-
Maria Montessori's Birth
Maria Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Ancona, Italy to Alessandro and Renilde Montessori. -
Period: to
School Years
1886 Graduates Regia Scuola Tecnica secondary technical school. 1890 Graduates Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci.
1896 First woman to graduate from the University of Rome as a doctor of medicine. -
University of Rome Psychiatric Clinic
Montessori begins working as a voluntary assistant at the University of Rome Psychiatric Clinic in 1897. She impart work with with feebleminded and delinquent children whom she saw as holding great potential. -
Scuola Magistrale Ortofrenica
Maris Montessori is assigned codirector of Scuola Magistrale Ortofrenica a medical-pedagogical institute for training teachers in the care and education of feebleminded and delinquent children. The institute included a practice-demonstration school with twenty two enrolled children. At the end of the term, Montessori enrolls some of the 22 children in Italy’s reading and writing state examinations. The children preform as well as or better than the normal children. -
Searching for Answers
The Italian state exams results are concerning to Montessori because normal children are being held to standards that feebleminded children can meet or surpass. Montessori ends up leaving Scuola Magistrale Ortofrenica for personal reasons and uses her time to begin a mostly self directed study of anthropology, psychology, and education. She is searching for the the reasons why school are failing children and the answers for how to change this. -
Casa dei Bambini
When asked to provide daycare supervision for children in a San Lorenzo housing project, Montessori takes the opportunity to test and perfect the teaching methods and materials she has been creating since 1901. January 1907 the first Casa dei Bambini opens
April 1907 a second Casa dei Bambini opens. The Children's Houses are a success. -
First Book & Training Course
Montessori publishes her first book detailing the teaching methods and materials used in the Case dei Bambini, Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all'educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambin (Later this book would be retitled "The Montessori Method"). Montessori also runs her teacher first training course at Città di Castello in Italy. -
International Training Course & USA Visit
Montessori and The American Montessori Committee organize the first international Montessori teacher training course.
Montessori ran the course out of her apartment in Rome. December 1913 Montessori Visits the United States for a 3 week lecture series; two lectures were given at Carnegie Hall. -
Montessori's Handbook & Kilpatrick
In response numerous unauthorized texts being written to explain Maria Montessori's methods and materials, Montessori writes "Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook" her own "practical popular explanation of my methods," American pedagogist William Kilpatrick, criticizes "The Montessori Method" in his book "The Montessori System Examined."
These criticisms contributed to the loss of enthusiasm for Montessori's Methods in the United States, which would not be revived until the 1950s. -
Panama-Pacific International Exposition
Montessori's makes her second trip to the United States. Montessori shows a class of students working inside a glass pavilion at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. -
Period: to
Lectures, Training Courses, & Visiting Travels
From 1916 and 1939 Maria Montessori spent her time promoting her teaching methods and materials. She lectured, ran training courses, and visited Montessori Children's Houses in:
Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Argentina, Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Scotland, France, and India. -
Period: to
School Closures
By 1920 all Montessori Schools in the Unites States closed.
By 1933 the Nazi movement closed all Montessori Schools in Germany.
In 1934 Mussolini closed all Montessori schools in Italy in one day. -
Association Montessori Internationale
Maria and her son Mario Montessori found the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) to oversee Montessori schools, societies, and teacher trainings across the globe. -
Period: to
Internment
In 1940 Italy enters WWII on the side of Germany. Maria Montessori, who just began a trip in India, was interned by the British colonial government as an enemy alien. From 1940 until WWII ends in1946 Montessori was held in India.
During this time, she ran five teacher training courses and published two books. -
Period: to
Release
Upon being released from India in 1946, Montessori returned to her global work. She returned to Italy to help reopen Montessori Schools, she ran teacher training courses in London, India, and Pakistan, and she visited and lectured in: Scotland, Great Britain, India, Celyon (now Sri Lanka), Italy, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands -
Last Teacher Training Course
Maria Montessori ran what would be her last teacher training course, in Austria. -
Maria Montessori's Death
Maria Montessori died from a cerebral hemorrhage on May 6, 1952 in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. An hour before her death it was suggested that due to her health, she should arrange for someone else to give her lectures in Africa. Montessori's response was “Am I no longer of any use then?”
