Getting down and dirty in the garden at MCDC!

About Maria Montessori...

About Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy and died in 1952 in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

She became the first woman medical doctor in Italy, and early in her career, she started working with children in the slums of Rome. Her training as a scientist allowed her to observe children with an eye to recognizing their intrinsic needs. She went on to create educational materials that matched children’s developmental needs.

Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize in 1949, 1950, and 1951. A scientist, educator, humanitarian, and philosopher, she was also a visionary.

About Montessori Education

In 1907 Montessori opened the first Casa de Bambini (Children’s House) in Rome. In this environment, children were introduced to activities and then allowed to choose to participate or not. Montessori learned from the children which activities were appropriate. Gradually Montessori accumulated a series of materials that are still used in Montessori schools around the world. As well as the materials, her observations led her to theories on how children learn best. Many of her “discoveries” are well-accepted in early childhood education today.

• Respect for the Child: Children are different from adults and each other; each one of us is unique and deserves respect.
• The “Absorbent Mind:” The first six years of life are immensely important in terms of learning. During this period, children have extraordinary abilities to learn almost effortlessly; they “absorb” information from their environment, whatever that environment might be.
• The “Prepared Environment:” Children learn best and become confident individuals in an environment (home or school) where appropriate activities are available, where they can choose their own activities, and where they can progress at their own pace using self-correcting materials. Montessori tells us to “follow the child.”
• Purposeful Work: Through meaningful activities designed so children can succeed, children create themselves. The child, in essence, is asking us to “Help me do it by myself.”
• The Human Potential: Education begins at birth… and never ends. If children’s developmental needs are met, children will be able to maximize their potentials, whatever they may be. Montessori extended this premise to the world as a whole, where fulfilled and well-balanced adults would begin to behave better towards each other, leading eventually to a world at peace. 

Montessori Child Development

Roles of a Montessori Teacher - By Anne Burke Neubert

Roles of a Montessori Teacher

Anne Burke Neubert, in A Way of Learning (1973)

* The Montessori Teacher is the dynamic link between the child and the Prepared Environment.

* The Montessori Teacher is a systematic observer of the child and an interpreter of his needs.

* The Montessori Teacher is an experimenter, tailoring the environment to meet his perceptions of the child's needs and interests, and objectively noting the results.

* The Montessori Teacher is a programmer, preparing the environment and keeping in perfect condition, adding to it and removing materials as needed.

* The Montessori Teacher is an evaluator, judging the effectiveness of her own work and the environment every day. She must also evaluate the progress of each child.

* The Montessori Teacher is a respecter and protector of the child. He must know when to step in, set limits or lend a helping hand, and when it is in the child's best interests to step back and not interfere.

* The Montessori Teacher is a supporter, offering warmth, security, stability, and non-judgmental acceptance to each child.

* The Montessori Teacher is a facilitator of communication among the children and of the child's effort to communicate with her. She must also interpret the child's progress and her work to parents, the school staff, and the community.

* The Montessori Teacher is a demonstrator, presenting clear, interesting and relevant lessons to the child. His role is to seduce the child into spontaneous fascination with the materials through his demonstrations.

* The Montessori Teacher is a consistent good example of desirable behavior for the children, following the ground-rules of the class herself, and exhibiting a sense of calm, consistency, grace and courtesy, and demonstrating respect for every child.

* The Montessori Teacher is a peacemaker, consistently working to teach courteous behaviors and conflict resolution.

* The Montessori Teacher is a diagnostician, able to interpret the patterns of diversity, and non-judgmental acceptance to each child.