Montessori and Me - Part II: The Montessori Course

Disclaimer: I would like to clarify that by Montessori, I mean the philosophy that Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian doctor, put forth for helping the young minds of the world live in this World. I use the word live here because after all, quoting Dr. Montessori, education is a way of life.

The above disclaimer shall be repeated keeping in mind, new readers who might chance through this blog :). So plow straight ahead the next time :).

I had preliminary talks regarding the fellowship around December 2012 and was advised to get started with the books on Montessori which are published by Kalakshetra Foundation. I started with “The Child in the Family” and later “Education for the New World” before moving on to the heavy ones - “The Absorbent Mind” and “The Secret of Childhood”. Frankly, at the beginning, I was too skeptical if I'll get through even a single book. I somehow hadn't read much of non fiction books by then and I used to find it difficult to complete them. But with these books, I hung on to them from day one. My reading was protracted as it was confined to train journeys (I still had to work you know). So I found myself flipping back interestedly every time I restarted. I figured that I could relate to many of the thoughts and examples mentioned in the books in my own life. I found myself nodding along at many a point. The more I read, the more I was convinced of doing the course and the fellowship.

The books talked about the need for the child in a family should be treated as an individual working at his own self development. They spoke about the amazing powers that children have at an young age which helps them to adapt to this World into which they are thrust upon. They also dwell on the Sensitive Periods that children have, which when harnessed methodically, can enhance the child's development manifold. But all these together drove down the truth that children learn by themselves. All adults can do is help them in the process by providing a conducive environment. The child is very similar to a seed which when given the appropriate conditions at the appropriate time and in appropriate amounts can grow into a fully blossoming tree.

The fellows had an orientation in June 2013 through book reading sessions and also certain preparations needed for us to work with children of the 3-6 year age group. The preparations predominantly focused on how we need to be humble and let the children always have the spotlight in the environment. The mantra was to always “Follow the child”. We also had sessions that helped us to be conscious of our own movements which will be always watched by the ever absorbent children. We brushed up our language skills and also were given tips on prioritizing which helped us later during the actual course.

All geared up for the Mumbai leg, three of us fellows began the actual course there. The first few days of the course was spent on the aspects of children that I spoke about earlier and how children change physically and emotionally as they grow up. We also had lectures on the human needs and tendencies that drive and help the children in their process of self development. Then more particularly, we understood the characteristics exhibited by the children of the three to six year age group. Once this foundation was set, we proceeded towards how the environment needs to be prepared for the children to develop. The usual materials that form the part of this environment were broadly classified as Exercises of Practical Life, Sensorial and Culture. Culture included Language, Math, Botany, History etc. The major part of the course was covering these materials on why they are used, how they were designed, how they are to be shown to children, the major aims of them and when we should show them to the children. The reinforcement of the earlier theory can be seen in the designing of these materials and this can be felt only by our practice with them repeatedly.

During the course, I slowly realised how things that I liked to do came in handy. I had to juggle between travel, cooking, running to schools, attending lectures, running a marathon, reading, loads and loads of writing, illustrating, material making, painting and some football as well. I used to be an active participant in the Craft classes in school – ever enthusiastic to paint or stitch. These were called for during illustrating or material making. Running was a wonderful time to listen to your body and gave me the calmness that was needed to live in the moment. This helped me greatly to think and consciously act. My tryst with ink pens was re-ignited through the need to write my albums worth a 1000 pages. My constant obsession to plan or organise helped me manage my time and energy during the course. The ever constant craving to live away from parents on my own made me cook as well!

It was towards the end of the course that we had to write the essay on Indirect Preparation. But I had seen it coming all along that like I predicted there wasn't any lecture on that. This was the essence of Montessori according to me. The cherished experiences in life at one point will come back in your life at the hour of need later. These past experiences, if they were ones that were underwent willingly and with concentration, serves you as a boon. You seem to do things that you never considered you will do, but seem to be always prepared to do it. It was a coming together of several seemingly unrelated things. The Montessori environment for the children is based on this very essence. When the children are probably in the environment you may or may not see the changes happening, but when they do blossom out, it seems a miracle.

Our trainer always used to say, the Montessori course is just the First Period – an introduction, to understand Montessori. The Second Period – period of association, is much much longer. The Third Period is the one of mastery. I have just stepped into the second period...