Maria was born in 1870, was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree.
She worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology. She believed
that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a
"blank slate" waiting to be written upon. Her main contributions to the work of
those of us raising and educating children are in these areas:
- Preparing the most natural and life supporting
environment for the child.
- Observing the child living freely in this environment .
- Continually adapting the environment in order that
the child may fulfill his
greatest potential
-- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
"The truly educated individual continues to learn long after the years spent in
the classroom because of a motivation and love of learning"
