Happy 145th Birthday, Dr. Maria Montessori!
Today, we celebrated our dear Maria Montessori’s birthday by having a special Celebration of Life in her honor. We heard stories about the things she had done in her life, and saw pictures of her childhood. This is a very special day for our community, as we honor the woman who brought light to the Montessori pedagogy, and established the principals that our very school is based upon.
“Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870.” – Ms. Patti shows us a special book with pictures and descriptions of Maria Montessori’s life.
We walked the earth around the sun symbolizing the years of her life that had gone by, just as the earth goes around the sun in a year-long rotation. We talked about the many important things Maria had done in her life, including her family history, her schooling and education, and the educational programs that she developed due to years of observation and scientific study.
Happiest of birthdays, to the woman who made all of this possible!
Scientific observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great work that is being done, as servants help the master. Doing so, they will be witnesses to the unfolding of the human soul and to the rising of a New Man who will not be a victim of events, but will have the clarity of vision to direct and shape the future of human society.
– Maria Montessori, Education for a New World
Click HERE to read about the life and work of Dr. Maria Montessori
(article credit, michaelolaf.net)
Healthy Beginnings Montessori 