Dr. Maria Montessori
Born in Italy on August 31, 1870, Dr. Maria Montessori was one of the first female physicians to graduate from medical school in Italy. Through clinical observations in her medical practice, she was able to analyze how children learn and concluded that children teach themselves from what they find in their environment. This discovery inspired Dr. 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.
In 1906 she gave up both her university chair and her medical practice to work with a group of sixty young children in the slums of the San Lorenzo district of Rome. It was there that she founded the first Casa dei Bambini, or “Children’s House.”
What ultimately became the Montessori method of education developed there, based upon Dr. Montessori’s scientific observations of these children’s almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating materials. Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Dr. Montessori developed was based on what she observed children to do “naturally,” by themselves, unassisted by adults.
Dr. Maria Montessori died in Noordwijk, Holland, on May 6, 1952.