About Montessori
Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870. At 26, she became the first woman graduated from the medical school in Rome. She then started to care for children with mental delay in the psychiatric clinic at the University of Rome. She studied psychology, philosophy and become a professor of Anthropology in 1904.
Maria Montessori was very interested in experimenting her educational principles with typically developed children. In 1906, she accepted to care for difficult children who were left in the street, unhappy and roamed in gangs. She opened the first Casa de Bambini or Children’s House in January 1907.
The Montessori Methodis
By further observing the children, she exposed a revolutionary method of education and materials that enlighten the most vital time of life from birth to six. Dr Maria Montessori discovered that during the sensitive periods, all children develop their mental, spiritual and physical personality.For many years, Dr Maria Montessori conducted experimentation on children of all age groups and all countries. She revealed a lasting truth and shared her method of educating young children through numerous books and congress.
She died in 1952 in Holland. The Montessori Methodis still flourishing around the world and many Montessori schools can now be found in Australia.
A Montessori classroom creates a microcosm of society where the children develop independently and joyfully the skills they need for life. An ordered environment contributes to the development of the inner order, calmness and confidence in the world. It provides balance between freedom and structure; not freedom in any absolute sense it seeks to cultivate, rather it is freedom from undue intrusion by others…especially the teacher; and the liberty for the pupil to make their own choices within the structured possibilities offered.
“Anyone who wants to follow my method should not honour me but follow the child as a leader”- Maria Montessori, 1912
For more information about Montessori and Educational Links, please visit:
- Montessori Australia Foundation at: https://montessori.org.au/
- Montessori World Educational Institute at http://www.mwei.edu.au/
- Montessori Children’s Foundation at https://montessori.org.au/organisations/montessori-childrens-foundation