The Montessori method's a child-centered, alternative educational method based on the child development theories originated by Italian educator Maria Montessori (1870–1952) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Primarily applied in preschool and elementary school settings (and occasionally in middle- and high school), its method of education's characterised by emphasising self-directed activity, on the part of the child, and clinical observation, on the part of the teacher… (More on Montessori)