Dr. Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was the first woman in Italy to qualify as a physician. She developed an interest in the
diseases of children and in the needs of those said to be 'ineducable' In the case of the latter she argued for the
development of training for teachers along Froebelian lines (she also drew on Rousseau and Pestalozzi) and
developed the principle that was also to inform her general educational programme: first the education of the
senses, then the education of the intellect.
Maria Montessori developed a teaching programme that enabled 'defective' children to read and write. She
sought to teach skills not by having children repeatedly try it, but by developing exercises that prepare them.
These exercises would then be repeated: Looking becomes reading; touching becomes writing. (See The
Montessori Method).
2865 Webb Rd. Alpharetta, GA 30004
(678) 762-0216
www.iqacademyonline.com
The success of her method then caused her to ask questions of
'normal' education and the ways in which failed children. Maria
Montessori had the chance to test her programme and ideas with the
establishment of the first Casa dei Bambini (Children's house or
household) in Rome in 1907. (This house had been built as part of a
slum redevelopment). This house and those that followed were
designed to provide a good environment for children to live and learn.
this children engaged in exercices de la vie pratique (exercise in daily
living). These and other exercises were to function like a ladder -
allowing the child to pick up the challenge and to judge their progress.
'The essential thing is for the task to arouse such an interest that it
engages the child's whole personality' (Maria Montessori - The
Absorbent Mind: 206).
This connected with a further element in the Montessori
programme - decentring the teacher. The teacher was the 'keeper'
of the environment. While children got on with their activities the
task was to observe and to intervene from the periphery. (Here
there are a number of parallels with Dewey).
The focus on self-realization through independent activity, the


concern with attitude, and the focus on the educator as the keeper of the environment (and
making use of their scientific powers of observation and reflection) - all have some echo in the
work of informal educators. However, it is Maria Montessori's notion of the Children's House
as a stimulating environment in which participants can learn to take responsibility that has a
particular resonance.

IQ Academy focuses on what The primary goal of a Montessori program is, to help each child
reach full potential in all areas of life. Activities promote the development of social skills,
emotional growth, and physical coordination as well as cognitive preparation. The holistic
curriculum, under the direction of a specially prepared teacher, allows the child to experience
the joy of learning, time to enjoy the process and ensure the development of self-esteem, and
provide the experiences from which children create their knowledge.
As Maria Montessori stated in her book, The
Secret of Childhood, “the children themselves
found a sentence that expresses the inner
need: 'Help me to do it by myself !'"