Dr. Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori became the first woman medical doctor in San Lorenzo, Italy at the turn of the century. She began by working with children with disabilities. When these children began learning various skills, she applied her approach to disadvantaged children in a ghetto in Rome. Her results were so dramatic that her "philosophy" spread rapidly all over the world.

In 1907, Dr. Maria Montessori opened the Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House. Dr. Montessori's philosophies were soon published in multiple books. Her work covers in detail, two "planes of development:" the first plane is grouped into ages 0 to 3 and 3 to 6; the second plane is grouped into ages 6 to 9 and 9 to 12. Dr. Montessori outlined the work of the third plane (12 to 18). She also wrote briefly about the fourth plane, ages 18 to 24, in The Function of the University. Dr. Montessori uses universal and fundamental principles to assist in the development of the children and her philosophy can be adapted to any group of children in any culture. Montessori is a continuing and developing system of education with a background of shared experience for over 100 years on all continents of the world through the organization she founded in 1929, the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). Much of what is considered "new" and "experimental" in education today has long been a part of the Montessori Philosophy. In the United States, Montessori caught on quickly by prominent advocates and overwhelming media attention.