Ayelet Montessori

 If you are a parent of a young child and exploring preschools in Bengaluru, you will notice many schools claiming to be Montessori. But here’s the truth: calling yourself a Montessori school and being an authentic Montessori environment are two very different things. Unfortunately, many preschools use the Montessori label as a marketing strategy. But a visit to the classroom often reveals something else: Substandard or imitation Montessori materials Locked shelves with limited child access Untrained teachers directing instead of guiding A lack of observation and individualized learning Traditional practices like punishments and rewards When a school is not Montessori, these practices may simply reflect its chosen method. But when a school claims to be Montessori while not following the philosophy, it becomes a serious concern. 🚨 Why authenticity in Montessori education is important because Montessori is more than materials or mixed-age classrooms—it is a philosophy of respect, in...

Montessori learning is unmatched because children are empowered to explore at their own pace, follow their natural curiosity, and build deep, lasting understanding through hands-on experiences in a thoughtfully prepared environment.   Introducing language to young children at the right time and in the right way can truly shape their entire learning journey. In the Montessori approach, nothing is random — every lesson, material, and experience is carefully thought out to support the child’s natural development. And yes, we mean materials — not toys. Each one is a gift from Dr. Maria Montessori herself, designed after years of observing how children actually learn best. One such gem is the Large Moveable Alphabet . It’s a beautiful, hands-on material that does so much — from building phonemic awareness to strengthening early writing skills, spelling, and even confidence. Here's something we often say in Montessori: writing comes before reading . And the Large Moveable Alphabet...

When we work in an authentic Montessori environment, we see magic in front of our eyes every single day. We not only see these children grow taller, more confident, loose their first tooth; the best part is to see them evolve into individuals with their distinct moods, personality traits, behaviour… in short seeing their entire self develop in front of us. It’s amazing to see little Ayeletians become such an integral part of the Ayelet community in their journey spanning over more than 3 years.  During the time they spend at Ayelet, they take up different roles. From being unsure little toddlers to being confident, caring, aware leaders.  They work, play, help, celebrate, support, share, talk, analyse, understand together as a community. Working together and learning from one another.  The time they spend at Ayelet Montessori, they spend being together as one big community. The care, compassion, love they share for one another...

Whenever someone talks about the Montessori Methodology, you are bound to hear the term “Follow the child”. What does this term exactly mean and how we work at individualizing the curriculum? At Ayelet Montessori, we promise to offer complete and total development of each Ayeletian. This means all-round development, academics and beyond. Each aspect is given as much importance. Like in a Montessori environment, at Ayelet, we pay attention on a child-focused approach. An authentic Montessori environment encourages love for learning, curiosity and emotional good health of the child. We at the ‘Child’s Happy Place’ know these traits will help the child grow into the best version of him/herself.  This is possible due to our individualized programs. It all starts each academic year when the Montessori guides discuss the students who are continuing from the previous year/s and the new students as well. The month of June and most of July goes in understanding the students (n...

We touch the lives of little Ayeletians for a few years, but these are the most crucial years of their lives. At Ayelet, we ensure these children learn staying happy, secure, healthy and curious.  We witness so many magical moments in our lives; this makes our work as educators so memorable… In the recent discussion we had about birds, children talked about their favourite birds. They spoke about peacocks, parrots, pigeons, nightingale, hummingbirds, ducks, geese, etc. After we were done discussing, Falak told all of them, “you all have made us so proud, because all of you worked really really hard and informed us about so many birds. Thank you!” All children instantly came towards Falak and gave a big group hug. The picture below cannot do justice to the moment we shared. This is just one of many such moments. We absolutely feel blessed. 

