The History of the Montessori Method

Dr. Montessori was the first female doctor to graduate from the University of Rome La Sapienza’s Medical School. As a member of the school’s psychiatric clinic, she conducted research on mentally challenged children in a psychiatric institute unknowing that this would lead to her place as one of the most important education influences of the 20th century. Although her research started with mentally challenged children, she soon expanded her research to study its application in a pre-school in the poor communities of San Lorenzo, and then expanded further throughout Italy.

In 1915 at the invitation of Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and other important figures in the United States, Dr. Montessori came as a speaker and to set up a classroom at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, where she was awarded a gold medal. This exposure led to the international growth of the Montessori Method and she was later nominated twice for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work.

Dr. Montessori observed children working with self-teaching materials for over 40 years. It became quickly apparent to her that when children were given these self-teaching tools, they shifted to a state of deep concentration and tranquility in which they focused on learning the intended lessons independently with little to no instruction. She named this ‘the child’s true normal nature’ and called the process the ‘normalization’ process of a child. She stressed that children were not ‘blank slates to be written upon’, but born with a potential to be revealed. The vast majority of her writings were in reflection of this process and its effects, not of the structured technique as to how to implement and organize what later became known as the Montessori Method.

This introduction to the history of the Montessori Method was published by Montessori Children's House of Denver, a leading Denver Montessori school. Parents who wish to learn more about this Denver Montessori School should contact the school to arrange a visit.