Montessori Great Ideas
Montessori’s work is filled with profound ideas that continue to resonate across generations. This section brings together her core insights—ideas that have shaped not only Montessori education, but global conversations on childhood, peace, and human potential. The Great Ideas are presented in the form of a Montessori glossary—each term with a short definition and seminal quotes from the writings of Maria Montessori. A series of Great Essays will also be published, each designed to illuminate one of Maria Montessori’s major ideas on human development.
The Montessori Glossary has been drawn from the work done by AMI's Scientific Pedagogy Group, AMI Staff and the following papers prepared by David Kahn, Mary Maher Boehnlein and Annette Haines.
Each term is presented with a short definition, seminal quotes from the writings of Maria Montessori and photos both historic and contemporary that illustrate the concepts.
“Although this method bears my name, it is not the result of the efforts of a great thinker who has developed his own ideas. My method is founded on the child himself. Our study has its origins in the child. The method has been achieved by following the child and his psychology.”
Montessori, Maria, The 1946 London Lectures, p. 29
