About Maria Montessori

From the Beginning

Dr. Maria Montessori

• Maria Montessori born in the town of Chiaravalle, in the province of Ancona in the country of Italy on August 31, 1870.
• When Maria Montessori was five her family moved to Rome for her father’s work. In Rome her chances of a better education were realized.
• In 1896 Maria Montessori became Dr. Maria Montessori and became the first woman in Italy to attend and graduate from Medical School. It was not an easy road but she was determined against all odds to reach her full potential. She became the first woman to practice medicine in Italy.
• During her thesis for medical school, Maria Montessori did a lot of work at a psychiatric clinic at the University of Rome. In 1897 she became a volunteer and continued her interest in working with patients with nervous diseases and mental illness. She visited the Rome Asylum as one of her duties and there she saw many children unwanted by their families and her great interest grew for the education of children with special needs.
• In 1900 after many public lectures and continued work with children with special needs, she became the director of a school to train teachers. Classrooms were set up and overseen by Maria Montessori for children not functioning well in the public school system. These programs were very successful.
• Two men Itard and Sequin worked with children and Maria Montessori built on their methods and materials to create the Montessori Method and materials. She created her program through scientific observation of children and building upon Itard and Sequin’s research and teaching materials.
• On January 6, 1907, Dr. Maria Montessori opened the first official Montessori children’s house or “Casa dei Bambini.” She created the classroom based on her previous scientific observation and her continued observation of the classroom and brought in didactic “hands-on” materials. She created Practical Lifematerials such as sweeping, cleaning of the classroom etc. Her first classroom was filled with financially disadvantaged children and their education was free.
• In 1909 the first Montessori teaching course was established. Dr. Maria Montessori began to train other teachers and give lectures as Montessori’s popularity spread. She published many articles and in 1913 she published, A Guide to the Montessori Method.
• In 1911 Montessori education was spreading around the world including, The United States, Switzerland, France, India, China, Mexico, Korea and Argentina.
• In 1912 Alexander Graham Bell he set up a Montessori classroom for his two grandchildren.
• Helen Keller who could not see, talk, or hear met with Dr. Maria Montessori and referred to herself as “a product of the Montessori Method.”
• In 1929 Dr. Maria Montessori founded Association Montessori Internationale (AMI).
• Dr. Maria Montessori lived in areas around the world and trained many teachers worldwide.
• Dr. Maria Montessori died in Hague on May 6, 1952 at the age of 82 and she was buried in Noordwijk, Amsterdam.
• In the 1920’s Montessori education faded somewhat into the background. In 1960’s there was a revitalization of the Montessori movement in the United States due to Nancy McCormick Rambusch. She created The American Montessori Society (AMS).
• Dr. Maria Montessori scientific pedagogy revolutionized education in Europe, the United States and around the World. Thanks to Dr. Maria Montessori, Montessori schools exist around the world today!