Maria Montessori was the first female physician in Italy. Graduating from the Medical School in 1876, her medical practice led her to the clinical observations on how children learn and build their values through their environment.

In 1901, she returned back to the University of Rome to study psychology and anthropology. It was momentous, as upon completing the course in 1906, she gave up her work as a physician and university professor to work with the children in the poorest areas of Rome. It was there that she founded Casa dei Bambini or “Children’s House,” where the Montessori Method of Education was born and developed.

The Montessori method of education focuses on the individuality of each child which acknowledges her needs and talents. It was developed through observing the children’s level of development. The goal is to help the children flourish by maintaining their natural love and joy of learning.

The youngest children are guided in “practical life skills,” domestic skills and proper manners. These skills are emphasized with the goal of increasing attention spans, hand and eye coordination and patience. The Montessori method encourages independence and freedom with limits as well as responsibility resulting in the child’s satisfaction, contentment and joy due to her feeling as a full participant in the daily activities.

A Montessori education that is carried through the higher years follows the child’s emerging tendency for peer interaction while still emphasizing that each student is the guardian of her own intellectual development.