From?
(past / ancestry)
Who Am I?
(present / identity)

30. Key Questions of The Second Plane
Where Do I Come From?
(past / ancestry)
Who Am I?
(present / identity)
Why Am I Here?
(future / cosmic)

31. Key Questions of The Second Plane
Where Do I Come From?
(past / ancestry
Who Am I?
(present / identity)
Why Am I Here?
(future / cosmic)

33. The Second Plane
The Role of Imagination

34. “Human consciousness comes into the world
as a flaming ball of imagination.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 10

35. “The world is acquired psychologically by means of the
imagination. Reality is studied in detail, then the whole
is imagined. The detail is able to grow in the
imagination, and so total knowledge is attained.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 18

36. “The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s
intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be
sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination.
- Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 11

37. “Imagination does not become great until man, given
the courage and strength, uses it to create.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 21

38. The Second Plane
Cosmic Education

43. COSMIC EDUCATION

44. Story
(teacher)
COSMIC EDUCATION

45. Story Study
(teacher) (student)
COSMIC EDUCATION

47. Cosmic Education
The First Great Lesson

48. Cosmic Education
Weaving the Cosmos

49. “To the young child we give guides to the world and the
possibility to explore it through his own free activity; to
the older child we must give not only the world, but the
cosmos and a clear vision of how the cosmic energies
act in the creation and maintenance of our globe.”
- Mario Montessori, Cosmic Education, p. 7

50. “Life is a cosmic agent. How shall this truth be
presented to the children so to strike their imagination?”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 20

51. “Since it has been seen to be necessary to give so
much to the child, let us give him a vision of the whole
universe. The universe is an imposing reality and an
answer to all questions. We shall walk together on this
path of life, for all things are part of the universe, and
are connected with each other to form one whole unity.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, pp. 5-6

61. The Second Plane
The Development of Morality & Character

62. “Moral education is the source of that spiritual
equilibrium on which everything else depends.”
- Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 73

64. Spiritual Equilibrium

66. Cosmic Consciousness

67. Cosmic Consciousness
Spiritual Equilibrium

68. “It is necessary to create surroundings for the child that
answer his needs not only from the point of view of his
physical health but also from the point of his spiritual
life.”
- Maria Montessori, Education and Peace, p. 76

69. “These studies should consider that uplifting of the
inner life of humanity towards tendencies that grow
ever less in cruelty and violence and strive to form
ever-wider groups of associated individuals.”
- Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 72

71. making connections

72. making connections
sense of place and purpose

73. making connections
sense of place and purpose
seeing the whole from its parts

74. making connections
sense of place and purpose
seeing the whole from its parts
interplay

75. making connections
sense of place and purpose
seeing the whole from its parts
interplay
a woven fabric

76. making connections
sense of place and purpose
seeing the whole from its parts
interplay
a woven fabric
inquiry and exploration

77. making connections
sense of place and purpose
seeing the whole from its parts
interplay
a woven fabric
inquiry and exploration
parallel studies

78. making connections
sense of place and purpose
seeing the whole from its parts
interplay
a woven fabric
inquiry and exploration
parallel studies
joy

79. making connections
sense of place and purpose
seeing the whole from its parts
interplay
a woven fabric
inquiry and exploration
parallel studies
joy

84. Tour of Key Materials

85. Questions & Comments

86. Thank You
and Good Night

87. Sources
Duffey, Michael & D’Neil. Children of the Universe: Cosmic Education in the Elementary Classroom.
Holidaysburg, PA: Parent Child Press, 2002. Print.
Gang, Philip; Lynn, Nina; Maver, Dorothy. Conscious Education: The Bridge to Freedom. Atlanta, GA:
Dagaz Press, 1992. Print.
Grazzini, Camillo. “The Four Plane of Development”. The NAMTA Journal. 29. 1: (2004). Print.
Huneke-Stone, Elise. “Cosmic Education”. NAMTA/AMI Orientation. June 29, 2016.
Montessori, Maria. Education and Peace. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2007.
Print.
Montessori, Maria. Education for a New World. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company,
2007. Print.
Montessori, Maria. From Childhood to Adolescence. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing
Company, 2007. Print.
Montessori, Maria. To Educate the Human Potential. Madras, India: Kalakshetra Press, 1948. Print.

88. Sources (continued)
Montessori, Maria. The Absorbent Mind. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2014.
Print.
Montessori, Mario. Cosmic Education. Amsterdam: Association Montessori Internationale.
1976. Print.
Montessori, Mario. The Human Tendencies and Montessori Education. Amsterdam: Association
Montessori Internationale. 1966. Print.
Webb, Seth. Teaching With Spirit: Maria Montessori’s Cosmic Vision. Web blog post. Finding Our Center -
Reaching Out. 1 Mar. 2012.
Webb, Seth. Weaving the Cosmos. Web blog post. Finding Our Center - Reaching Out. 19 Aug. 2012.
Wolf, Aline. Nurturing the Spirit in Non-Sectarian Classrooms. Holidaysburg, PA: Parent Child Press,
1996. Print.