Sixth Grade
Worksheets
A Montessori School
Julie was about to take a tour of a school with her mother. They were trying to find one for her little sister Katie. They had visited several schools since they moved into the new town, but this one was different. It was considered a Montessori school.
"Why does this school have such an unusual name?" Julie asked.
"It's named after the person who developed a special educational philosophy, Maria Montessori," responded Mom.
"Who's Maria Montessori?" Julie asked.
"She was the first woman to receive a degree in medicine in Italy. She lived during the late 1800s until the mid 1900s. She worked first with special needs children and then children with normal intelligence. She set up schools and lectured around the world and wrote many books. She was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize," Mom said.
"What was so different about her school?" Julie asked.
Mom answered, "She believed education was a natural process, not just what a teacher teaches. She believed educators should follow the child. The environment should be natural. The teacher can prepare the environment for activity but should not interfere. Education was obtained through experience in Maria Montessori's mind. She didn't believe children were blank slates that needed to be written on. Instead, she believed children have potential waiting to be revealed. Her method permitted children to do what was of interest to them, thereby developing initiative and self-reliance."
"How come I never heard of such a school?" Julie asked.