What do you think of your child’s first day of school? Dreadful, sad, full of tears, anxiety? As a parent, you start feeling anxious the moment it dawns upon you that your little one will be in another environment without you.  If you are a first-time parent, the feeling is worse. Well, one thing we need to understand is that these are normal feelings. Here are a few tips which might help you to deal with those dreadful initial days.  Discuss it with your child and treat those initial days as a fun ride. Plan your day ahead, develop a fun routine around it, which belongs to you and your child. A walk from school to home, discussing about what s/he will wear, etc.  Plan and go with the plan, the person who drops the child to school ideally should be someone who the child isn’t the closest to. Say a quick good bye, develop your own quick drop off routine and leave. Your child might cry, try to cling on to you, but try and not hang around there where you...

When you’re a Primary Montessori Guide, you cannot be prepared enough or plan enough of what’s in store for you. Young children can bring different experiences every single day. One thing which stays pretty consistent and which children love is reading and being read to.  At Ayelet, reading is a very important part of an Ayeletian’s day.  During our read-alouds we read, discuss pictures, the story and children also do art around the book they’ve read. It’s a beautiful experience seeing a bunch of 2-6-year-old children listening to stories from around the world and trying to comprehend what the author of the book is trying to say. Seeing their eyes go wide at certain moments or hearing those giggles have the power to turn any day into an amazing one. Trying to see them sneak in a word or two they heard during the session in their daily conversation is pure magic.  The younger ones just might be looking at pictures, but the older ones get excited as the story build...

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 child...

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 utm...

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.   Involv...

Parents are our partners in Ayelet, our Super Saturday sessions are organised to ensure parents are aware and informed. On the 7th of July 2018, we organised a session on  Montessori Language  Curriculum .  We understand, language development is crucial and in a Montessori environment our plan works at meeting all the needs of a young child.  We told parents about how language is interwoven in the curriculum, discuss the amazing Montessori materials, and what their child is expected to get exposed to. We informed parents about the direct and indirect preparation, explosion into  writing & reading, grammar, 2nd and 3rd languages etc.  Parents had many queries  which were also taken care of.  We ended the session by telling parents how important it is to read books to their children, communicate with them and listen to them. An enriching session with happy and satisfied parents.

We aim at making Ayelet a ‘child’s happy place’, this can only be achieved when the child feels loved and secure in his/her school. This also requires team Ayelet to partner  with the child’s primary caregivers. It’s essential parents, children and people at Ayelet work as a community for the best of the child.  This partnership starts with the admission process, where we are extremely clear about what Ayelet offers to the child and about the admission process. We don’t ‘interview’ the child, but we interact with the parents to understand how well they are aligned with the Montessori method and  with Ayelet. We also encourage prospective parents to spend some time in Ayelet to understand us better, before taking an informed decision.  We, as a school believe in being as open and transparent about the child to the parents. Our regular parent information sessions ensure parents are informed about the Montessori method and parenting, for them to partner w...

‘Normalisation’ a term which you will hear often in a Montessori environment. This very term at times confuses parents, specially the ones who don’t know much about the method. Normalisation doesn’t imply that a child or set of children aren’t normal, we are no one to say that. Then what does normalisation mean? Normalisation is a very special process in the overall development of a child. When a child is able to concentrate on an activity, when s/he works freely in their Montessori environment. These children are self-deciplined and peaceful. It is a stage where the child's will, intelligence and coordination of movements work together.   It is a very important stage of development. A child in this stage of development enjoys his/her work.  In The Absorbent Mind, Dr. Montessori says the following about normalisation “the most important single result of our whole work.” Children go through 3 stages of normalisation in a Montessori environment: A child w...

“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.” - Dr. Maria Montessori If you have read about the Montessori method, heard some people talk about it and/or have enrolled your little one in a Montessori school, chances are you would have heard about Respecting the child. Respect is an integral aspect of the method. It sounds amazing, but is it easy to respect a little someone? Many times, adults do not think, children can be respected or deserve respect. We often interrupt when a child is talking, or tell them to “be quite”; we tell (at times force) them into doing things they don’t want to; we don’t even ask their permission before hugging them; even ignoring them is disrespect. In an authentic Montessori, from the time we greet the child in the morning to the time we say goodbye; we ensure the child is treated with respect. As a parent at home, or else where, you may ...