"Our care of the children should be governed not by the desire to 'make them learn things', but by the endeavour always to keep burning within them the light which is called intelligence." Dr. Maria Montessori   Montessori Explained The creator of the Montessori Method, Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952), was Italy's first female physician and it was this scientific background which enabled her to study and better understand the holistic developmental needs of children. Montessori is centred on the principle that aged between birth and six years every child has a great thirst for knowledge and an enormous capacity to absorb information when given the freedom and independence to learn at their own speed. Children are unique and individual competent beings who want to do things for themselves, so the Montessori Method focuses on fostering self-sufficiency and confidence to explore the world around them.  Dr. Montessori believed, contrary to conventional wisdom, that children are not passive vessels that have to be filled; rather the role of the educator is to direct the child in the path of his own natural development. This is why Montessori teachers are referred to as Directresses or Directors. Their task is to reveal to the child the rules of the society in which they live and help the child perfect the tools they need to be an effective member of that society. Montessori education is therefore an aid for life that helps develop the whole personality of the child. In a Montessori environment, children have an immense freedom to choose and make their own decisions, within the limits that promote positive behaviour, courtesy, and respect for others, equipment, and their surroundings. Children graduate from the Montessori environment as dynamic, natural learners with a deeply-rooted desire for knowledge, a capacity for independent thought and a confidence to discover solutions to problems by themselves. Montessori endows each child with firm foundation for later education and life.  Dr. Montessori’s life work has become an influential global educational movement, and many of her observations and innovative pedagogical theories have become widely recognised in the educational sector.