Children come to us as loving souls whose ultimate purpose in life is to manifest their potentials and contribute meaningfully to the world. As parents we have the greatest influence on whether or not our child will be able to successfully unveil his Authentic Self and share the beautiful gifts hidden within him. Our most important responsibility is to recognize the essential beauty within our child and facilitate his natural process of development. To successfully accomplish this task, we must first understand our child's authentic nature and the inner resources within him that naturally lead him toward self-actualization.

Over a hundred years ago, Dr. Maria Montessori discovered some key principles and practices that transformed the lives of children in almost "magical" ways. She witnessed disgruntled, unruly and competitive children transform into happy, thoughtful and cooperative children. Her discoveries were so dramatic that it created a worldwide educational revolution that continues to this day. While these principles and practices are being successfully used in Montessori Schools, their benefit is not limited to Montessori educational settings. Understanding and implementing this wisdom in the home will bring the same type of transformation to the members of the family. We will see competitive behavior transform into cooperation, we will see selfishness transform into selflessness, and we will see rudeness transform into thoughtfulness.

The principles of Montessori Parenting do not imply that a child must attend a Montessori school for the ideas shared in the book to be useful in the home. The philosophy, principles and practices are universal and applicable for all children and their families, regardless of the educational choices or cultural backgrounds. If a child does attend a Montessori school, however, he will definitely benefit from having consistency between both his home and school setting. Teachers will also benefit from reading this book as it provides valuable information to share with parents so the children can benefit from a consistent approach at school and at home.

The Montessori approach to parenting is not a band-aid we apply to stop the bleeding or a tool we use to fix what is broken. Instead it is a holistic approach that includes all of the members of the family and addresses the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of each person in the home. When someone in the family changes his behavior, it affects the behavior of all of the family members. Of course as a parent, when we change our behavior our entire family is influenced.

This book addresses the authentic nature of our child and how we can support the developmental processes that he naturally engages in to unveil his Authentic Self. In addition there are practical suggestions to help us prepare meaningful environments that support our child's natural maturation. To help us more consistently operate from our Authentic Self, the book offers practical suggestions to help us manage our physical, mental and emotional states so that we can more consistently act from wisdom and love. Understanding our parenting style and its effect on our child is included as well as thoughtful discussions on effective communication and inner discipline. Finally, the book offers insight into the root causes of our child's misbehavior and ways to help him reconnect to his Authentic Self and the resulting thoughtful behaviors.

The subtitle of the book, Unveiling the Authentic Self, not only implies the gradual unveiling of the child's Authentic Self but the unveiling of our Authentic Self as well as the Authentic Self of all members of the family. The Authentic Self is the true nature of all people. It is the Spirit that dwells in the heart and inspires wisdom, compassion and peace. Through her work Maria Montessori recognizes the connection between nurturing the Spirit of the child and creating a peaceful world. In her words, "Only a sane spiritual rebuilding of the human race can bring about peace. To set about this task, we must go back to the child."

It is our hope that the wisdom in this book will inspire and help us, as parents and teachers, to provide each child whose life we touch with the live and support he requires to unveil his Authentic Self, share his special talents and create a more peaceful world.