Who Was Maria Montessori?

Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian physician who worked with deprived inner-city children in the early 1900s. She had a particular genius for observing children as they really are rather than as adults wish them to be.

Doctor Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

Dr. Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. The children come to feel that learning is a product of their own actions and experiences, not just the result of instruction received from a teacher. A truly educated individual continues learning long after his years in the classroom because he is motivated by a natural curiosity and love for knowledge. Dr. Montessori felt that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from a pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate a desire to learn. She developed an educational philosophy that focuses on the education of the whole child, with an emphasis on hands-on materials and a carefully prepared environment.