"If we had to live just one day in an environment such as the one we prepare for our children, I believe we also would find it painfully uncomfortable...If these mothers prepared an environment at home for the child that conformed to his size, to his energy and to his psychic faculties, the child would be at liberty and a great step would have been taken toward the resolution of the educational problem - the child would have his own environment." - Maria Montessori, The Child in the Family.

"We must give the child an environment that he can utilize by himself: a little washstand of his own, some small chairs, a bureau with drawers he can open, objects of common use that he can operate, a small bed in which he can sleep at night under an attractive blanket he can fold and spread by himself. We must give him an environment in which he can live and play; then we will see him work all day with his hands and wait impatiently to undress himself and lay himself down on his own bed. He will dust the furniture, put it in order, take care to eat well, dress by himself, be gracious and tranquil, without tears, without tantrums, without naughtiness." - Maria Montessori, The Child in the Family.

"During the first year, and especially in the second, the child has a positive need to see objects always in their accustomed places and used for their customary purposes. If anyone disturbs this familiar order, the child is deeply offended: he feels frustrated and defends himself by putting the objects back into their rightful places." - Maria Montessori, The Child in The Family.

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