Maria Montessori (1870-1952), was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology. She believed that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed. Through observation, Maria Montessori discovered that children blossom when they are allowed freedom of choice and movement in an environment suited to their needs.
Central to the Montessori philosophy is the idea of allowing each child to develop at his or her own, individual pace. The calm, beautiful and ordered space of the Montessori classroom provides a prepared environment where children are free to respond to their natural drive to work and learn. The Montessori environment contains especially designed materials for development that invite children to engage in learning activities of their own individual choice.
Under the guidance of a trained teacher, children in a Montessori classroom learn by making discoveries with the materials, cultivating concentration, motivation, persistence, inner discipline, and a love of learning. The children's inherent love of learning is encouraged by giving them opportunities to engage in spontaneous, meaningful activities. Within this framework of freedom of choice and movement, the children progress at their own pace and rhythm, according to their individual capabilities, during the crucial years of development.
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Learning materials in the Montessori classroom are arranged invitingly on low, open shelves. Children may choose whatever materials they would like to use and may work for as long as the material holds their interest. When they are finished with each material, they return it to the shelf from which it came.
The vast range of material is self correcting, thus allowing the child to easily perceive errors and solve problems independently, building self-confidence, analytical thinking, and the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment.
For Maria Montessori, education is not something the teacher does or gives. "Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great work that is being done, as servants help the master. Doing so, they will be witnesses to the unfolding of the human soul and to the rising of a New Man who will not be a victim of events, but will have the clarity of vision to direct and shape the future of human society." Maria Montessori, Education For a New World
Suggested Readings:
* "The Child in the Family" by Maria Montessori
* "The Absorbent Mind" by Maria Montessori
* "Look at the Child" by Aline D. Wolf
* "Understanding the Human Being" by Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro, M.D.
* "Montessori: The Science behind the Genius" by Angeline Stoll Lillard
* "Montessori Play and Learn" by Lesley Britton
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