About Dr. Maria Montessori

Dr. Maria Montessori was a pioneer in the education world. Born in Italy in 1870, Maria Montessori became the first woman physician in Italy upon her completion of medical school in 1896.

While working with medicine and children, Dr. Montessori observed that a child's environment influences thier mind and body. Thus, Maria shifted her focus from the body to the mind, and in 1901 she attended school again to study psychology and philosophy and in 1904 she became a professor of Anthropology at the University of Rome.

Maria's passion for learning intrigued her to learn about how children learn, and she gave up her medical practice and professorship to create an afternoon program for poor children to keep them off the streets. The 'Casa dei Bambini', or "Children's House" was established and Maria began her most important work, a work that would change the world of education forever.

Maria observed how children learn. She watched the child, learned that a child's mind is absorbant, they take in all of thier surroundings and learn from the environment. Maria developed an entire basis and method of teaching focused primarily on creating an enviroment for the child to discover and learn. She learned children crave order, they thrive on knowing where to place an item,how to use an item. Children thrive to be independent, to learn how to accomplish a task on thier own. It is the teacher's job to provide an enviroment that will benefit the child, and it is the teacher's job to be an example and to guide the child in showing him how to master a lesson or task. In this environment, a child's mind shows no boundaries. Maria developed methods for lesson giving, skills to master, and materials to better teach ideas and concepts to children, making children's learning expereinces meaningful and concrete.

Maria began touring around Europe teaching her findings and establishing teacher education programs. In 1913, she made her first trip to the United States, the same year Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel established the Montessori Educational Association in Washington DC. Supporters included Helen Keller and Thomis Edison.

Maria continued to teach seminars, set up classes and educate teachers on her findings. She was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize three times, in 1941, 1950, and 1951. Maria passed away in Holland in 1952, but her work continues to live on. As she traveled the world, she embraced many new countries and cultures, and her work brought cultures together.

The Montessori method is taught in hundreds of countries around the world including the UK, Japan, Italy, Nehterlands, and many many more. As more independent research on education and the process of children's learning takes place, evidence shows Maria Montessori was ahead of her time. She was meant to be the ambassador of children, to teach us adults, how the children learn best, and it is through her work, her legacy, that millions of children expland thier knowledge beyond what anyone else thought capapble.