The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Montessori School holds two-day expo

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 04, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Montessori School holds two-day expo

Staff Reporter

`Yesterday's Discovery, Today's Science' to celebrate movement centenary

KNOWLEDGE THROUGH PLAY: Children of Patasala Montessori School learn multiplication through a `bank game'. — Photo: M. Vedhan

CHENNAI: Patasala Montessori School hosted a two-day exhibition on Friday and Saturday called `Yesterday's Discovery, Today's Science' to celebrate the centenary of the Montessori movement.

School founder and principal Bhavani Kumar said the exhibition aimed at getting mainstream schools to accept children from the Montessori method of teaching.

"They are under the impression that this is a play-way method where no academics happen. Learning here happens in a non-competitive way, and the child learns to handle discipline and freedom," she said.

How it began

The Montessori method was started by Maria Montessori at her first school, Casa Dei Bambini, on January 6, 1907. During World War II, she was exiled from Italy by Benito Mussolini and came to India where she applied her method to children in Chennai. Ms. Kumar explained that with this method, the needs of children were addressed and learning happened automatically.

At Patasala, there are children aged three to nine in the Primary (3-6 years) and Elementary (6-9 years) sections.

The focus is on the individuality of each child according to their needs or talents, as opposed to the needs of the class as a whole.

Patasala Montessori School is at new no 24, Ramanathan Street, Mahalingapuram.

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