What is Montessori?
“Within the child lies the fate of the future.”
— Dr. Maria Montessori
Montessori education, or the "Montessori Method", is student-led and self-paced but guided, assessed, and enriched by knowledgeable and caring teachers, the leadership of their peers, and a nurturing environment.
Within the community of a multi-age classroom—designed to create natural opportunities for independence, citizenship, and accountability—children embrace multi-sensory learning and passionate inquiry. Individual students follow their own curiosity at their own pace, taking the time they need to fully understand each concept and meet individualized learning goals.
Given the freedom and support to question, probe deeply, and make connections, Montessori students grow up to be confident, enthusiastic, and self-directed learners and citizens, accountable to both themselves and their community. They think critically, work collaboratively, and act boldly and with integrity. What better outcome could you wish for your children?
Although a range of practices exist under the name "Montessori", the American Montessori Society (AMS) and the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) cites these elements as essential to any authentic Montessori environment:
- Mixed age classrooms
- Student choice of activity from within a prescribed range of options
- Uninterrupted blocks of work time
- Learning while working with materials, rather than by direct instruction
- Concrete educational materials developed by Dr. Montessori and her collaborators
- Curriculum and classrooms designed to allow each child to move at their own pace
- Education of the whole child
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Montessori Materials
Montessori materials are multi-sensory, engaging and beautiful, designed not only to interest the child in selecting them, but also to teach only one skill at a time to provide children with the opportunity to master concepts through repetition and practice.
The guide (teacher) first introduces a Key lesson, and then invites the child to work with the material independently.
The materials are presented to the child in a logical sequence, from easiest to hardest, allowing the child to steadily build on their prior knowledge and schemas. The materials are a crucial component to the Montessori curriculum.
“Nothing goes into the mind that does not first go through the hands.”
-Dr. Maria Montessori
Who was Maria Montessori?
Dr. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, anthropologist and educator. She was a feminist, nature lover and a social activist who encouraged the notion of social reform through education. She pioneered a revolutionary educational philosophy and pedagogy based on her work with children with learning differences, mainly in poverty in a working class neighborhood in Rome. She broke many barriers by becoming one of Italy’s first female physicians, and she went on to work with children in an asylum, which is where she began to develop her methods of sensorial education. She gained attention for her work, and was made the co-director of an institution known as the Orthophrenic School, which took in children with a broad spectrum of disorders. This is where she was finally able to put her theories and ideas about child development and education into practice. The crux of her pedagogy focused on love for the child and the relationships among all living things. She recognized that children were able to construct their own learning and personalities under the careful tutelage of a "guide", as she called teachers. She opened the first Montessori school, “Casa dei Bambini” in 1907 in an impoverished neighborhood in Rome. Her method allowed these disadvantaged children to gain a sense of self-direction, and they saw rapid growth in their learning and self-construction in a very short time.
Over the years, she studied children of all races and cultures in many countries around the world, continually modifying and expanding upon her methods and creating specialized materials to meet the needs of the children as they learned. Her philosophy and methods spread rapidly throughout Italy and Europe, and after some hurdles with critics, have been propagated via her organization, the AMI, and the AMS in America. She continued her observations throughout her life, widening and deepening her understanding until her death in 1952. Her son, Mario Montessori, worked diligently with her to continue her work and research, and he was her successor in continuing her legacy.
Historical Timeline
1896: Maria graduates to great public acclaim from the University of Rome School of Medicine. She is the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. Maria also studied anthropology, biology and psychiatry. As an early feminist she represents Italy at the 1896 Women’s Conference in Berlin where, among other things, she is a strong advocate for equal pay.
1896-1907: Dr. Montessori’s work brings her into close contact with children. During this period, the Italian Minister of Education appoints her as the Director of the Scuola Ortofrenica. This institution was dedicated to the care and education of youngsters that were considered “cognitively challenged”. Through the development of her Montessori method, many of these 8-year-old students are able to pass standard testing with above-average scores.
1907: Dr. Montessori opens Casa dei Bambini or “Children’s House,” for children ages 3 to 6 years in one of the poorest neighborhoods in San Lorenzo, Italy.
1913: Dr. Montessori makes her first visit to the United States.; Montessori Educational Association is founded by Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel.
1915: Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco: Dr. Montessori receives international attention with her “glass house” schoolroom exhibit. During this visit, Dr. Montessori leads a teacher training course while in the states.
1922: Italian government asks Dr. Montessori to return to become a government inspector of schools.
1929: Dr. Montessori founds the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with her son, Mario, to ensure preservation of her educational principles.
1939: Dr. Montessori and her son travel to India to give a series of teacher training courses. Both are detained in India during World War II.
1947: Dr. Montessori starts a training center in London and continues to spend time in India.
1949, 1950, 1951: Dr. Montessori is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
1952: Dr. Montessori died in the Netherlands assured that her legacy would be continued through the work of the Association Montessori Internationale.
