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Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870. She was an Italian Educator who has left her mark on education today.  Her Montessori Method of education is widely used all around the world. In the USA montessori has been around since the 1920's. Many educationalists say it is the best system for child education. Montessori was a doctor, philosopher and a philanthropist. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times for her work. This great educator died in 1952, leaving us to continue inspiring children with the "Montessori" method of teaching. 

 

Montessori was the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome's Medical school. She trained as a psychiatrist and was interested in educating the mentally retarded and other children with learning difficulties. She had great success when her class of " problematic" * year olds had above average scores in state reading and writing tests. This was described as the "first montessori miracle" 

 

Hearing about Maria's achievements, Romes government asked her to start her own children's school. In 1907 the Casa del Bambini opened in a poor neighborhood of Romes. Montessori experimented with philosophy she called "spontaneous self-development", which meant letting children develop and learn at their own pace. Her method once again met with great success. More schools opened and she gained worldwide fame.