“The hand is the instrument of the mind”
– Maria Montessori
The Montessori Method was created by Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, mathematician, scientist and educator. She was born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, near Rome, Italy. Her wonderfully innovative method spread quickly all over Europe and the world for the benefit of many children. She spent her later years supervising training courses in Spain, India, England and the Netherlands. She died in 1952.
The Montessori Method is an educational philosophy. It is based on the principle that each child is an individual and should be appreciated on an individual basis. A properly trained Montessori teacher will guide a child’s process at the child’s own pace.
Maria Montessori understood that children have “very high sensory perception.” It is, therefore, very important to provide them with the tangible tools to promote learning. In the Montessori classroom, great emphasis is given to creating a “Prepared Environment.” Within this orderly and structured environment, the child is free to move about and make choices as part of their learning experience.
Each classroom is equipped with child-appropriate desks, chairs, and shelving arranged in a plan conducive to orderly movement and access to apparatus and learning areas. The shelves are filled with a wide variety of apparatus designed by Dr. Montessori to guide each child through the learning process. Use of the apparatus and other classroom activities develop and refine the sensorial, auditory, tactile chromatic, visual and stereognostic senses.
Some of Dr. Montessori’s ideas are set forth in such books as:
Standing – Maria Montessori – Her Life and Work (1958)
Maria Montessori – The Absorbent Mind (1949)
Maria Montessori – The montessori Method (1912)
Maria Montessori – The Secret of Childhood (1936)
Maria Montessori – Education for a Free Wortld (1946)
Maria Montessori – To Educate the Human Potential (1948)