Maria
Montessori
1870-1952
Maria’s Early Education
 Born
on August 31, 1870 in Chiaravalle,
Italy
 Father was a financial manager for a
state-run industry
 Mother was raised in a family that prized
education
Maria’s Education

Maria was an outstanding student that was
ambitious and hardworking

At 13 she entered an all-boys technical
institute to prepare a career in engineering

She changed her mind and wanted to
become a doctor, she applied to the
University of Rome and got rejected. She
studied harder after being rejected and
applied once more and got accepted her
second try.

She graduated in 1896, she was among Italy’s
first female physicians.
What/Where Maria Taught
 Kids
with intellectual and developmental
disabilities (1906)
 Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House)

Quality learning environment for young
children in the slums of Rome
Montessori Method
 Independence
 Observation
 The
teacher’s best teacher is the child
 Kids can teach themselves
 Following
the child
 Correcting the child
 Prepared environment
 Absorbent mind
“Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual,
and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the
environment.”
Maria’s Legacy
 Around
7000 schools considered
themselves Montessori schools by 2003
 She created a base for psychological
development theories of Jean Paget and
Lev Vygotsky
 1960 AMS(American Montessori society) is
formed
Modern Day
 Today
there are more than 22,000
Montessori schools in 110 countries
 In her later years she wrote many articles
and books on education and made many
lectures
 Today the AMS has 400 public school
programs most of which are in Arizona,
California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and
South Carolina
Books by Maria
 “Secret
of Childhood”
 “The Absorbent Mind”
 “Discovery of the Child”



"Maria Montessori." Biography of.
American Montessori Society, n.d.
Web. 02 Oct. 2014.
Evans, C.T., and M. Dasbach. "Maria
Montessori." . N.p., 27 Dec 2011. Web.
3
Oct 2014
"Home| American Montessori Society."Home|
American Montessori Society. The Berndt
Group, 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.
Kaylee, Rachel, Christian