Abstract :
To find the evidence for the effectiveness of Montessori in improving children development. Systematic search was done on the PubMed, Cochrane library, Web of science, PEDro, Scopus and Google Scholar databases till May 2021. Manual search was also done to find relevant studies. Two authors independently assessed retrieved records and studies against the eligibility criteria specified for this review, then extracted data from the included studies and assess studies methodological quality by using the methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINOR) scale for the clinical studies and the national institute of health (NIH) tool for observational designs. Eighteen studies were included; fifteen on normal children and three on children with communication disorders, autism and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). Quality of 5 clinical studies rated as moderate and 7 was poor, while the quality of 5 observational studies was fair and only 1 was poor. These included studies have different outcomes including gross and fine motor skills, executive function, activity of daily living and cognitive skills. Meta-analysis was not appropriate because of the included studies heterogeneity descriptive analysis indicated that Montessori seems to be effective in improving child development. Based on this review findings the present evidence promise an effective role of Montessori for improving child development. More well-designed primary studies are recommended to find clear evidence.
