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Showing posts from April, 2019

Lending a helping hand

A Montessori child develops a lot of personality traits, which stay with them for life. One such quality is helping others when needed. If you have a child in a Montessori environment, you’d be aware of the concept of mixed age-grouping. Younger children often take older ones to be role models of sorts.  They see how/what the older children are doing and then try to follow suit. This is a development we as directresses and guides are aware of. Last year, came as an eye-opener for me personally, as I witnessed each day, how beautifully it worked on developing children’s social skills. There are so many instances, that re-enforce my belief in this beautiful Montessori Method. Older children assisting younger ones to work with a particular material. Children reading to another child, helping others with their snacks or with winding up their work, reminding them politely about rules, etc. These incidents often take place without us requesting or telling the older children

Grace & Courtesy in a Montessori environment

If you have heard about the Montessori method of education, you must’ve heard about  Grace & Courtesy.  Some of you might have an idea about what actually is grace & courtesy all about; most of you might be wondering what exactly it is.  When we meet prospective parents at Ayelet, when they tour the environment; one question always comes up around grace and courtesy, like; “How do these children work so quietly in the environment without disturbing others?” or “How do these children know how to wait for their turn?”  At times, parents get intimidated, whether their child will be able to adjust in such an environment. As generally people expect 3-4-year-old children being loud and ones who don’t follow rules. Frankly, we don’t have a magic wand which makes these little people behave like this. A lot of work and patience as well as consistency goes into this.  As a Montessori House of Children, we at Ayelet, treat children with utmost respect, without see

Developing independence in children

If your child goes to a Montessori school, you would know, one thing which sets them apart is their independent streak. One of the most common question parents at Ayelet ask “How to ensure we don’t kill that spirit of independence?”  Some parents also complain that children are too independent and don’t understand when parents are in a hurry.  The 2 nd  situation only arises when parents are in a rush.  Let’s deal with the 2 nd situation first, if you know you’re in a hurry tell your children so, that’ll help them prepare in advance. Young children don’t understand rush/hurrying.  Fostering independence in children is something we work at Ayelet every single day, as parents there are a few things you can involve children as young as toddlers/preschoolers with:    Let them set their own table for meals, once finished keep their own dish back in the kitchen. After play, children can clean up their rooms.   Involve children in making their own beds, fo