The Montessori approach to learning is much discussed, yet little understood because it means different things to different people.  “Montessori” is not a trademark or franchise.  It is an approach or a philosophy that is implemented in many different ways, as one might interpret very differently “Buddhist” or “vegetarian” or “optimist.”  Though any center or program may call itself Montessori without any oversight, a "Montessori program" usually means one that is directed by an individual trained in one of a number of Montessori institutes.
 

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was the first female physician in Italy.  Early in her career, she was assigned to manage the care of street urchins in Rome, the children of the working poor.  She became famous for the remarkable progress made by these slum children in her original learning environments that she called "children's houses" (casa dei bambini).  She was responsible for many innovations that are today taken for granted (e.g., child-sized furniture, manipulatives for teaching reading and mathematics).  She traveled to India during World War II and further developed her theories there.  She inspired the first Montessori school in the U.S. during her postwar visit to New York.  Much of her innovative curriculum and learning equipment is still used today in Montessori schools throughout the world.   

The cornerstone of the Montessori approach is a respect for the child as an individual striving for independence.  The role of the Montessori teacher is to observe each child carefully and to facilitate learning through the child's own experiences.  The teacher provides order to a child's learning—not to dictate what should be learned, but to help structure the process by which everything and anything can be learned.  Even today, more than 90 years after the creation of Maria Montessori's centers, her program remains the only organized, sequential, and individualized preschool and elementary school curriculum that has been scientifically tested and proven to work.

The HeadsUp! Montessori program has been updated to incorporate activities that are an integral part of modern American society and that are preparatory for further learning.  As implemented in the HeadsUp! preschool and elementary school programs, the Montessori approach is characterized by an open classroom filled with individual and small group work areas as well as a large central area for group circle activities.  The open shelves are filled with an extensive set of unique Montessori learning materials organized by area (practical life, sensorial, language, mathematics, and culture) and sequenced from most basic to more complex.  In addition, there are areas for other activities including art and imaginative play as well as for other preschool play materials.