Today, on almost every continent, there are schools adopting in spirit and practice the ideas of Maria Montessori who ranks with Pestalozzi, Froebel, and Dewey in the field of education. Her approach to early childhood education can be linked to the Thomistic dictum that there is nothing in the intellect which is not first in the senses. In this article, the author discusses the important elements present in the Montessori method, as well as Dr. Montessori's educational aims. An environment with "built in" discipline teaches the small child a great deal about physical self-mastery. It is not the verbal emphasis that abounds in the Montessori method, but the sensory. Dr. Montessori's educational aims were twofold: to help children develop and to help them adapt themselves to the physical conditions of their environment and to the social requirements dictated by the customs of the group in which they live. As the Montessori approach has been modified in every culture in which it is found, some modifications would be necessary in the U.S., but the possibility for the success of such an approach seems unquestionable. Like children everywhere, American children can benefit from what Maria Montessori has offered in the rest of the world.