What Is Montessori?
Montessori is an educational approach discovered by Dr. Maria Montessori that supports the physical, social-emotional, and cognitive development of the individual child.
A Brief History of Montessori
Dr. Maria Montessori lived from 1870-1952. As the first female doctor of medicine in Italy, Dr. Montessori began working with children first in a psychiatric ward. In 1907, Dr. Montessori founded the Children's House, what may have been the first child care center in Rome. As a scientific observer and with profound respect for the individual child, Dr. Montessori discovered that in a purposefully prepared environment and under the guidance of a specially trained teacher, the normal characteristics of childhood emerged.
Montessori Education
The Montessori teacher serves as a dynamic link between the individual child and the carefully prepared environment. Dr. Montessori believed that a child from birth to the age of six has an absorbent mind. The absorbent mind allows the child to take in everything from his environment. Dr. Montessori understood that the prepared environment was as important to the child as the teacher.
The lessons in the Montessori classroom are specially designed to call to the child's inner teacher. The child is given experiences in the four avenues of learning: Coordination and Control of Movement through Exercises in Practical Life, Sensorial Development, Development of Language and the Early Preparation of the Mathematical Mind. Through working (the uniting of mental and physical energy through concentration) the normal characteristics of childhood emerge.
*The normal characteristics of childhood are:
- Love of order
- Love of work
- Profound spontaneous concentration
- Love of silence and of working alone
- Obedience
- Independence and initiative
- Spontaneous self-discipline
- Joy
This inforamtion was taken from E.M. Standing's book Maria Montessori Her Life and Work (pgs 175-178).
Many familiar people, who were Montessori educated are listed below:
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google, Jeffrey Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, Katherine Graham, owner/editor of the Washington Post, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, editor, former first lady, Anne Frank, author, Prince William and Prince Harry, English royal family
Many familiar people, who chose Montessori schools for their own children include the following:
Stephen J. Cannell, TV writer/producer/director, Patty Duke Austin, actress, Cher Bono, singer and actress, John Bradshaw, psychologist and author, Bill and Hillary Clinton, former President and New York Senator
Other familiar people connected to Montessori include:
- Alexander Graham Bell (inventor and his wife Mabel) founded the Montessori Education Association in 1913. They also provided financial support directly to Dr. Maria Montessori and helped establish the first Montessori class in Canada and one of the first in the United States.
- Mister Rogers, children's TV personality, was a strong supporter of Montessori education.
- Thomas Edison, scientist and inventor, helped found a Montessori school.
- President Wilson's daughter trained as a Montessori teacher.
- Erik Erikson, noted anthropologist/author, had a Montessori teaching certificate.
- Jean Piaget, noted Swiss psychologist, made his first observations of children in a Montessori school. He was also head of the Swiss Montessori Society for many years.