In this diploma thesis, the author discusses the ways how Montessori Pedagogy sees children and their religious and spiritual dimensions which are a part of their nature. Giving a brief overview of the educational psychologists, she observes their discoveries about children. She dedicates the most attention to the Montessori Pedagogy and its approaches, as well as its view on children, their development and basic needs. She discusses whether the need for spirituality represents one of the basic child’s needs. She accentuates the child’s religious dimension and the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd which includes the religious dimension of a child according to the principles and methods of the Montessori Pedagogy. The main findings of the diploma thesis are that children represent an active role of their own development and that a suitable environment enables their optimal and normal development. In case we want to determine which needs must be fulfilled for the child’s development, we must observe the child because the child itself will reveal what exactly it needs for its difficult, mysterious and important task: the creation of a person. Two of the most fundamental children’s needs are the needs for spirituality and religiousness. Alongside the comprehensive view over children and their needs, a child reveals its limitless potentials for the realization of its cosmic mission and contribution to the development of the whole human race on the path of love and peace on the Earth.
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