"Educating the Child in His Movements"  an article from "The Montessori Home" by Madam Caspari (colleague of Maria Montessori).

Educating the child in his movements is the antidote to unruliness and naughtiness according to Doctor Maria Montessori. Montessori made a groundbreaking discovery in this area of child development. To quote her handbook, she says, “The child, if left without guidance is disorderly in his movements, and these disorderly movements are the special characteristic of the little child. In fact, he “never keeps still,” and “touches everything.” This is what forms the child’s so called “unruliness” and “naughtiness.”

Adults will try to check these movements with the useless repetition “keep still”. Montessori explains that in these movements the child is seeking the exercise that will organize and coordinate his movements in ways useful to man. Therefore, it is utter folly to try and reduce the child to a state of immobility. Dr. Montessori says we should rather give “order” to his movements.

This is done through muscular, or motor, education, which refers to coordination and neuromuscular organization rather than muscle size or strength, although exercises that educate movement do tend to make for strong, healthy muscles.

We can guide the child towards those activities where he will find what he is really seeking—activities to help him accomplish the organization of his movements with coordination and grace. This is the aim of educating a child in his movements.

The phenomena observed again and again in Montessori Children’s Houses is that when a child is given a direction, the child’s movements are made towards a definite end, and to use Montessori’s own words, he “grows quiet and contented, and becomes an active worker, a being calm and full of joy.” Montessori also credits the education of the movements as being a primary factor in the child’s development of discipline.

In her handbook, Dr. Montessori refers to muscular education as activities that include: The primary movements of everyday life (walking, rising, sitting, handling objects), the care of the person, management of the household, gardening, manual work, gymnastic exercises and rhythmic movements.