Born in Chiaravalle (Ancona), Italy, in 1870, Maria Montessori lived a life of great achievement. Her life was a beautiful balance of the spiritual and scientific. Throughout her life she was an educator, physician, scientist, philosopher, feminist and humanitarian.  Maria became the first female doctor in Italy.  Throughout her time as a doctor, she worked with children in a variety of settings and noticed that they were starving for experience and began to think about what she could do to help.

In 1901 she went back to school to study the human mind instead of the body.   It was in 1906 that she accepted the challenge to work with a group of sixty young children from working families.  This is where she developed her educational methods that were so successful that even learning disabled children began to pass exams suited for "normal children".

 In 1907 Dr. Montessori had established the first Casa dei Bambini (Children's House) in Rome. Dr. Montessori began to notice that children would absorb knowledge almost effortlessly from their surroundings. This is what inspired her to put forth a new outlook on education. She observed that children are sensorial learners and therefore developed her method and materials in order to support this. Dr. Montessori discovered that these children were fascinated with the puzzles and devices she developed and they spent long periods of time focused and attentive. She succeeded in creating materials that capture a child’s attention and therefore assisting in the process of concentration. Guided by her discovery, she noticed that the children began to teach themselves.

Therefore she designed a "Prepared Environment" in which children could freely choose from a number of developmentally appropriate activities.  To her amazement, 3 and 4 year olds were very happy to learn simple skills like sweeping folding and pouring.  In Dr. Montessori's care, the children learned to read on their own, choose work instead of play, loved order and silence and developed social skills in which they worked together instead of competing against one another. 

Now over a century after Dr. Maria Montessori's first Casa de Bambini in Rome, Montessori education is found all over the world spanning ages from birth to adolescence.  Montessori del Sol is committed to the principles of Dr. Montessori and like her, we strive to nurture each child's individuality and a love of learning.