Maria Montessori: The Woman Who Changed Education - Brooksfield School (2024)

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What did Maria Montessori say about education? ›

Because she was a doctor, Maria Montessori looked at education from a scientific level. She believed that education should prepare a person for all aspects of life. She designed materials and techniques that would promote a natural growth of learning in students. They are common to all Montessori classrooms.

Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and innovator, acclaimed for her educational method that builds on the way children learn naturally. She opened the first Montessori school—the Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House—in Rome on January 6, 1907.

Conclusion. In conclusion, Montessori for the early years offers numerous benefits to children. By focusing on the child's natural curiosity, independence, and love of learning, Montessori education promotes the development of cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills in a supportive and nurturing environment.

Utilizing scientific observation and experience gained from her earlier work with young children, Dr. Montessori designed unique learning materials for them, many of which are still in use in Montessori classrooms today, and created a classroom environment that fostered the children's natural desire to learn.

Montessori is a method of education that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process.

She is mainly known for developing an educational theory: the Montessori Method. It began in Italy and is both a method and a philosophy of education. It was developed based on her experiences with children at social risk. She based her ideas on respect for children and their impressive ability to learn.

The fundamental idea is “order in environment and mind.” Within this space, children are free to follow their interests, choose their work, and progress at their own pace.

Maria Montessori is most typically associated with child-led learning. By this, she believed that human beings are natural learners and that if students (often far younger than traditional methods dared) were immersed in environments rich with puzzles and problems to explore, they would learn instinctively.

The goal is to develop the whole personality of the child; and Montessori is based on a strong belief in the spontaneous working of the human intellect. Three primary principles are observation, individual liberty, and the preparation of the environment.

- "The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, “The children are now working as if I did not exist.”

Why did Montessori leave her son? ›

The couple never married, and due to familial and societal pressures of the time, young Mario was sent to live with another family. His mother visited him often, but she didn't reveal she was his mother until later in his childhood.

Rather than adhering to high-pressure traditional schooling methods with grades and tests, Montessori programs give students educational tools appropriate to their age groups, and allows students to choose their own work and learn in a collaborative environment.

Maria Montessori is the founder of the Montessori philosophy and teaching method. She was born in Italy in 1870 and lived until 1952. She was an accomplished woman who was trained initially as a physician. In 1904, she became a professor of anthropology at the University of Rome.

Given the freedom and support to question, to probe deeply, and to make connections, Montessori students become confident, enthusiastic, self-directed learners. They are able to think critically, work collaboratively, and act boldly—a skill set for the 21st century.

Montessori is an education philosophy and practice that fosters rigorous, self-motivated growth for children and adolescents in all areas of their development, with a goal of nurturing each child's natural desire for knowledge, understanding, and respect.

Montessori is an education for independence. It provides children with the environment, materials, and guidance to learn to do and think for themselves. It views children as born learners who are capable and willing to teach themselves when provided with the right stimulus.

It emphasizes self-directed activity, hands-on learning, and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms, children make creative choices in their learning while the classroom and teacher guide and facilitate the process. Students learn through working with specially designed materials rather than direct instruction.

“Education is not something which the teacher does, but a natural process that develops spontaneously in the human being.” “The things he sees are not just remembered; they form a part of his soul.” “To stimulate life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself… that is the first duty of the educator.”

- “Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.” - “Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within him that light which is called intelligence.”