Maria Montessori

Hello! My name is Maria Montessori. A long, long time ago, I was a little girl who lived in a place called Italy. I loved to ask lots of questions! I wanted to know all about numbers and how everything in the world worked. I liked to figure things out all by myself, like a little detective.

When I grew up, I became a doctor because I wanted to help people, especially children. I saw that children are the best learners! I thought learning should be fun and exciting, not boring. In the year 1907, I opened my very own school. I called it Casa dei Bambini, which means 'Children's House.' In my special school, children could pick what they wanted to play with. They learned by touching, building, and discovering things all on their own.

I believed that every single child is smart and full of wonder. They just need the right tools to help them explore! So, I made special puzzles, colorful beads to help with counting, and fun blocks for building. Soon, wonderful people from all over the world heard about my schools. They wanted to make happy learning places for children in their towns, too.

I lived to be 81 years old. Today, my ideas are still helping children learn and grow all around the world. There are special schools called Montessori schools where kids get to be curious explorers every single day, just like I hoped.