THE MONTESSORI PHILOSOPHY

"Whoever touches the life of the child touches the most sensitive
point of a whole which has roots in the most distant past and
climbs toward the infinite future."
         -- Dr. Maria Montessori

The core of Dr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education is
that all children carry within themselves the person that they will become – “the child is the father of man”.

Dr. Montessori believed that in order to develop the physical, intellectual and spiritual potential to the fullest, a child must have “freedom”, and must be interested in what he or she is doing.

This “freedom” so necessary for Montessori education is achieved through “order and inner self discipline”. The child’s world according to Montessori is ‘chaotic’.

Children must gradually create order and slowly gain mastery of themselves and their environment to achieve the fullest potential and for life long learning.

A Montessori classroom is a “prepared environment”. It has a certain order which allows a child to learn at his or her own speed in a non-competitive environment. Children gradually proceed to gain mastery of themselves and their environment and achieve a sense of order and self discipline.

Dr. Montessori recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self motivation of the child.

The Montessori directress directs and stimulates the child by presenting age appropriate activities and then stands back and lets the child work and achieve a sense of accomplishment by completing a task independently. A child is allowed to freely select a range of activities at a particular level.