Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870.  Maria sought a higher education even though it was not common for women of her day to do so.  In 1896, she graduated with honors and went on to become the first female physician in Italy. 

She soon began working with the mentally deficient in a hospital in Rome.  Her heart was touched, most especially, by the children there.  She wanted better care for them.  This led her to the study of Jean Itard, and that of Edward Seguin, one of Itard’s followers, who had been working with deaf and mentally deficient children in Paris.  

While studying the works of Itard and Seguin, Maria Montessori began formulating a method of educating the mentally deficient children she had in her care.  After implementing her methods with these children for a number of years, they were submitted to the normal state testing that took place for students in the 3rd grade.  Amazingly, the children whom Dr. Montessori had been working with scored higher than the normal children.  It was then that Dr. Montessori realized there must be something lacking in the educational system of her day.  She wondered if perhaps her methods could also benefit the regular child.  This soon became her lifetime work.  Over time, after many hours of observing children in Italy and abroad, Maria Montessori realized that the laws of development that she had seen in the children in Italy were the same in all children regardless of race, culture or creed.  Thus, her life’s work of helping children ‘construct themselves’ began. 

On January 6, 1907 the first Children’s House opened.  The Montessori Method continues to be a positive and influential educational system utilized throughout the world today.  There are currently more than 20,000 Montessori schools in 110 countries worldwide.