I think of one of the introductory “verb” lessons where we show the child slips of paper with verbs (commands) written on them like “hop”, “jump” and “run”. After doing each, the child notices that their heart rate speeds up as blood circulates more quickly in order to bring oxygen to the muscles to bring the “verbs” to life.

This connection is visceral and amazing! Of course, the study of the blood – and how it provides nourishment and oxygen to the body is as deep as can be, on every level. People spend their lives studying it. There is nothing shallow about it. It is a profound inner working of our bodies.

For me, the interconnection between “red” and the sun (which may appear redder from some places on earth or at some times of the day) is not clearly established enough to see a link there. If I said something to my children about “the sun appearing redder the further east you go”, they would correct me immediately because if you keep going east, you’ll eventually come back to where you started. That concept requires more precision to be scientifically accurate.

I like that there’s room in Montessori for several interpretations! Thanks again!

…But we don’t even need to go into spirituality. In other areas, her lessons go into the explication of energy (e.g. science). Energy can have an association with blood, but to reduce energy to (simply) blood, misses much.

You’ll find that the sun itself is redder (as you move East). And again, really all of this is not to split hairs needlessly. In the long run (in my humble opinion), you’ll find (I think) a much better fit or mesh if it’s interpreted using ‘energy’ and not blood, as others and myself have suggested. This is because, (I think) Montessori was quite wise and wished to guide people towards a deeper understanding of all and the interconnections of all… ‘blood’ in the long run, just won’t cut it. They’ll be a disconnect.

Personally, after having completed her lessons on science and being thoroughly impressed, re-interpreting in this area (to blood, for example), falls seriously short. It just doesn’t go deep enough or quite as firmly establish interconnections (again: in my opinion).

That’s all I’ll say for now.

Most sincerely: thanks for listening to my humble feedback. And you’re welcome!!

Thanks for stopping by!

The comments are also interesting. I had classmates in high school who didn’t study in the Montessori system before so some of our lessons were odd to them. Yet it didn’t matter since it wasn’t as strict in the higher levels. Also, my knowledge of the verb’s color is similar to T. Grant’s: red for energy because verb is all about action.

I find that a bit odd, after going through the trouble of emphasizing both shape and color early on. I personally would have used the colors consistently throughout all the materials.