Who was Dr. Maria Montessori?

Maria Montessori was born in Italy on August 31st, 1870. She became the first woman physician in Italy, graduating from the University of Rome in 1896, as a doctor in medicine. She was a courageous woman and endured hostility and harassment from her male peers.

After graduating in 1896, Maria became a voluntary assistant at the University of Rome’s psychiatric clinic. She would go visit asylums in Rome and observe the mentally disabled children. Little did she know that later on, these observations would help in her educational work.

Maria was an advocate for children with mental disabilities. In 1900, she was appointed co-director of a school that trained teachers on how to educate the mentally disabled children. During that year, Maria came up with methods and materials that would eventually be adapted to use with mainstream children. This school was a success and captured the attention of government officials in the education and health departments, civic leaders and notable figures from the University of Rome. The children who were so-called ‘uneducable’ came out of this school passing the examination that was usually given to the ‘normal’ children.

Between the years 1901-1906, Maria kept reading, studying, writing, translating and observing children. It was during this time, that she was also thinking about adapting her methods and materials that she had developed for the disabled children, for mainstream children.

It all came together in the year 1906, when Maria was asked to take care of a group of children who lived in a low-income district in Rome. She was finally able to use the observations, education and methods that she had worked on for so many years, to educate these children. She opened the first official Montessori School and called it: Casa Dei Bambini.

Nowadays, Montessori schools are found all over the world! Not only that, now the Montessori Method is being implemented in homes too. Not necessarily all the materials, but the philosophies and the way of seeing and treating children can easily be adopted in a home environment.

The prepared environment that you hear about all the time can be done at home with the things you already own! It’s all about guiding your child towards independence, while building his child-esteem, and learning about the world around him.

If you are new to the Montessori method, download my FREE Beginner’s Guide to Montessori at Home. My goal is to help you find joy and confidence in motherhood with the Montessori Method.