Brain development.

After the birth of a child, the brain still has a lot of development to do before it can adapt to it’s surroundings and begin to understand the world around them. The child is in an unconscious state of mind until the age of three, which means it does not know it exists until then. 

Right after birth the brain starts to develop synapses from exposure to new experiences. Synapses are connections between the brain cells and the brain needs these braincells to connect in order to spread new information through out the brain for it to grow and learn new things, for it to develop. The child can take in these new experiences through their senses but not reflect or start to understand it until the age of 3. 

Movements of the body is also crucial for the development of the myelin which acts like the insulation of a cable for the axon. The myelin needs movements of the body in order to develop, the axon needs the myelin in order to send new information to the synapses which then spreads it to further brain cells and the brain develops. 

To help this very important progress, it is good to set up a safe, warm environment where the child can explore and has space to move around. As an adult we can only encourage and help children to explore their curiosity. Introduce them to new things; music, nature, good nutrition (healthy and tasty), new words, songs, dance, colors, toys etc. 

After 3 years old the child starts to understand the concept of “me” and “you”. Before that realization theories state that the child is not aware of the fact that they are a separate person from the mother or other people. With this realization comes more questions and the brain is now developed enough to begin to understand it’s surroundings and the adult world. This is also the age where imagination starts to flow as well as dreams.

The absorbent mind. 

The mind of a new born child has a great ability to take in information. One can say that, that is all a child does before the age of three. It absorbs it’s surroundings like a sponge to later on in life understand what it means. After the age of three, the mind of the child is less absorbent but is still able to take in a lot more information than an adult, this ability to learn many different things starts to fade after the age of 6.  Adults are good at learning new things but often put a lot of focus on one thing that they learn really well while children learn manny different things. This is simply because the brain develops and changes and adults loose this marvelous ability after the teenage years as the proccess of the development of the brain then is "finished".

The child is the most absorbent before the age of three which indicates that this is a very important, perhaps as Maria Montessori stated; the most important stage of development, not only for the sake of taking in information but also for the spirit and the individual personality. 

It’s similar to the first step of coming to a conclusion, you have to gather information in order to connect the dots.

We can not teach new born babies anything but only encourage and give them the freedom to learn for themselves.

The ability to absorb without the ability to reflect, question or judge what we absorb as newborns and toddlers, is a miraculous gift that is the foundation of what makes us human.

The spiritual embryo.

The spiritual embryo is what Maria Montessori called it when she referred to the stage between birth and three years of age. This is the stage of the absorbent mind, the most important state of the development of the brain and personality. It is a stage of preparation to later on be able to step into the world of the adults. 

As the physical embryo is developed in the mother’s uterus to then be fully functional to learn it’s abilities when it is born, the spiritual embryo is developed from the ages of birth to three and is then ready to explore what it has absorbed and let it’s spirit develop and grow.

During the time of this development of the spirit, Maria Montessori saw the beauty of the adult’s disability to reach the child, to communicate with it. She thought it was needed for the development of the spirit and personality to not be disturbed or distracted. This is indeed a very important stage of the child’s development.