In Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the First Montessori School

1907-2007

Maria Montessori

© Carol J. Fox, 2006

First Montessori SchoolThe first Montessori School was opened on January 6, 1907 in a poor part of Rome, Italy, called San Lorenzo. Its first directress was Dr. Maria Montessori. Dr. Montessori had already been successful in helping homeless and disabled children. She taught some of them to read and pass state tests.

She thought that all children could learn better using her methods.

2

Opening Day at Casa dei Bambini Rome, 1907

Dr. Montessori gave a speech to the people who gathered for the opening day. The children, however, were terrified of the crowd, of the new school, and by the excitement. They were supposed to give a military salute at the ceremony. But the frightened children could not move or speak.

3

Opening Day Ceremony in the Courtyard

Children’s House

Soon they were working with the materials that Maria provided. She helped children learn about shapes, colors, and sizes. She helped them learn how to take care of their environment and serve each other meals. They, too, learned to write and read early. With her success at San Lorenzo, Maria Montessori was becoming world famous.

Fifty preschool children went through this doorway into the courtyard of the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) in San Lorenzo.

4

The next pages are about her.

Early Life

Maria Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, a seaport province in Ancona, Italy. Her birth day was August 31, 1870. When she was five,

she and her family moved to Rome.

5 Map of Italy

Maria as a young woman -Watercolor by Wendy Lewis

Early Life

Maria was the only child of Alessandro and Renilde Montessori. Both of her parents were from middle class Italian families.

Although they were strict parents, both loved their beautiful, bright and

headstrong daughter very much.

Alessandro and Renilde Montessori met and married in 1866.Map of

Italy

6

Early Life

Maria loved math and science, but in the 1880s only boys were allowed to study these subjects in special schools called technical schools.

Maria knew what she wanted. She pleaded with her parents after her graduation from elementary school and, at last, they agreed to enroll her in one of these schools. Maria at the time of her

elementary school graduation.

7

Early Life

Maria studied hard in

technical school and did well even though the boys made fun of her. When she entered technical school, she thought she wanted to be an engineer. By the time she graduated she had decided she wanted to go to medical school to become a doctor.

8 Maria in the 1890s

Early Life

Women did not go to medical school then. However, Maria was determined to be accepted as a student. She asked people to write letters for her. She visited the school. She wrote letters herself.

At last she was accepted at the University of Rome. She studied hard and, at the age of 25, she became the first female medical doctor in Italy. She became well-known in her country, but this was only the beginning.

Dr. Montessori’s medical school diploma from the University of Rome

9

Children’s Physician

Maria became a pediatrician, a doctor for children. Her first job was as assistant doctor at the University of Rome Psychiatric Clinic. In her work, she visited homeless children who were often considered mentally defective . They lived in large bare rooms with nothing to encourage their development.

10

Children’s PhysicianDr. Montessori wanted to help the children she saw. She thought they needed to have materials that would help them learn about their world. She observed them and took notes about things that interested them. Then she developed materials that would help them learn more. She made knobbed objects that would help them learn to hold a pencil and at the same time teach them about size and shape. She made a set of boxes that could be built into a tower.

“The children are our teachers,” she said.

Dr. Montessori’s notebook in which she wrote about her observations of children.

11

TeacherThe children did well while Dr. Montessori worked with them. Some learned to read and write and were able to pass state tests given to normal children.

People marveled at her success, but Maria thought that normal children might do even better using her methods. Soon she was given the opportunity to test her theories at the school in San Lorenzo. She was right. These children learned to write and read quickly also.

Maria Montessori now had the world’s attention and many important people came to see her school in San Lorenzo.

Mahatma Gandhi from India was one of the famous people who came to visit Dr. Montessori’s school in San Lorenzo.

12

World EducatorMaria knew that she wanted to know more about education. She went back to school to study philosophy and psychology. She studied the works of Jean-Marc- Gaspard Itard and Edouard Seguin who had worked with disabled children. She knew that children wanted to learn and learned everyday from their environment.

People began to ask her to open schools in other cities and other countries.

She went to Barcelona, Spain and to Amsterdam in the Netherlands to open schools and train teachers.

“The Wild Boy” called Victor was one of the children Itard and Seguin studied.

13

Montessori Method

She wrote books about her famous methods. She came to the United States and demonstrated how her school worked at a World Exposition. She won two gold medals at the Exposition for her work in Education.

14

Montessori Method She designed methods for older

children as well as preschoolers and schools were opened around the world. Famous Americans such as Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, believed her methods were revolutionary.The first Montessori school in the USA was opened in Tarrytown, New York in 1911. Another was opened in Mr. Bell’s home in Washington, D.C.

