North Star Montessori Elementary School
School in North Vancouver

Born in Ancona, in 1870, Italy, Maria Montessori was the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome Medical School. Dr. Maria Montessori recognized this, others, and responsible children who learn to respect themselves, self-reliant, and built upon it in developing her method.The Montessori approach to education fosters independent, and their environment because they themselves are respected. They will not, however, exert much effort on tasks that are dictated by others. They work very hard to seek out answers to questions that they find meaningful, then take delight in their personal discoveries. Thus, education is not a tool used to develop basic intellectual skills; it is a preparation for life.Each child is born with a sense of wonder, fascinated by and eager to experience everything about the world. This approach is predicated on a belief that the best learning will occur in an environment supportive of an individual's unique development. This is achieved through purposeful movement, exploration and discovery of their environment.A Montessori education fosters independent, self-motivated and goal-directed children with a life long love of learning. She believed that a child's work is to create the person he/she will become. Montessori based this program on her observations that children learn best in an environment filled with developmentally appropriate materials that provide experiences that contribute to the growth of self-motivated, independent learners. In 1907 she opened A Children's House, a childcare centre in the San Lorenzo slums of Rome. Over time she began to teach, preparing materials, taking notes and reflecting on her observations and work. Upon graduation, she specialized in treating children. They learn to appreciate differences and practice acceptance of others because they are each treated as special individuals.