The Absorbent Mind is based on lectures given by Maria Montessori, is an analysis of the physical and psychological aspects of a child's growth during the most significant period of life- the first six years. During this period the child learns motor coordination, language, the making of social adjustments, the setting of work habits, and the beginning of routines that set patterns for life. She illustrates the unique mental powers of the young child which enables him to construct and firmly establish within by a few years - without teachers, without any of the usual aids of education, nay, almost abandoned and often obstructed - all the characterstics of the human personality.