Many years ago, Dr. Maria Montessori began to suspect that traumatic experiences in childhood could damage the very structure and physiology of the developing brain, causing serious cognitive, emotional and social dysfunction in children. Although she did not have the medical technology to prove this, as present day neurologists have, her meticulous observations showed her that trauma causes "defects" in the child which "may be permanent." As a result, she devoted her life to the creation of "prepared environments" designed to safeguard children from, and heal children of, the destructive...