Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future - Maria Montessori
I consider parenting a perpetual challenge. Its as if you are in a hurdle race and for crossing one, you are rewarded by another. We spent last few months, yes it took months, deciding on the kind of school we want our daughter to attend. And we are thrilled for our preschooler who will be joining a great Montessori School in the area this fall. How did we decide we want to take this route? For starters, I have been a Montessori trained teacher and believe it works wonders in flowering little ones potential. The method doesn't claim to make your child a genius, no one can do that. The central idea of the theory is to give each individual the chance to become an independent, secure and balanced human being. Children are exposed to variety of material that facilitate learning but aren't forced to learn. The teacher's role in a Montessori classroom is of an active observer who would only step in if help is needed. The teacher doesn't control the class rather the choices are only limited by the available material in the environment. The program is designed to allow development at one's own pace. I was such a slow learner in math and the fastest in other areas but no one in school allowed me to spend that much needed extra time to understand the mathematical formulas. The teacher just kept on moving forward because she had to complete the syllabus. I hated math throughout school. It seems such a no-brainer that how can one expect a similar pace of learning when there are 30 individuals in a class! Montessori respects individual differences and the environment provides children with an ability to work at their own pace in an unhurried and unstressed way. Dr Maria says "Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment". When we toured the school, the whole time I kept on thinking that how lucky our daughter would be if she gets to spend time in such a beautiful environment and how I wished if I could go to school all over again!
