The Montessori Method
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Maria Montessori (1870-1952), was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She became an educator and innovator, renowned world-wide for her educational method
that builds on the way children naturally learn. She is acclaimed as the originator of the "Montessori Method." Her early medical practice focused on psychiatry. She also developed an interest in education, attending classes on pedagogy and immersing herself in educational theory. Her studies led her to call into question the prevailing methods of teaching children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. |
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In 1907, Maria accepted a new challenge to open a preschool in a poor inner-city district in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. Her Casa dei Bambini or Children’s House became world famous. The youngsters were unruly at first, but soon showed great interst in working with puzzles, learning to prepare meals, and manipulating materials designed to teach math. Maria had designed learning materials and a classroom environment that fostered the children's natural desire to learn. News of the school's success brought educational observers came from many different countries to come watch the young children absorbed in learning with these materials.
Eventually Montessori gave up her medical practice and devoted her life to training teachers in the use of her methods. Her materials and her educational philosophy spread to six continents, and many of her innovations were adapted for mainstream education. Montessori’s ideas have flourished. Because they are based on her ingenious observations of children, they are universal in their application. Books by Maria Montessori include: The Montessori Method, The Absorbent Mind, The Secret of Childhood and The Discovery of the Child. |
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