Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator. She was the first woman to earn a medical degree at the University of Rome, Italy, in 1896. Born in 1870, she developed her method of educating children over a 40-year period of working with and directly observing them. Dr Montessori devoted her life to the education of children and was honored and respected throughout the world at the time of her death in 1952.

The Montessori method is an approach to education, which recognizes and attempts to develop the potential of the young child. This is accomplished by means of a carefully prepared environment, directed by Montessori teachers who have earned their bachelor's degrees and who have been trained in the Montessori method by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). The Montessori environment provides opportunities whereby the child may obtain inner discipline and self-management. Children develop the capacity to take responsibility for themselves, while exploring all areas of learning at their own pace and according to their own interests.