The basic idea in the Montessori philosophy of education is that all children carry unseen within themselves the person they will become. In order to develop their unique physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual powers to the fullest, they must have freedom; a freedom achieved through order and self-discipline.

The world of children is full of sights and sounds which initially appear chaotic. This changes as the children develop the skills necessary to classify and categorize their sensory input, so that they may create order. They learn through experience to distinguish among the sensory impressions that bombard them, and eventually mastery over themselves and the environment is achieved.

To aid the children in this momentous task, Dr. Montessori developed what she called the "prepared environment", for it maintains a certain kind of order, a framework through which to view and evaluate sensory input. This environment allows children to develop at their own speed, according to their own capacities and natural interest,

and exposes the children to the world environment, scaled to their size and broken down into their component parts. Children focus on how they do what they do and on their own growth and development rather than how they do what they do relative to others; they help one another to mutual achievement rather that competing amongst themselves. To introduce stress and competition at this age is to add a great impediment to the natural joy of discovery and the love of learning.

The structure of Montessori learning involves the use of may materials with which the child may work independently. Dr. Montessori emphasizes that the hand is the chief teacher of the children - they learn by doing. Children develop concentration and good working skills by fixing their attention on the task they are performing with their hands. Thus the environment is equipped with apparatus that the children may manipulate to discover many concepts that later can be applied to a variety of circumstances and situations. These materials often contains a control of error so that the child can understand and correct any errors in perception without adult intervention.