Dr. Maria Montessori believed that no human being is educated by another person. They must do it themselves or it will never be done. A truly educated individual continues learning long after the hours and years they spend in the classroom because they are motivated from within by a natural curiosity and love for knowledge.

 

Dr. Montessori felt, therefore, that the goal of early childhood education should not be to fill the child with facts from a pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate their own natural desire to learn.

​

Maria Montessori, in many ways, was ahead of her time. Born in the town of Chiaravalle, in the province of Ancona, Italy, in 1870, she became the first female physician in Italy upon her graduation from medical school in 1896. In her medical practice, her clinical observations led her to analyze how children learn and how they build themselves from what they find in their immediate environment.

 

In 1906, she accepted the challenge to work with a group of sixty children of working parents in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. It was there that she founded the first Casa dei Bambini, or “Children’s House.” What ultimately became the Montessori method of education, based upon Maria Montessori’s scientific observations, these children’s almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating materials. Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every philosophy Montessori developed was based upon what she observed children doing “naturally”, by themselves, unassisted by adults.

​

Children teach themselves. This simple but profound truth inspired Montessori’s lifelong pursuit of educational reform, methodology, psychology, teaching, and teacher training-all based upon her dedication to furthering the self-creating process of the child.

 

Maria Montessori died in Noordwijk, Holland, in 1952, but her work continues. Montessori schools exist around the world. Dr. Montessori founded the Association Montessori International (A.M.I.) in 1929. It is through this agency, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that all our teachers are certified. Dr. Montessori intended that the A.M.I. further her life’s work in its original integrity and completeness and to guide its development and application in the interest of all children. A.M.I. functions as the source of Montessori training according to Maria Montessori’s principles as well as a center for continuing research and development.

 

ami-global.org