Chapter 1: Background

I was born on August 31, 1870, in the town of Chiaravalle, Italy. My father was an accountant and my mother was a homemaker. I was fortunate to grow up in a middle-class family.

I took after my mother who valued education, which was uncommon for women during that time period in Italy. After elementary school, women were not encouraged to continue their education. However, I loved school and wanted to continue.

 Although my father was opposed to me continuing my education journey, my mother supported me. So at twelve, my family moved to Rome for me to gain a better education.

At thirteen, I attend an all-boys institution to gain a career in engineering. However, shortly after I changed my mind and went to school to become a doctor. In 1896 I graduated from medical school and was one of the first female physicians. 

My early practice focused on psychiatry which sparked my interest in education. That's when I decided to take courses on pedagogy and developed many theories on my own about education.

From my studies, I was able to question and observe the methods of teaching children with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Here is where my life would soon all change and my method of teaching would be used all across the globe.

In 1900, I had an opportunity to improve these methods when I was appointed co-director of a training institution for special education teachers. I was able to experiment  which teaching methods worked best.

A life changing event happened In 1907, when I opened Casa dei Bambini, a school specifically for children who were economically disadvantaged or who had disabilities.

Here is where my "Montessori Method" began to attract people, and by 1910 Montessori schools could start to be found around the globe. 

Chapter 2:

 Historical Influence on Education

As soon as schools were around the world, I only had one goal in mind. I needed to make my philosophy known to everyone. I worked night and day to do research and perfect my school's goals.

I had a lot of ideas of how I could help make my schools better. I did countless hours of research and came up with multiple ideas

-  I designed special materials that were to help students learn core concepts like math and English

- I created a new way for people to understand children and how we engage them with the world around us 

- I changed how teachers strive to support the whole child, helping children at all stages of development and creating independent, capable, collaborative learners.  

- I came up with 3 main ideas; 1. Students need time and space 2. Students need independence 3. students need to work together, collaboration