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Who Was Maria Montessori?

Aug 12, 2021 Angie Johnson

One of the Most Noteworthy Leaders of Children's Education in Much of the Free World was Maria Montessori.

For anyone familiar with the term 'Montessori School,’ this name might sound familiar. Born on August 31, 1870, Maria Montessori was one of Italy's first female physicists and founded what has come to be known as the Montessori Method of education, which is prominent among public and private schools.

After being appointed as the co-director of a training institute for special education teachers in 1900, Maria Montessori would eventually open the first Montessori school, known as the Casa dei Bambini, or the Children's House in a poor city district in Rome. Montessori initially opened this school for children from ages 3-7 whose parents were often away at work and sought to find effective and supportive education methods for children with disabilities.

The school came to be a success thanks to Montessori's method of designing her material around the inherent curiosity that children often exhibit and gave them the freedom to choose the activities they wanted to do. The activities ranged from working with puzzles to learning how to prepare meals and other activities. Thanks to the success of this school, Montessori's teaching philosophy would eventually expand to what it is today. There are around 20,000 Montessori schools in the world and about 5,000 in the United States.

Choose Mountain West Montessori Academy Today.

One prominent Montessori school is the Mountain West Montessori Academy, located in South Jordan, Utah. Mountain West Montessori Academy provides education services for children from Kindergarten through the 9th grade, regardless of income levels, cultural backgrounds, or academic abilities. With our hands-on approach and implementation of the educational philosophies of Maria Montessori, we are dedicated to helping children from all walks of life realize their full potential.