In Montessori schools, children become independent, self-actualized and compassionate community members. They learn to collaborate as active agents of social evolution. Montessori offers an education for life – and with that come the skills needed to succeed in our ever changing global society. Many of the mavericks on the leading edge of innovation and creativity in our culture are Montessori graduates. Famous Montessori alumni include founders of Google, Amazon and Wikipedia, princes William and Harry of English royal family, writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez and father of modern management Peter Drucker, among others.
Montessori Education
This educational approach was developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. Maria Montessori, born in 1870, was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology. She believed that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a "blank slate" waiting to be written upon. Her main contributions to the work of those of us raising and educating children are in these areas:
Preparing the most natural and life-supporting environments for the child;
Observing the child living freely in this environment;
Continually adapting the environment in order that the chid may fulfill his or her greatest potential, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Montessori education is practiced in an estimated 20,000 schools worldwide, serving children from birth to eighteen years old. Montessori education is fundamentally a model of human development, and an educational approach based on that model. Montessori education is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development. Teachers appropriately trained in the method, mixed age classrooms, uninterrupted blocks of work time and specialized educational materials are essential for successful...