Montessori School of Manhattan

Maria Montessori was described from a very early age as having a powerful character with a strong sense of duty and an assertive nature. True to her convictions Maria Montessori went on to graduate from medical school and become the first female physician in Italy’s history. As a female Dr. Montessori was not permitted to practice medicine in Italy’s hospitals so she opened the very first casa de bambini or “children’s house” in a poor quarter of the San Lorenzo tenements. It was there that she began to develop what would later become known as the Montessori approach to the education of young children.
“A child’s work” wrote Maria Montessori “is to create the man he will become. An adult works to perfect the environment but a child works to perfect himself.” The Montessori Method based on careful observation of and respect for the natural development of the child has become widely practiced in schools around the world for almost a century. Dr. Montessori recognized that a child is more responsive to certain learning experiences at particular times or “sensitive periods.” Careful observation allows the Montessori-trained teacher to identify these sensitive periods when a child is ready for a new learning experience. The teacher then can direct the child toward materials that will satisfy his/her development needs. “It is true we cannot make a genius” Dr. Montessori wrote. “We can only give each individual the chance to fulfill his potential to become an independent secure and balanced human being.”