Brookfield Academy builds its classrooms on the principles of
Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952), an Italian pediatrician whose research in early childhood and elementary education during the early 1900s gave birth to an educational system that has since grown worldwide. Her background led her to approach education more from the scientific level than the accepted academic standard. The classroom became her laboratory where she observed children. She was constantly testing the validity of her concepts. Her materials and techniques advanced the method of educating all children, learning disabled through gifted, for beyond previous practice.

Dr. Montessori believed that by placing children in a stimulating, specially prepared environment, their natural curiosity would help them become self-motivated learners. She stressed individually paced learning, freedom of choice and movement, and the importance of self-discovery. Education was preparation for life, not merely a search for intellectual skills. To this end, Dr. Montessori designed materials for all subject areas and activities which children experience sensorially and interactively in a multi-age, multi-ethnic classroom setting.

The teacher prepares the environment, programs, and activity, and then functions as a reference person and exemplar, providing encouragement. "Never let children risk failure until they have a reasonable chance of success," Dr. Montessori said. At every step of learning, the teaching material is designed to test understanding and correct errors. Patterns of time management, concentration, task completion, and thoroughness established in early years produce a competent learner in later years.
Montessori education was introduced in the United States in 1912 when Alexander Graham Bell established one of the first schools in his own home. American enthusiastically welcomed Dr. Montessori in 1915 to establish classrooms for the World Exhibition in San Francisco, California. Today the Montessori method thrives in the United States, with more than 3,000 schools established since 1957.

"We had prepared a place for children
where a diffused culture could be assimilated,
without any need for direct instruction . . .
Yet these children learned to read and write before
they were five,
and no one had given them any lessons."
~Maria Montessori