DR. MARIA MONTESSORI
Dr. Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in Italy. At the age of 26, she became the first woman in Italy to graduate as a physician. One of her greatest accomplishments was the development of the educational method that bears her name. The first Montessori program was established in Rome in 1907. Today, the Montessori method is practiced in schools spread over six continents.
Montessori is an educational philosophy that offers a vision of education as an aid to life. Through her observation of children, Maria Montessori identified prevalent characteristics and tendencies that occur during a child's growth from childhood to maturity. She also recognized that teachers must have keen observational skills so that the needs of children can be met. The growth from birth to adulthood occurs through a series of phases that Montessori called the "Four Planes of Development".
Birth to Age 6: the period of the absorbent mind. At this stage children are sensorial explorers who learn by absorbing every aspect of their environment, their language and their culture.
Age 6 to Age 12: the period for assimilating knowledge. At this stage children are explorers of the reasons for things. They are developing their ability to learn abstractly and use their imagination.
Age 12 to Age 18: the period of social growth. Children are now humanistic explorers who seek to understand their place in society and their contribution to it.
Age 18 to Age 24: the period when they move from adolescence to young adults. At this stage the young adult becomes a specialized explorer of the universe as a whole.
The Montessori method follows the four planes of development. There are prepared environments for children at each successive developmental plane that follow nature's guidance by observing the child intelligently and loving and by giving the right help at each stage.
The following is a list of books that are recommended reading for Montessori parents. Many of these books are available though the school or at Georgian College Library, Owen Sound and North-Grey Union Public Library or at Ginger Press, Owen Sound.
- The Absorbent Mind - Maria Montessori
- The Discovery of the Child - Maria Montessori
- Montessori - A Modern Approach - Paula Polk Lillard
- From Childhood to Adolescence - Maria Montessori