Here at Adobe Montessori, we are rooted in the principles laid out by Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, scientist, and eventual educator from the late 1800′s. The style and philosophy of early to mid-childhood education has become renowned worldwide, with more than 22,000 schools adopting aspects of her developmental work, now present in more than a hundred countries. Here is the first part of her story:
A child of a mother who came from a family of wealth and prestige, and a father who was a Ministry of Finance official, Maria was born in 1870, and was reared firmly as a Roman Catholic. Due to her family’s prowess and prominence, Maria was given the rare opportunity for a female to receive an above-average education, and she excelled. She won many achievements, and was given even rarer access to attend an all-boys engineering school when she turned 13.
Her continued scholarship allowed her the opportunity to attend a technical institute based on Leonardo da Vinci’s teachings, and her hard work eventually granted her the opportunity to apply to attend the prestigious University of Rome. Although she eventually garnered entrance to the university, Maria’s application was originally turned down simply because she was a woman. She was unfairly required to take and nearly ace several additional high-level courses…which she did.
After an arduous application and proving process, she gained entrance to the school. By this time, she had decided to change her focus from mathematics and engineering to medicine. Despite new subject matter, she rose to the top of her class, and graduated in 1896. She had earned nearly perfect marks, and won several prizes and even authored a few well-respected research writings to her name. Upon her graduation, she entered the field of doctoral academia…
The next part of her story continues in the next Adobe Montessori blog, entitled “Maria Montessori: Her Career”