Dr. Maria Montessori

A doctor first

Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870 and became one of the first women in the country to qualify as a physician, graduating from the University of Rome in 1896. Her early work was with children with developmental disabilities. She noticed they learned far more when given real objects to handle than when they were lectured, and she began designing materials for them.

The first Casa dei Bambini

In 1907 she was asked to look after a group of young children in a housing project in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. She filled the room with child-sized furniture and her materials, then watched. The children chose their own work, repeated it many times, and grew calm, orderly, and eager. The “children’s house” became the model for Montessori classrooms everywhere.

What she observed

Her method rests on a few observations that have held up for more than a century. Young children have an absorbent mind and take in their surroundings without effort. They pass through sensitive periods when a particular skill, such as language or order, is learned with ease. They want to do things for themselves. And they concentrate deeply when they are free to choose meaningful work and are not interrupted.

A method that traveled

Montessori schools spread across Europe, India, and the Americas during her lifetime. She trained teachers on several continents, wrote widely, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. She died in the Netherlands in 1952. Today there are thousands of Montessori schools worldwide, including ours.

Why it matters here

Everything in our classroom, from the height of the shelves to the three-hour work period, comes from what she saw children do when adults trusted them. We add to her method a foundation of Christian faith, and we find the two fit together naturally: both begin with deep respect for the child.