Ayelet Montessori

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...

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...

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 ...

Meeting new parents is something we do on a daily basis, and we find meeting prospective parents an enriching experience, more so, when we discuss the person in question – the child. We also love   sharing the wonderful benefits of a Montessori House of Children, like ours. Many parents are usually aware of the Montessori method of education; and then there are few parents who need to be informed about Montessori. Some parents do tend to compare their options, especially the fee structure. As a new House of Children, we try to make Ayelet affordable without compromising on the quality & the authentic Montessori offered. Having said that, it’s unfair to compare an authentic Montessori to a conventional pre-school environment. The latter can decide on what to offer to the child and the fees can be decided accordingly. In case of an authentic Montessori set-up, we need to ensure a lot of Montessori elements are offered to the child. The main...