Her son Mario helped her with her world’s work.

Maria Montessori and her son Mario in London in the 1920s.

15

Teacher of Teachers Maria Montessori was now

famous everywhere. She traveled world-wide to teach teachers. She worked and lived in India for seven years. Then, she moved to the Netherlands with her son Mario, his wife and children. She started the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) in Amsterdam in 1929.

Maria Montessori was on the cover of Time magazine, February 3, 1930.

16

Left, Dr. Montessori’s study in Amsterdam is just as she left it.

Teaching Beliefs

Maria Montessori was famous for her materials for children: the knobbed objects, the pink tower, the sandpaper letters (above), and the dressing frame (left).

17

Dr. Montessori believed that:

• “Movement and cognition are closely entwined and movement can enhance cognition.

• Learning and well-being are improved when people have a sense of control over their lives.

• People learn better when they are interested in what they are learning.

• Tying extrinsic rewards to learning has a negative impact when the rewards are withdrawn.

• Collaboration can be very conducive to learning.

• Learning situated in meaningful contexts is often deeper and richer than learning in abstract contexts.

• Teachers and parents can expect high child outcomes when they employ a high mix of both warmth and control.

• Order in the environment is beneficial to children. “

– Lillard, Angeline Stoll. Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. Pp. 29-33. NY: Oxford Univ. Pr. 2005.

Memorial Maria Montessori worked for

her entire life to develop and expand an educational program that works with the child as she or he grows and learns.

Maria Montessori died in the small Dutch village of Noordwijk ann Zee just outside of Amsterdam on May 6, 1952 at the age of 82. There is a memorial to her there. Many people visit it every year.

Maria Montessori Memorial at Noordwijk aan Zee

Maria Montessori commemorative coin for the United Nation’s International Year of the Woman 198018

Citizen of the World

Maria Montessori Hibiscus

Maria Montessori Italian banknote1990.

Maria Montessori, called by many of her protégés “Mammolina,” was a woman ahead of her time and probably of ours. She was a revolutionary world leader in education who believed that we should teach the “whole child,” not simply provide him or her with content information for the sake of testing.

She believed that each child is different and is ready for different experiences at different times. As education moves into the digital age, we may find ways to give more children the right experiences and environments for the right time. Regardless of that, observation remains a key component in providing a proper teaching and learning atmosphere at a Montessori school.19

Today children from around the world attend Montessori schools.

Even children right here at

home.

20

Casa dei Bambini

Kinderhaus

Innsbruck, Austria

Kinderhaus Karben

Bilingual Preschool

Bad Vilbel, Denmark

Montessori School of Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

Maria Montessori Elementary School

Rockford Public Schools

Rockford, Illinois USA

Sierra Montessori Academy Charter School Twin Ridges Elementary School District

Auburn, California, USA

Gan Ronit Preschool Menora, Israel

Happy Birthday Montessori Schools

Created by Carol FoxLibrary Media SpecialistFor Montessori Elementary School Rockford Public Schools Rockford, Illinois, USA2006

21

Works CitedGerstein, Mordicai. The Wild Boy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.

Lillard, Angela Stoll. Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Lewis, Wendy. November, 2001. Montessori Education. Freedom-in-education.co.uk. 2/12/06 <http://www.freedom-in-education.co.uk/montessori.htm>.

Montessori, Maria. The Montessori Method. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. 2002.

Mooney, Carol Garhart. Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Piaget & Vygotsky. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Pr., 2000.

Shephard, Marie Tennent. Maria Montessori: Teacher of Teachers. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1996.

Kelpin, Fred. Het Montessori Prentenboek. Personal website. 2/12/06 <http://kelpin.nl/fred/prentenboek.htm>.

Photograph Credits

Slide 1: (Child’s drawing) “Children’s Eyes Meeting the World”. 2003. International Montessori Preschool Vienna. 2/12/06 <http://members.chello.at/dekleva.montessori/Photogallery.htm>.

(Portrait) “Maria Montessori.” 2000. Montessori-Vereinigung Hof e.V.2/16/06 < http://www.montessori-hof.de/00000094dd1316d0f/ >.

Slide 2: (Casa dei Bambini) Kelpin, Fred. “Het Montessori Prentenboek”. Personal website. 2/12/06 <http://kelpin.nl/fred/prentenboek.htm>. Used with permission.

Slide 3: (Opening Day) Kelpin, Fred. “Het Montessori Prentenboek”. Personal website. 2/12/06 <http://kelpin.nl/fred/prentenboek.htm>.

Slide 4: (Doorway) Kelpin, Fred. “Het Montessori Prentenboek”. Personal website. 2/12/06 <http://kelpin.nl/fred/prentenboek.htm>. Used with permission.

