Why Montessori?

Dr. Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952) was a pioneer and changed the educational system that we now take for granted. She began by working with children with special needs and developed her materials and curriculum accordingly. Her first two school experiences with children are outlined below.

The State Orthophrenic Institute
Montessori spent two years of her life educating 'feeble minded' children at the State Orthophrenic Institute. She would begin her days at eight oclock in the morning and come home at seven oclock at night. She was using this opportunity to observe the children and learn from their behaviour. She would observe them during the day and make notes at night. There was one girl in particular, who was eleven years old and developmentally challenged, who could not sew or darn no matter how often she was shown. Montessori showed her how to weave using strips of paper and later when she showed her how to darn the girl was able to do so successfully. She was able to teach the children to do many tasks by breaking them down into simple steps. She found that by doing this the children performed as well as (sometimes better than) 'normal' children. Montessori said that "the boys from the asylums had been able to compete with normal children only because they had been taught in a different way". (Maria Montessori, A Biography, Kramer, p. 112)

Casa Dei Bambini
This school was opened on January 6, 1907 and was Montessori's second experience with a school where she was free to observe and try new educational techniques. She modified the materials she had used in the State Orthophrenic Institute and observed their use with the children of this school. She asked her assistant to make the materials available to the children. " I merely wanted to study the children's reactions. I asked her not to interfere with them in any way as otherwise I would not be able to observe them." (Maria Montessori, A Biography, Kramer, p. 115)

One day Montessori thought it would be fun for the children to learn how to blow their noses. She showed them how to use a handkerchief and then blew her nose very quietly. She was surprised at the children's reactions. Instead of laughing they watched her attentively and when she was finished they applauded. She realized from this experience that children did not know how to perform certain tasks that were expected of them and this reinforced her view that children needed to be shown lessons from the basics. Montessori designed child-sized equipment at this school. She realized that the original tables and chairs were hindering the education of the child. Montessori knew it was more difficult to teach a child to feed or clean herself, but she felt it was important to give children these skills in order to develop their independence.