Early in the twentieth century, Dr. Maria Montessori, Italy's first woman physician, developed educational materials and methods based on her belief that children learn best by doing, not by passively accepting other people's ideas and pre-existing knowledge. It was an innovative learning idea and means the active personal pursuit of many different experiences: physical, social, emotional, cognitive. With the materials Montessori devised, an environment in which such learning takes place can be created.

Montessori believed learning should occur in multi-age classrooms where children at various stages of development learn from and with each other. Her developmentally appropriate approach was designed to fit each child instead of making each child fit the program. Its success with children from all social strata and those with special needs has attracted worldwide interest.

Montessori teachers know that children learn more by touching, seeing, smelling, tasting, and exploring than by just listening. Teacher education centers prepare teachers to create dynamic, interactive learning environments that encourage each child to reason, cooperate, collaborate, negotiate, and to understand. The goal for teachers as well as students is the development of an autonomous individual, competent in all areas of life, not merely someone with the "right" answers.