What is Montessori Education:
Montessori (pronounced MON-tuh-SORE-ee) is a comprehensive educational approach from birth to adulthood based on the observation of children's needs in a variety of cultures all around the world.
Beginning her work almost a century ago, Dr. Maria Montessori developed this educational approach based on her understanding of children's natural learning tendencies as they unfold in "prepared environments" for multi-age groups (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, and 12-14).
The Montessori environment contains specially designed, manipulative "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, self-discipline, and a love of learning.
Dr. Maria Montessori: A Brief Biography
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Dr. Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870. She began her professional life not as an educator but as a doctor of medicine. After extensive experience in private practice, hospital work and research, she undertook further studies in education, philosophy, psychology and anthropology as a basis for her growing commitment to education.
Her desire to help children was so strong, however, that in 1906 she gave up both her university chair and her medical practice to work |
with a group of sixty young children of working parents in the San Lorenzo district of Rome.It was there that she founded the first Casa dei Bambini, or "Children's House." What ultimately became the Montessori method of education developed there, based upon Montessori's scientific observations of these children's almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating materials. Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Montessori developed was based on what she observed children to do "naturally," by themselves, unassisted by adults.
Children teach themselves. This simple but profound truth inspired Montessori's lifelong pursuit of educational reform, methodology, psychology, teaching, and teacher training—all based on her dedication to furthering the self-creating process of the child.
In 1915, she attracted world attention with her "glass house" schoolroom exhibit at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco. On this second U.S. visit, she also conducted a teacher training course and addressed the annual conventions of both the National Education Association and the International Kindergarten Union.
The Spanish government invited her to open a research institute in 1917. In 1919, she began a series of teacher training courses in London. In 1922, she was appointed a government inspector of schools in her native Italy, but because of her opposition to Mussolini's fascism, she was forced to leave Italy in 1934. She traveled to Barcelona, Spain, and was rescued there by a British cruiser in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War
She opened the Montessori Training Centre in Laren, Netherlands, in 1938, and founded a series of teacher training courses in India in 1939.
In 1940, when India entered World War II, she and her son, Mario Montessori, were interned as enemy aliens, but she was still permitted to conduct training courses. Later, she founded the Montessori Center in London (1947). She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times—in 1949, 1950, and 1951.
Maria Montessori died in Noordwijk, Holland, in 1952, but her work lives on through the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), the organization she founded in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1929 to carry on her work..
Maria Philosophy:
The basic principle of the Montessori philosophy of education is that each child carries within him or her potential of the person he or she can become. In order for the child to develop physical, intellectual and emotional powers to the fullest, the child must be given freedom. The Montessori approach believes this freedom is best achieved through a combination of order and self-discipline.
Dr. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator. She developed what she called the prepared environment in which the child is encouraged to work at his or her own speed according to his or her own capabilities. Within this carefully structured environment, the child gradually acquires a sense of physical and mental order. This sense of order expresses itself in the child as a sense of responsibility toward his or her environment. In this way the Montessori child learns to respect other things and other people.
The aim of the Montessori method is to develop the whole child. Intellectual, physical and social development is of equal value in the prepared environment. The teacher strives to encourage and guide the child and to help him or her to realize a balanced, happy, aware personality that will enhance his or her ability to deal with any environment.
Dr. Montessori recognized that true learning results from the self-motivation of the child. The Montessori teacher acts primarily as a facilitator preparing the environment, programming activities, and offering the child stimulation and guidance. The child learns and is motivated by the work itself. The teacher is the catalytic agent and role model. In this way the child is able to develop in his or her own time rather than in a preconceived developmental timeframe.
Not only do Montessori children develop strong self-concepts, they also acquire the courtesy and respect for others that forms the basis for socialization. In this way Montessori classrooms function as a community. Each class has a range of ages and skill levels. Thus the younger child is exposed to more advanced work performed by older classmates and the older child has the advantage of teaching skills to younger children. The general limit of one piece of each equipment requires the students to learn patience, sharing, and a respect for the needs of others. This classroom dynamic allows the positive aspects of the child’s personality to assert them and become habit.
Guided by this philosophy, Rising Star Montessori School seeks to enable students to realize their full potential both as responsible citizens of their community and as life-long scholars by introducing dynamic learning experiences according to the Montessori Method.
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