As Maria Montessori wrote, silence can be understood positively as a “higher” state to the normal order of things
Silence is the great absent of our society. Verbal communication has now taken over on the dimension of listening to oneself and others, removing space from other types of language of which the human being is capable.
We think of the language of gaze, the language of touch, the language of smell. Man is a being who becomes and realizes in relation to the otherwhere “other” means not only the other man, but also the environment that surrounds us. This relationship is not only made of words, but is also implemented through the sensory dimensions that make up the person. In particular The child, in his early years of life, is built through the motor and sensory dimension.
A tool of knowledge
Silence hears our sensitivity. According to silence, not only can we listen to the other’s word more carefully, and therefore “meet him”, but We can deeply grasp the reality that surrounds us. Observing the vivid colors of a flower in silence, the shapes of a cloud in the sky or the sea allows to perceive its wealth of shades: the special red of the corolla, the object evoked by the shape of the cloud, the brackish smell released by the white foam of the waves. Silence promotes observationthe perception of the surrounding world, sensitivity to sound and listening to oneself. It is important then allow the child to also live this dimensionalways preserving a reception and support relationship towards him.
Favoring silence does not mean, however, impose it, thick the child, but rather create the conditions for it to manifest itself spontaneously: offering the child a non -noisy environment, not interrupting him verbally when he carries out an activity with interest, allowing him to observe an insect that captures his attention or a pebble collected on the ground, without always wanting to be interpreters with our words of his thoughts. Need allow the child to enjoy what the world offers: sounds, colors, shapes, smells, so that he can listen to himself, giving space to his inner and personal story.
Learn to listen
Finally, silence does not favor only an individual dimension, but also community: the child who knows how to listen and practice responding to the voice of his own interiority It is available to respect the call and time of other children.
“Silence, in common schools, means the” cessation of the noise “, the arrest of a reaction, the denial of the breakdown and disorder. While silence can be understood in a positive way as a “superior” state to the normal order of things. As an instant inhibition that costs an effort, a tension of the will and that detaches from the noises of common life almost isolating the soul from the external voices “(Maria Montessori, The discovery of the child).
