About Dr. Maria Montessori
In the early twentieth century, Dr. Maria Montessori was a pioneer in the medical and educational fields. Based on her observations of children, she developed educational materials and methods that supported her views of children. She believed that children learn best by doing and not through passive acceptance of other people’s ideas and pre-existing knowledge. The idea of learning promotes the active personal pursuit of many different experiences: physical, social, emotional, and cognitive. The materials Montessori devised foster an environment in which such learning takes place.
Dr. Montessori believed learning should occur in multi-age classrooms where children at various stages of development learn from and with each other. Her developmentally appropriate approach was designed to meet the needs of each child as an independent learner.
Montessori teachers, known as Guides, have an understanding that children learn more through a variety of experiences. Montessori training programs prepare Guides to create dynamic, interactive learning environments that encourage each child to think critically, create new ideas, collaborate with others and communicate in our society. Their goal is to encourage the development of individuals that are competent in all areas of life with the ability to positively influence our world.