What is Montessori

"Scientific observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great work that is being done, as servants help the master. Doing so, they will be witnesses to the unfolding of the human soul and to the rising of a New Man who will not be a victim of events, but will have the clarity of vision to direct and shape the future of human society."

- Maria Montessori, Education for a New World

Maria Montessori often reminded teachers in her course, "When you have solved the problem of controlling the attention of the child, you have solved the entire problem of education." (Kramer, 1976, p. 217).

Maria's theories of the sensitive periods in the development of a child were new to people at this time, however, now they seem to correspond with what we consider to be the "needs" of a child at different stages of their development.

She looked into the faces of her children, and there, she saw potential, undiscovered. She found a way to tap into the mind of a child, and shared it with the world, to open that potential and unlock the keys to a child's abilities.

Maria Motessori was born into a time of history when new ideas, particularily those established by women, were not easily adapted into mainstream thinking.

She was the first female to graduate from medical school in Italy in 1896. Dr, Montessori began her quest to establish her first clinic, she did so in a small village in the Italian countryside.

Her dedication and devotion to children soon became her passion. Her discoveries of natural processes allowing a child to learn, with the assistance and guidance of a trained teacher, are still in practice all over the world today.

Children teach themselves. This simple but profound truth inspired Montessori's lifelong pursuit of educational reform, methodology, psychology, teaching, and teacher training—all based on her dedication to furthering the self-creating process of the child.

Maria Montessori made her first visit to the United States in 1913, the same year that Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel founded the Montessori Educational Association at their Washington, DC, home. Among her other strong American supporters were Thomas Edison and Helen Keller.

In 1940, when India entered World War II, she and her son, Mario Montessori, pictured to the left, were interned as enemy aliens, but she was still permitted to conduct training courses. Later, she founded the Montessori Center in London (1947). Dr. Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times—in 1949, 1950, and 1951.