Montessori

Montessori.

“The greatest success for a teacher... is to be able to say, ‘the children are now working as If I did not exist’.” (Maria Montessori quote)

From first researching into Maria Montessori I realised immediately how captivating she and what she wanted to achieve throughout her lifetime is incredible. It was obvious she wanted to make a difference in what she believed in, and fought for it until she achieved it giving no less than one hundred percent each time.

Maria Montessori was born in Chiatavale Italy in 1870. She was an only child of Alessandro and Renilde Stoopani. Montessori worked alongside women and children for 10 years becoming somewhat fascinated in children with mental disability. After a great deal of observation she decided that children required suitable education more than ‘medical treatment’ this is how she started to get interested in education. (Maria Montessori)

There are 7,000 Montessori schools world wide, which can be taught from early years up to secondary level.

In 1906 Maria set up her first children’s house called Casa dei bambini where she then put her individual research into action, which still to this day people use to be taught by and make a difference. Montessori nurtured each individual child so they accomplish their own potential as she found this was crucial. Children were also encouraged to look after the classroom and its environment.

Montessori was the first teacher to promote the significance of the first 6 years of life as they position a positive foundation for the entire future of the child both in attitudes to social aspects of life and to learning. I feel that Montessori’s 3 six year periods was a very good outlook into children’s education as this period is a beneficial time for expansion and children can really widen specific abilities and skills. It is vital to maintain the child’s sensitive period through the environment.  Montessori explains the “if no help is given to a child, if his environment is neglected, his psychic life will be in constant danger”. (Montessori, 1996)

What I found truly fascinating about Maria Montessori and the way she feels education should be taught, is that she felt the environment, the children and the teachers were as equal as one another. Children I feel, work as one and learn from each other, Maria also felt that if the children were self directed and independent, they would be more willing to learn. Teachers also are an essential part of children learning, as they are trained to recognize appropriate learning level and also pay attention to the child.

“Intelligence is anything but rare amongst human beings, it’s found among the children of poverty and great wealth. Children are capable of anything”. (Tim Weldin)

Looking more into Montessori and the Montessori foundation and watching a you tube clip I have posted above for you to also get a greater knowledge, it gave me a larger insight to the way Montessori foundation works and the beneficial factors to it.  The support from the Montessori staff is incredible and is clear that they are trained to maintain the best possible outcome that the children deserve. What I think is remarkable about Maria Montessori is the fact she started with the children in poverty; she wanted to make a difference and prove all children can be taught. Society today is very different and is all about paying for education and more people should take in to account and learn more from the Montessori foundation.

Bibliography 

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/maria_montessori.html. (n.d.).

Maria Montessori. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori.

Maria Montessori quote. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/maria_montessori.html.

Montessori. (1996).

Tim Weldin, P. o. (n.d.). Introduction to montessori foundation. Retrieved from You tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7a3Br6kPbU