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Show Page 16 THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume VI, Issue X September 1, 2002 Ogden Valley Montessori School Continues the Century-Old Tradition of Maria Montessori, a Pioneer of Enlightened Education On September 17, the Ogden Valley Montessori School will open its doors at 5460 E, 2200 N, Eden, near Eden Park. For Amanda Scheuermann, Director of the school, this is a culmination of a life-long dream. “Dr. Maria Montessori was a pioneer in the field of education,” says Scheuermann. “She developed a system so advanced that it even surpasses today’s standard educational results.” Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Italy, in 1870, and became the first female physician in Italy in 1896. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology and education and based her educational methods on scientific observation of children’s learning processes. She saw a great need for reform in the educational system of her day. Maria Montessori’s goal was to develop the whole personality of the child. She believed that children learn best by doing, not by passively accepting other people’s ideas. She also believed that each child is born with a unique potential. “A child’s work,” she wrote, “is to create the man he will become. An adult works to perfect the environment, but a child works to perfect himself.” Based on her experience, Dr. Montessori founded a new educational method in 1907. Prior to this, in 1898, Dr. Montessori became the director of a school for children with mental disabilities. She spent eleven hours a day at the school, often working late into the night. After two years under her guidance, these children took a standard public school examination and passed successfully. Educators called Dr. Montessori a miracle worker. In 1906 Montessori founded a school for the children of working parents in the San Lorenzo slum district of Rome. She began this school with 60 unruly children under the age of six. The school became known as the Casa dei Bambini, or “Children’s House.” She observed her students’ almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating materials she provided. Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Montessori developed was based on what she observed children doing “naturally,” by themselves, unassisted by adults. By 1907, the “Montessori School” became a reality. The news of her amazing success soon spread around the world, and people came from far and wide to see the children for themselves. Gradually, her work became known and practiced world-wide. She refused to patent her name or work because she wanted to see this approach to life grow freely, and it has. Today, the American Montessori Society (AMS) certifies graduates of their yearlong course to ensure the pure Montessori method and tradition flourishes. Maria Montessori made her first visit to the United States in 1913, the same year that Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel founded the Montessori Educational Association at their Washington, DC, home. Among her other strong supporters were Thomas Edison and Helen Keller. In 1915, She was invited to appear at Carnegie Hall in New York. She was then invited to set up a classroom at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco so that more interested people could observe her methods. In 1922, she was appointed a government inspector of schools in her native Italy, but because of her opposition to Mussolini’s fascism, she was forced to leave Italy in 1934. She founded a series of teacher training courses in India in 1939. During World War II, she and her son Mario Montessori were interned as enemy aliens, although she was still permitted to conduct her courses. After the war, Dr. Montessori’s concern with education for peace intensified, and she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times: in 1949, 1950, and 1951. Her motto was: “Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education.” Maria Montessori died in 1952 in Noordwijk, Holland, after training directors in many countries, and having devoted her life to the interrelated work of peace and education. Now, nearly a century after the first “Casa dei Bambini”, there are about 4,000 Montessori schools in the United States and about 7,000 worldwide. The Ogden Valley Montessori School will continue this legacy. For more information, please call Amanda Scheuermann at 391-1656 or visit www.ovms.org Farmer’s Market through October Going Out of Busine ss SALE Thank you Ogden Valley for your support All Nursery Stock Fertilizers, Insecticides &Gift Items 40 - 60% OFF while supplies last Everything Must Go ! 8588 East 100 South Huntsville UT 84317 745-3130 Once in Huntsville - 1 mile east on the road to Monte Cristo Hours: Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Closed Sunday |