Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952), the creator of what is called "The Montessori Method of Education", based this type of education on her scientific observations of young children's behavior. She was a leading feminist and lecturer, and began her medical career working with special needs children at the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Rome. Her work there was so successful that she later opened the "Children's House" a school for children in a Rome ghetto. She spent the rest of her life observing the child's mental and physical development and devising a type of education, which would allow the child to develop to his/her fullest potential.

Dr. Montessori recognized children's inner needs to develop their intelligence, to explore and to order their impressions of the world, to control their movements in an exact manner, and to become independent and purposeful persons. The proof of her genius is that many of her ideas and materials have been incorporated into other educational systems, both past and present. Dr. Montessori's approach to education encompasses the total spectrum of the child's development: intellectual, emotional, social, physical, and creative. All of these ideas are considered equally important for the total development of the child.
 

WHAT MAKES MONTESSORI EDUCATION UNIQUE?

1. The "whole child" approach. The primary goal of our program is to help each child reach full potential in all areas of life. Activities in our classroom promote the development of social skills, emotional growth, and physical coordination as well as cognitive preparation. The holistic curriculum, under the direction of a highly qualified and dedicated staff, allows each child to experience the joy of learning, time to enjoy the process and ensure the development of self-esteem, and provides the experiences from which s/he creates his/her knowledge.
2. The "Prepared Environment". In order for self-directed learning to take place, the whole environment, room, materials and social climate must be supportive of the learner. Each teacher provides necessary resources, including opportunities for children to function in a safe and positive climate.
3. The Montessori materials. Dr. Montessori's observations of the kinds of thing which children enjoy led her to design multi-sensory, sequential and self-correcting materials which facilitate the learning of skills and lead to learning of abstract ideas.