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About Montessori
Dr Maria Montessori
Born in Italy in 1870, Maria Montessori grew up to become Italy's first woman doctor. While working at a psychiatric clinic in Rome she first became interested in the treatment of children and, at age 28 accepted a position as the director of a school for "unhappy little ones". (Dr. Montessori referred to them as 'mentally disabled children.')
During the next two years, Dr. Montessori spent countless hours observing and working with these children. Under her guidance, children who had been considered uneducable before she began testing her theories, passed a standardised test common among “normal” children. She was proclaimed a Miracle Worker by the educational establishment.
Heartened by the results she'd achieved with special needs children, she returned to school to study anthropology and psychology in the hopes that she could find a way to apply the educational techniques she'd discovered to 'normal' children as well.
In 1907 at the age of 35, she was given a chance to try out her theories when she was invited to take over the education of fifty “filthy and ragged children” from the San Lorenzo slums of Rome. The techniques Dr. Montessori continued to refine as she studied and worked with these children were so successful that her Casa dei Bambini began to receive international attention. Visitors came from all over the world to see these children--and their remarkable progress--for themselves.
In 1913, Maria Montessori's innovative and revolutionary educational philosophy had been recognized and applauded by such intellectual lights of the time as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and Sigmund Freud.
Her fame would spread further at the 1918 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. A special classroom was built at the exhibition with one glass wall behind which spectators could sit and watch as Dr. Montessori worked with 20 children, none of whom were familiar with the "Montessori environment" as it was already coming to be called. The 4-month long demonstration project did much to popularise Dr. Montessori's teaching techniques on an international level. With each book she released and each speech she delivered, her popularity grew among parents and enlightened educators.
Since the early 20's, interest in the Montessori method has grown steadily throughout the world. The Association Montessori Internationale, AMI, founded by Maria Montessori in 1929, maintains Montessori educational principles and promotes Montessori education worldwide.
Today many Montessori schools can be found on all continents of the world (except Antarctica!).
The Montessori curriculum continues to evolve and grow. Yet the essentials of the Montessori approach and the materials and lessons developed by Dr Montessori and those who worked with her remain ideally suited to meeting the needs of 21st century children.
The essentials of the Montessori method are:
- Self-directed and active learning
- The prepared environment and self-correcting materials
- Teacher as facilitator or guide
- Three-year classroom stages
- Multi-age classrooms
- Concrete to abstract
- A holistic and integrated curriculum
- An uninterrupted 3 hour work cycle in the classroom
The following outlines the highlights of Montessori's educational approach that make it unique:
No Passive Listeners
Rather than the outer-directed learning approach where children sit passively in the classroom receiving verbal information from the teacher, in a Montessori environment, the child is the leader. It is the teacher’s job not to lead and lecture, but to observe and follow, sensing when the child is ready to try something new and being ready to present it at as close to the perfect time as possible.
No Gold Stars
Dr. Montessori discovered early on that rewards and punishments were not necessary for children to learn and to learn happily. She found that if a child was allowed to pursue her own interests, whether it be washing a table, feeding the cat or learning the alphabet, the work itself and the child's knowledge that she had the ability to master it were far and away enough of a reinforcement.
Learning from Other Children
In the Montessori classroom children are grouped in mixed ages and abilities--age 0 to 3, 3-6, 6-12, 12-15 and 15-18. There is a great deal of interaction between children of differing ages, just as in a family. Older children teach younger ones and younger ones look up to their older role models.
Character Education
Maria Montessori believed that character education – teaching children to take care of themselves, each other and the world around them – was just as important as pre-academic skills such as phonetics and number recognition. Children are taught basic dressing skills as well as hygiene and healthy eating. They are also made responsible for keeping the classroom orderly and clean. "Practical Life” skills like mopping up a spill, feeding the rabbit or tying one’s own shoes figure large in the Montessori classroom. Our Montessori motto says it all: Help me do it myself.
Recommended websites
- North American Montessori Teachers’ Association
- Association Montessori Internationale
- Montessori Australia Foundation
Books by Dr. Maria Montessori
- The Montessori Method
Her first book. A definitive statement of her work. - The Discovery of the Child
The revised edition of the book in which the author describes her method of "scientific pedagogy". - The Secret of Childhood
Shows the author's insight into the nature of the child, and her observations of children while formulating her new method of education. - To Educate the Human Potential
Deals with the educational approach for children between 6-12 years of age. - Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook
For teachers, parents, educational therapists containing detailed descriptions of Montessori's didactic materials and their use. - The Child in the Family
Aimed at teachers and parents alike. Discusses basic principles, and shows why adults need to ‘follow the child’ attentively.
Books by authors other than Dr. Maria Montessori
- Lillard, Angeline: The Science Behind the Genius
A review of the literature evaluating the effectiveness of the Montessori curriculum and approach to teaching - Lillard, Paula Polk: Montessori – A Modern Approach
A contemporary introduction to the Montessori philosophy for parents. - Montanaro, Dr Silvana: Understanding the Human Being
Dr Montanaro is Director of Assistants to Infancy Training at the Montessori Institute, Denver, Colorado - Hainstock, Elizabeth:
- Wolf, A: A Parent's Guide to the Montessori Classroom