"Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life..."

As we kick off the 2023 school year in Zambia, I’m excited to share that we are continuing to provide early childhood education to 400+ three to six year olds in the communities we serve! While developing this program, we examined play-based interventions that used self-directed activities, hands-on materials, and a supportive environment to bring out the best in our students. Globally, this type of play-based initiative has become incredibly widespread for early childhood programs, both here in the United States, but also increasingly in the global south. And this is due, in no small part, to Maria Montessori.

Montessori was an Italian physician and educator who developed the Montessori method of education. Born in the 1870s in Italy, where she went to elementary and secondary school, and was close to her mother. She moved forward with an intention to study medicine in the 1890s, passing her courses and entering into the medical program in 1893. She was met with hostility and harassment, but persisted, eventually graduating from the University of Rome in 1896 as a doctor of medicine.

Montessori went on to work with children experiencing some sort of cognitive delay or disability, and become an advocate for both the rights of women and children with disabilities. Then, in 1906, she was invited to oversee the care and education of a group of children in Rome, and the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s house) was formed. It was here that she worked with children and formed the backbone of her educational method. Montessori believed that children have an innate desire to learn and that they should be given the freedom to explore and discover their interests at their own pace. She also believed that children should be treated with respect and not be forced to conform to a rigid curriculum.

“We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child's spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself. That humanity which is revealed in all its intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration. It is like the sun which appears at dawn or a flower just beginning to bloom. Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.”

The program grew – first within Italy, and then internationally. Today, over a century later, Montessori's method continues to be implemented in schools around the world, and has been shown to be effective in promoting independence, self-motivation, and a love of learning in children. As we start the school year, and as we welcome back our 400 littlest students, we salute her!

-Reshma