The Montissori Method :

Vandana and I went to our kids' school on Saturday (7th August). It was an outreach program conducted by the school. Navdisha school has a few basic tenets that it lives by - all of them derived from Dr. Maria Montissori's teachings : 

•	Every child has the inherent right to life
•	Every child, irrespective of background and ability, should enjoy a full and decent life
•	Every child should be nurtured in an environment which ensures dignity, promotes self-reliance and encourages an active participation in the family and the community
•	Every child has a right to a standard of living adequate for physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development

The school is very well kept and is a very good environment for all kinds of children. Each of the teachers know about their kids by name and what the kid is doing and what the kid is capable of.

I was thinking about the kind of schools that I studied at. The Susilabai Government High School in Pondicherry, where I studied upto 5th standard. The dingy classrooms. The teachers who did not mind beating the kids. On the head. I remember the number of hits that my head took. The window there without the bars, through which I escaped out everyday after the attendance was taken. I remember the 3rd standard class room vividly. Most of the time, I was on the street with the other few kids who knew the secret of escaping. We also used to go out and buy vada and idly for the teachers. Who cared!

But, there were a few who cared even there. Mahalaxmi teacher who took maths in my 4th standard. Vijaya teacher who took English and Science in 5th standard. They really cared.

How to bring about an educational system which cares? Which allows for individual differences? Which allows each child to develop at its own pace? Which nurtures each child well? Which encourages the curiosity in the children instead of asking them to mug up facts and figures?

That is perhaps why I love this method. When my children come from school and they are still happy to learn, I know that they have not been under any pressure to learn. When they want to go back to school the next day, I know that the learning has been a pleasure for them. That is important.