The First Casa dei Bambini

San Lorenzo, 1907

A district in the shadows

At the turn of the twentieth century, Rome was gripped by a mania for building. Among the last plots to be filled was a tract bordered by ancient Roman walls on one side and a cemetery on the other — considered unlucky and long avoided. A building society erected five enormous tenements, then went bankrupt. The buildings stood abandoned for years: roofless, without plumbing, open to the elements.

Thousands of homeless people took shelter in these skeletal structures. The Quartiere di San Lorenzo became known across Italy as a place of shame — a district of crime, disease, and despair. A new society later made minimal renovations and began moving in married couples. Among roughly 10,000 inhabitants, there were just fifty children.

“The Quartiere di San Lorenzo became known as the shame of Italy. People were too afraid to do anything about it; no one knew what happened within those dark walls.” — Dr Maria Montessori

The problem of the children

Fifty children, no school, no teacher

Left alone while their parents worked, the fifty children — aged two to six — roamed the tenement freely. One room was set aside to keep them out of mischief. Maria later recalled it resembled a children’s prison: no toys, no school, no teacher, no resources.

As medical officer of hygiene, Maria agreed to take an interest on the condition that basic standards of hygiene, food, and sanitation be provided. Society ladies raised funds. A woman of forty was put in charge. And so, on 6 January 1907 — the Feast of the Epiphany — the first Casa dei Bambini was inaugurated at 53 Via dei Marsi. Fifty children, dressed alike in stiff blue drill, frightened and crying, entered the room that would change the history of education.

The discovery

Children taught themselves

Maria brought materials from experimental psychology — today’s sensorial materials and exercises of practical life — and instructed the woman in charge not to interfere. What she witnessed was profound. Children began to work with deep concentration. From timid and wild they became sociable and communicative. Their personalities grew. They were happy.

Mothers noticed the change at home: children tidying rooms, asking for flowers in the windows. Six months later, illiterate mothers asked Maria to teach reading and writing. Reluctant at first, she gave them the alphabet in a new way. What followed is known as the explosion into writing — a spontaneous burst of literacy that astonished the world.

The inauguration speech

A vision declared

At the inauguration, Maria read from Isaiah and told those gathered that this work would prove very important — that someday people would come from all parts of the world to see it. The press noted the exaggeration. History proved otherwise.

“One day I looked at them with eyes which saw them differently and I asked myself: ‘Who are you?’ … ‘Perhaps you are those children of whom it was said that they would come to save humanity. If so, I shall follow you.’ Since then, I am she who tries to grasp their message and to follow them.” — Dr Maria Montessori, reflecting in 1942

35 years later

Anniversary address, 6 January 1942

On the 35th anniversary, Maria spoke to her students about San Lorenzo:

“What happened more than thirty years ago now will always remain a mystery to me… It is not possible that it came because of my method, for at the time my method did not yet exist. This is the clearest proof that it was a revelation that emanated from the children themselves.” — Dr Maria Montessori, 6 January 1942

“Anyone who wants to follow my method must understand that he should not honour me but follow the child as his leader.” — Dr Maria Montessori

The legacy of San Lorenzo

From one room to 20,000 schools worldwide

News spread from Rome across Italy and then the world. Journalists, ministers, educators, and eventually royalty came to observe. The Queen of Italy herself visited. Maria was nearly forty, with a flourishing medical career and a professorship. She left both — compelled to follow the children, and to find others who could follow them too.

Through her observations she discovered their astonishing ability to learn. Children taught themselves. That simple truth formed the cornerstone of her lifelong pursuit of educational reform.