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“The education of children does not aim at preparing them for school, but for life.”
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Maria Montessori:
The Champion of the Child
Born in Italy in 1870 Maria Montessori was a pioneer in early childhood education. She was the first woman to become a doctor in Italy and was a woman who was well advanced of her times.
She focused on a child centered education where she believed that education is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment. She believed in providing an environment that cultivates the child’s own natural desire to learn.
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Dr. Montessori believed in the importance of providing an environment so that the child’s experience could be enriched. This is what is known as the Prepared Environment. |
| Some of her principles in education included that children have absorbent minds, that is they absorb without discrimination from the environment. They learn through their senses and go through sensitive periods. Children must have freedom to choose what to learn and when. |
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