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Who was Maria Montessori?

Maria Montessori (1870–1952) was an Italian educator and physician who founded the Montessori preschool method of teaching. She was also the first Italian woman to earn a medical degree. In 1900 Montessori pioneered teaching methods to develop sensory, motor, and intellectual skills in mentally challenged kindergarten and primary school students. Under her direction these previously "unteachable" pupils mastered basic skills such as reading and writing and were able to pass the standard education tests given to all Italian grade school students.

Montessori based her theories on her observations of standard educational practices. She felt that traditional methods—teaching by rote (repetition and memory), restraining and silencing students, and relying on reward and punishment—were detrimental to child development. In its place she developed an alternative system called "scientific...

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1. Literacy
   1. When did artwork begin?
   2. When did people begin to write?
   3. When was the first alphabet created?
   4. Who invented paper?
   5. How old is the oldest illuminated manuscript?
   6. What was the first book?
   7. Why is Johannes Gutenberg considered the pioneer of modern printing?
   8. When was the first newspaper published?
   9. What is muckraking journalism?
2. Education
   1. When were the first schools established?
   2. How old is the idea of public schools?
   3. When did the first kindergarten open?
   4. Who was Maria Montessori?
   5. How has the separation of church and state affected public schools in the United States?
   6. When were schools in the United States desegregated?
   7. When did higher education begin?
   8. When was the first university founded in Europe?
   9. What was the first university in the Americas?
3. Literature
   1. How old are Aesop's fables?
   2. Who were the Brothers Grimm?
   3. What is known about Homer?
   4. Is Virgil's Aeneid really an unfinished work?
   5. Why is Beowulf considered an important work?
   6. Why is The Divine Comedy such an important work, and what role does the character Beatrice play?
   7. What is the importance of Canterbury Tales?
   8. Why is Shakespeare still so widely studied?
   9. What was William Shakespeare's formal education?
   10. What is a poet laureate?
   11. What does the term Machiavellian mean?
   12. What were John Milton's contributions to English literature?
   13. Why was Voltaire exiled from France?
   14. What did Johann Goethe contribute to world literature?
   15. How did a Frenchman become an influential observer of early American democracy?
   16. Which came first, the word "Scrooge" or Charles Dickens' character "Scrooge"?
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   19. Why are Jane Austen's novels still so popular today?
   20. What is the greatest American novel?
   21. Why was James Joyce's Ulysses banned in the United States?
   22. What is Marcel Proust's claim to literary fame?
   23. Who was the first distinctively American poet?
   24. What was the Harlem Renaissance?
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   2. Why was the Medici family important to the Renaissance?
   3. Did Michelangelo study anatomy?
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   6. Why is Rembrandt ranked among the first "modern" artists?
   7. What does the term "impressionism" mean?
   8. Is Claude Monet considered the "father" of impressionism?
   9. What are some of Pablo Picasso's contributions to modern art?
   10. Why did people find Henri Matisse's work shocking?
   11. Who made photography an art form?
5. Architecture
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6. Theater
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   6. Why is the Globe Theater so famous?
   7. What was vaudeville?
7. Music And Dance
   1. Who was Johann Sebastian Bach?
   2. How old was Mozart when he composed his first work?
   3. Was Beethoven really deaf for most of his life?
   4. What does Wagnerian mean?
   5. Why were audiences so hostile to Arnold Schoenberg's music?
   6. Why is Béla Bartók's music important?
   7. Is Igor Stravinsky considered the most important composer of the twentieth century?
   8. Who is credited with inventing jazz?
   9. Is blues music older than jazz?
   10. When did country music first emerge?
   11. Is bluegrass a distinctly American form of music?
   12. Who was Elvis Presley?
   13. Who were The Beatles?
   14. What is rock and roll?
   15. Why is the Ballets Russes so famous?
   16. Who was Balanchine?
   17. How did modern dance begin?
   18. Who founded the Dance Theater of Harlem?
   19. How long has the waltz been danced?
8. Movies And Television
   1. When was the first movie shown?
   2. What are the milestones in motion picture history?
   3. What was the Hollywood "Black List"?
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   5. What was the radio's cultural impact?
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   14. What is satellite television?
   15. What is a DVD?
   16. How old are card games?
9. Games
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   2. What is contract bridge?
   3. What is mah jongg?
   4. Who was Edmond Hoyle?
   5. How old is chess?
   6. How are pool and billiards different?
   7. What is Go?
   8. When were the first Olympic Games?
   9. When were the first Olympic Winter Games?
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