Related to the idea of an absorbent mind is a special power of the young child that can be called the power of adaptation. This power is a process whereby the young child uses the environment to develop and, in so doing, becomes a part of that environment. The young child absorbs the culture of her time and place, taking in all the spirit, the customs, the ambitions/aspirations, and attitudes of a society simply by living in that society. (Haines) “Adaptation is the result of a period of indirect preparation and must not be confused with either adjustment or conformism but a force that drives the child to shape his own behaviour patterns to harmonise with his environment.” (Montessori, Mario Jr.)

“What is meant by this ‘making of an adaptation’? We take it to mean a transformation of oneself of such a kind as to make one suited to one’s surroundings, which then become a part of one’s being.” (Montessori, Maria, The Absorbent Mind, p. 91)