IndexIntroductionThe Life and Career of Maria Montessori ConclusionReferencesIntroductionMaria Montessori was known as an Italian educator who began as a doctor before discovering her interest in the in which children develop. After many years of observation and research, she developed the Montessori method, a student-centered approach to learning. Montessori opened her first school, called Casa dei Bambini, in 1907, and from there the popularity of this method spread. This essay on Dr. Maria Montessori contains information about Montessori's background and her life that led to her method. There are facts about what a Montessori school consisted of and why it was successful. Finally there is the history of the schools themselves, when and where they were created. Montessori schools viewed education differently than the traditional educational approach, and there were many schools created to meet the needs of students who chose to attend. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Life and Career of Maria Montessori Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870, in a town called Chiaravalle, Italy. Her mother, Renilde Stoppani, was educated and was an excellent reader, which was rare for Italian women in that period. His father, Alessandro Montessori, was a financial manager of a state-run industry. When Montessori reached the age of 14, she began attending a boys' technical institute. Here she focused on mathematics and science. Later in her studies, Montessori attended medical school at the University of Rome, obtaining top marks. She graduated here in 1896 and was named the first female doctor in Italy (Biography of Maria Montessori). During Montessori's medical career, she became involved in pediatrics, where she worked with children, many of whom were poor. By doing so, he gained insights into the types of intelligence common to all children, regardless of their background. In 1900 Montessori accepted the position of director of an orthophrenic school for children with developmental disabilities. It was then that he began researching early childhood development and early education. He began to develop his own ideas about how teaching would be more effective and used these ideas on the children at the Orthophrenic School. The results she achieved using her teaching methods were surprisingly good (Biography of Maria Montessori). To understand how the Montessori method promoted children's development, it is necessary to know what this method consisted of. Montessori believed that children should take responsibility for their own education. To do this, students would follow topics of interest to them and had total control over what they were doing during the day. The teacher was in the classroom but was there to guide learning rather than instruct it. The teacher moved around the room and encouraged the students and their interests. Students learned at their own pace and did not necessarily do what everyone else in the class did. If you walked into a Montessori classroom, you would most likely find several groups of children working on different things, related to what piqued each child's interests. Montessori schools provided an environment full of opportunities, but each student could follow his or her own path with these opportunities. These schools did not focus on grades, tests, or homework because students learned information in different ways than reading a textbook. Montessori says students learning test-taking tricks could help themget a good grade, but usually would not have a good understanding of the subject. This method took the stress out of grades and encouraged students to really delve into a topic and understand it well. They also prepared meals and cleaned up themselves because Montessori believed that hands-on experience was the most effective. That said, there have been many field trips to Montessori schools so that students could understand the concepts by seeing or working with them. Something else that is different from traditional classes is that these classes were usually mixed age. This is because younger children would learn from older children and older children would increase their knowledge about a topic when they explain it back to a younger student. Additionally, there usually wasn't much of a curriculum, and if there was one, it typically wasn't enforced much because, again, students were pushed to explore their natural curiosity. Through this method, students gained independence and became more confident in what they were capable of (Teachers, Schools and Society page 259) (American Montessori Society) (Age of Montessori). There were many pros and cons to the Montessori method, which were reported by people who had experience with these schools. Students learned independence because they came to school every day ready to work on what interested them, not what interested others. Additionally, preparing their own meals and working on tasks individually taught them how to accomplish them on their own. Furthermore, social interaction was common in these schools. Students worked together and shared their interests and ideas. Another benefit of the Montessori Method was hands-on learning. This inspired creativity and provided a different approach to learning than reading textbooks. This also taught the children self-discipline and they learned it naturally instead of being forced to follow certain rules. Although there were many clear advantages to the Montessori Method, there were also cons. It was difficult to move from a Montessori school to a different type of school because the traditional learning style was very different from this type. Also, because there was no set curriculum, some parents saw this as a bad thing because they would not set things to learn. Independence has not always been a good thing for children because some children have taken it in the wrong direction. Finally, Montessori schools have no routines and some children may prefer structure. There were many pros and cons to this method that Montessori knew, but she wanted to explore them and see where it would go with students (The Pros and Cons of Montessori Education). Montessori knew that her methods were effective on the learning development of students at her orthophrenic school, but she was curious to test her methods on other children outside of that school. The Italian government allowed her to pursue this goal in 1907. Her job consisted of caring for 60 children, aged between one and six. These children he worked with had no previous education and came from very poor families. He officially opened the school on January 6, 1907 and the name of this school was Casa dei Bambini, which translates to "Children's Home". This first Montessori school was located in a poor town called San Lorenzo, Rome, and she was able to design the learning environment as she thought would be most beneficial, while also testing her teaching methods on the students (Maria Montessori) (American Montessori Society). At the beginning of her first school career, the students were in difficulty, but soon after they became interesteda lot to what was happening. The children began to learn how to concentrate deeply on a topic and how to remain calm in class. Students began to take charge of their education and worked with their interests to learn new things. This school was very successful and word spread, so soon after the opening of the Children's Home, a second school opened on April 7, 1907. This school was also located in San Lorenzo, but the third school, opened on October 18. , 1907, was in Milan. As these schools became more well-known, other educators wanted to learn more about the Montessori Method. Montessori herself ended up informing some educators on how to use this method. Montessori traveled around the world creating training programs and encouraging the building of schools. There were children all over the world who were interested in this method and a few years later Montessori schools spread to five continents. With all this success and interest from others, Montessori decided to write her first book, published in 1909, entitled The Method of Scientific Pedagogy applied to infant education in Children's Homes. This book has been translated into many languages, one of which is English, under the title The Montessori Method. The English version was printed in 5,000 copies and was very popular, selling out in just four days (American Montessori Society). As Montessori schools spread around the world, the first in the United States opened in 1911, in Scarborough, New York. York. Unlike his first schools which were for children of poor families, those in the United States were aimed at wealthy families who wanted a good education. The first time Montessori came to the United States was in 1913. It took her almost two weeks to get there and during the trip she wrote down her thoughts and made small drawings in her diary. It was published much later, entitled Maria Montessori Sails to America. Many articles and books have been written about the Montessori Method. In fact, 187 English articles and books were written on this topic in 1914 (American Montessori Society). Although there are always problems along the way with a new idea. Montessori schools began to become less popular due to language barriers and World War I. According to Dr. Maria Montessori's biography, “The rise of fascism in Europe had a substantial impact on the progress of the Montessori movement. By 1933 the Nazis had closed all the Montessori schools in Germany, and Mussolini did the same in Italy." There were also some people who didn't like this method and spoke negatively about it. One of these people was William Kilpatrick, who spoke badly of Montessori in his book and this view of hers began to spread and became known in the United States. Montessori education in the United States was rare at this point. After a certain period of time, people began to dislike traditional American education and wanted a change for their children. A New York educator, Dr. Nancy McCormick Rambusch, decided she wanted to learn more about Montessori education, so she took the training to become a Montessori teacher in London. When she returned to her home in New York, she began using the Montessori method in her teachings to children. A group of parents became interested and wanted to open a private school where the Montessori method was used. With some time, Montessori schools became popular again. In 1929, Maria Montessori, with the help of her son, created the Association Montessori Internationale, created with the hope that her philosophy would be taught by others as she had originally planned. (American Montessori Society) (The story=9.