Dr. Montessori recognized that self-motivation is the only valid impulse for learning. Children move themselves toward learning. The teacher prepares the environment, offers activities, functions as a reference person and exemplar, and observes the child constantly in order to help the process of “learning how to learn.” But it is the child who learns, motivated through the work itself, to persist in a chosen task.
The Montessori child is free to learn because of having slowly acquired an inner discipline from exposure to both physical and mental order. This is the core of the philosophy. Habits of concentration, perseverance and thoroughness established in the early years will produce a confident and competent learner in later years.
Montessori introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which individual and social discipline go hand in hand.
The American Montessori Society emphasizes the importance of Montessori insights at all ages–for children and adults.