Slide 5: (Watercolor) Lewis, Wendy. November, 2001. “Montessori Education”. Freedom-in-education.co.uk. 2/12/06 <http://www.freedom-in-education.co.uk/montessori.htm>. Used with permission.

Photograph Credits

Slide 6: (Parents) Shephard, Marie Tennent. Maria Montessori: Teacher of Teachers. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1996. Page 9.

Slide 7: (Maria at 12) Shephard, Marie Tennent. Maria Montessori:Teacher of Teachers. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1996. Page 6.

Slide 8: (Maria as a young woman circa 1890) “Life of Maria Montessori”. 2005/ Dec 12 1999. De Hogeschool Edith Stein. 2/12/06 http://www.edith.nl/telmie2/reforped/theorym/theorym.html.

Slide 9: (Diploma) Shephard, Marie Tennent. Maria Montessori:Teacher of Teachers. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1996. Page 28.

Slide 10: (Oval framed photo) “Montessori”. 2005. Pincushion Hill Montessori School. 2/12/06 < http://www.pincushion.com/montessori.html >.

Photograph CreditsSlide 11: (Montessori Notebook) Opera Nationale Montessori. Biblioteca.

n.d. della Scuola superiore dell'economia e della finanze. 2/12/06 <http://rivista.ssef.it/site.php?page

=20050223121413244&edition= 2006-02-01> .Slide12: (Mahatma Gandhi) Mahatma Gandhi. n.d. Wikipedia

L’enciclopedia libbira. 2/14/06 < http://scn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma Gandhi >.Slide 13: (The Wild Boy) Gerstein, Mordicai. The Wild Boy. NY: Farrar,

2002.Slide14: (Book Cover) Montessori, Maria. The Montessori Method.

Mineola, NY: Dover, 2002. Slide15: (Montessori and son Mario in London, 1920s) Course of study.

2003. The Institute for Educational Studies and the Institute for Montessori Education. 2/14/06

< http://www.radicalmontessori.org/course.html >.

Slide 16: (Portrait of M Montessori) (Montessori library) Kelpin, Fred. “Het Montessori Prentenboek”.

Personal website. 2/13/06 <http://kelpin.nl/fred/prentenboek.htm >. Used with permission.

Photograph CreditsSlide17: (Montessori pink tower, etc.) “Montessori/Stepping Stones”. 2001-02.

Ancillae- Assumpta Academy. 2/16/06. <http://www.ancillae.org/Programs/Montessori/ >. (Montessori dress frame) Small Button Frame. c2002-2003. Bambini

Montessori Materials. 2/14/06. < http://www.bambini-montessori.com/cf-bin/prod_list.cfm?ProdCat=1 >.Slide18: (Memorial) “Podstawowa Szkoła Montessori”. 2/14/06

< http://www.montessori.pl/cmentarz.htm >. (Montessori Commemorative Coin). “Coins” 2006. Monete 2000 Collectionizmo. 02/28/06. < http://www.monete2000.it/Repubblica/repubblicaclassicasotto.htm >.

Slide19: (Montessori Hibiscus) “Maria Montessori”. n.d. Klahanie Greenhouses, Ltd. 2/12/06.

<http://www.klahanie.ca/hibiscus_Maria_Montessori.htm >. (Montessori lire)” Vecchie bankonote Italiane” n.d. Simon E. Rossi.

(Personal website). 02/028/06 < http://www.simonerossi.it/vecchie_lire/banconote_italiane/ >.

Photograph CreditsSlide 20: ( Horses logo) “Maria Montessori Elementary School”. 2006. Rockford

Public Schools. Rockford, IL. 02/06/06. < http://webs.rps205.com/schools/montessori/home.html >. (Pines logo) “Sierra Montessori Academy”. n.d. Sierra Montessori

Academy Charter School, Twin Ridges Elementary School District, Auburn, Ca. 02/06/06 < http://www.sierramontessori.org/index.htm >.

(Lower logos left to right) (Hebrew logo) Gan Ronit Montessori Preschool. c2001. 02/16/06 < http://www.ganronit.co.il/ganRonit-About.asp >.

“The Montessori School of Tokyo”. 2003. The Montessori School of Tokyo. 02/16/06. < http://www.montessorijapan.com/ >.“Montessori-Einrichtungen Tirol.” n.d. 02/16/06 < http://www.montessori.at/links_montessori-einrichtungen-

tirol.htm >.Kinderhaus Karben. n.d. Montessori Bilingual Preschool in

Tragerverein Bad Vilbel, Denmark. 02/16/06 < http://www.montessori-badvilbel.de/ > .