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Maria was born
In 1870, Maria was born on August 31. She was born into middle class, well educated parents in her provincal town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her family moved to rome when she was 12 to take advantage of the better facilites such as fine schools and libriaries. -
University of Rome graduation
Maria applied to the University of Rome’s medical program, but was rejected. Maria took additional courses to better prepare her for entrance to the medical school and persevered. With great effort she gained admittance, opening the door a bit wider for future women in the field. When she graduated from medical school in 1896, she was among Italy’s first female physicians. (no real date for when she graduated) -
Mario Montessori was born
In March of 1898, Montessori's only child, Mario Montessori, was born with a collage named Dr. Montesano. Mario never really had a real father and was sent to a wet nurse and later a bording school. -
Maria becoming full professor
In 1904 Maria became a full professor at the University of Rome and from 1904 to 1908 held the chair of anthropolgy there. She was also a government inspector of schools, lecturer, and a practicing physician -
Challenge for Maria
In 1907 Maria accepted a new challenge to open a childcare center in a poor inner-city district. This became the first Casa dei Bambini, a quality learning environment for young children. The youngsters were unruly at first, but soon showed great interest in working with puzzles, learning to prepare meals, and manipulating materials that held lessons in math. She observed how they absorbed knowledge from their surroundings, essentially teaching themselves. (no real date) -
Montessori Method Published
In 1910, Maria published the Montessori method and in 1912 the first English translation was published. After this book, Maria Montessori became a household name. -
Montessori Schools Worldwide
By 1925 more than 1,000 of her schools had opened in America. Gradually Montessori schools fell out of favor; by 1940 the movement had faded and only a few schools remained. -
Maria forced to flee to India
Once World War II began, Montessori was forced to flee to India, where she developed a program called Education for Peace. Her work with the program earned her two Nobel Peace Prize nominations. -
R.I.P Maria
At war’s end Maria returned to Europe, spending her final years in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She died peacefully, in a friend’s garden, on May 6, 1952. She was 81. -
Montessori making an impact today
Today, Montessori's teaching methods continue to "follow the child" all over the globe. Eventhought Maria's way of teaching faded, it is still used in parts of the world today including America. Maria is truly miraclous and will always be remembered as a women who loved children.
