An Overview of Montessori

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was a truly remarkable woman.

Born in 1870, she was the first woman to be granted a medical degree from an Italian University. After graduation, Dr Montessori observed and worked with children in specialist institutions. Her work with these children produced extraordinary results, which lead her to study the developmental milestones in their lives. She concluded that many of their problems were educational not medical, and from her findings grew a concept of education of “the whole child”.

Her life work began in 1907 with a group of pre-school children form the slums of Rome, when she opened her famous “Casa dei Bambini” or “Children’s House”. Through her observations and work with these children she discovered their astonishing, almost effortless ability to learn. Children taught themselves! This simple but profound truth formed the cornerstone of Dr Montessori’s life-long pursuit of educational reform, and what is now known around the world, as the Montessori Method.

Montessori's educational principles are based around the following central ideas.

All children want to learn

With freedom to investigate the world around them, they will become active, engaged learners.

Children have absorbent minds

In order to learn, the child must be able to concentrate. This concentration develops as the child fixes their attention on a task they are performing with their hands.

Everything that occurs in their life has a profound effect

The quality of a child’s early experiences are of fundamental importance to their self-construction.

Children pass through sensitive periods in their development

The Montessori approach aims to allow each child to experience the joy of learning in a nurturing, non-competitive and co-operative environment in which intellectual and social development are linked. It focuses on helping children reach their full potential in all areas of life, encourages growth at their own pace and development of their unique personality. The children work individually or in small groups building knowledge and skills in the specially prepared learning environment of the Montessori classroom.

"The education of children does not aim at preparing them for school, but for life.”
 - Dr Maria Montessori

The overview continues with an outline of the

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