Maria Montessori

The Montessori Method was created in 1894 by Maria Montessori the first woman physician in Italy. Her interest in children and education led her to open a children’s school in 1907 in the slums outside Rome. Dr. Montessori put into practice her theory that children have a natural “tendency towards elevation” and created an environment for self-education and self-realization with remarkable success. Today thousands of schools using the Montessori Method exist throughout the world.

Dr. Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. They must do it themselves or it will never be done. The Montessori education is not a system of teaching but a method of helping children in the total development of their personality during the fundamental period of development. Children must have freedom in order to develop their own personality to the fullest a freedom that is achieved through work order and self-discipline. The world of the child is full of sights and sounds that first appear chaotic. From this chaos the child must gradually create order and learn to distinguish among the impressions that assail their senses. Slowly but surely they can gain mastery of themselves and their environment.

The environment in the Montessori classroom possesses a certain order and disposes the child to develop at his or her own speed according to the child’s own capacities and in a noncompetitive atmosphere during the first years outside the home. Thus the basic aim of the school is in the words of Dr. Montessori to help the child to help themselves. In preparing an environment that provides for the childs inner needs it is hoped that each child will be enabled to fulfill his or her highest potential as an integrated personality. Montessori introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which intellectual and social discipline go hand in hand.

Montessori education for all children is based on these concepts:

The aim is to foster autonomous competent responsible and adaptive citizens who are lifelong learners and problem-solvers.
Freedom is granted within limits.
Self-directed activities allow each child to progress at his/her own pace.
Montessori education nurtures independence and concentration skills and views the child as a whole human being a person in his own right and with his own rights.
Learning occurs in an inquisitive cooperative and nurturing atmosphere. Students increase their own knowledge through self- and teacher-initiated experiences.
Learning takes place through the senses. Students learn through manipulating materials and interacting with others. These meaningful experiences are precursors to the abstract understanding of ideas.
The individual is considered as a whole. The physical emotional social aesthetic and cognitive needs and interests are inseparable and equally important.
Respect for oneself others the environment and life is necessary to develop a caring attitude toward all people.