Maria Montessori

胡英

In 1894 Maria Montessori became the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. However， she is remembered for her ideas about education， not for being a doctor. Her work with children began because she was a doctor. As director of a hospital she became interested in children with mental retardation. These children were slow learners， not very intelligent. She believed that these children could learn. She gave these children ideas to think about， activities to do with their hands， and ways to feel good about themselves. And the children began to learn！ Some children were in her hospital because their parents couldnt take care of them， because the children couldnt learn. But Montessori showed that they could learn！ Soon her slow children passed the Italian public school test for sixth-grade students. Soon everyone in Italy knew about Dr. Maria Montessoris ideas about education.

Montessori believed that her methods would work well with children of normal intelligence， too. In 1907 she opened the first Montessori school， the Childrens House， in a poor part of Rome. Observers came to see the children at this school. Before the age of five， the children had learned to read and write. They liked working more than playing. And they could focus on an activity and not get tired.

For Montessori， the adults in a school were not just teachers. They were classroom leaders and directors. Their job was to direct the interests of the children， to help them develop. A director observes a child. When the child shows signs of being ready to learn something new， the director helps the child begin.

Soon many people in other places heard about the Montessori school in Rome. And her ideas spread. However， by 1934， Maria Montessori left Italy. The government there was not friendly to her ideas. She went to Spain for two years and then to the Netherlands. In Amsterdam， she established a special school for “Montessori” teachers. Later she lived in both India and Sri Lanka. Everywhere she went， she started more Childrens Houses， and her ideas of teaching children spread all over the world.

Complete the following sentences.

1. Montessoris first students were ___.

2. The first Montessori school was in ___.

3. In a Montessori school， the adults are called ___.

4. Children with mental retardation ___.

5. Maria Montessori left Italy in ___.

6. When she left Italy， Montessori first went to live in ___.

7. The first name for the schools that Maria Montessori started was ___.

8. The first Montessori school for teachers was in ___.