Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) came of age as “social science” became a part of the popular vocabulary.  The Montessori Method was developed as Freud invented psychoanalysis, Einstein wrote his theory of relativity, and Piaget and Erickson thought about human development.  Like her peers, Maria Montessori sought to use science to help society. 

As the first female medical doctor of Italy, Montessori became a famous lecturer, gaining the attention of European society as well as the academic community.  Montessori’s work with children began while conducting research on a psychiatric ward, where she had great success helping institutionalized children.  Her postdoctoral studies in anthropology and philosophy eventually led to her becoming Professor of Anthropology at the University of Rome.

In 1906, Dr. Montessori started an experimental program for three to seven-year-olds in a Roman slum.  Her “Children’s House” began as a way to keep young children from causing trouble in their neighborhood, and became the foundation of the Montessori Method.

Montessori lectured, trained teachers, and started schools all over Europe throughout the early part of the twentieth century.  She visited America, and set up a classroom for exhibition in San Francisco in 1915.  Her work for children and their parents grew to include school-aged children, as well as infants.  Centers for Montessori Education were established throughout Europe and America.

"If a child is to become the kind of man he should, his development must be intimately united with his own instinct."

Maria Montessori

The Secret of Childhood