Our Environment

When Dr. Maria Montessori developed the Montessori Method in the early 1900s, it was envisioned to be a child-centered method of education that involves hands-on activities (referred to as “work”), in a prepared environment (“classroom”) with children of varying ages and trained adults (“teachers”) who encourage independence among their pupils.

Keeping in mind the vision of Dr. Maria Montessori, our Montessori environment in Anna Nagar West Extension, Chennai has been designed to clearly look different from what you are used to in a standard school. Things that make our Montessori environment in Anna Nagar West Extension unique include:

• Open shelves with hands-on materials for children to choose from throughout the day.

• Adults moving from group to group / child to child instead of standing at the front of the classroom.

• A non-traditional grading system where the adults observe all the aspects of a child’s development on a daily basis; which means there are no test papers / exams.

• A focus on the development of the whole child - social, emotional, intellectual and physical

• The system also educates parents and caregivers and helps build ideal conditions for the child’s home and external environment.

And at MahaSai Montessori Resource Centre in Anna Nagar West Extension, Chennai, we have made all efforts to recreate the envisioned Montessori environment.

A primary classroom for 3 to 6 year olds and an elementary classroom for 6 to 12 year olds forms part of our environment in Anna Nagar West Extension. Our children have also developed and maintain a terrace garden with a variety of plants, trees, herbs to help them learn about plants and trees.

Apart from the classrooms, we have set up a library with a variety of books that can satisfy a child’s craving to read and seek newer learnings in Anna Nagar West Extension. Proficiency in computers becoming the order of the day, we also facilitate children in using a desktop computer at the Centre for their research and for presentations.

We believe that the Montessori Method is the best way to prepare children for the future, and we are committed to providing a nurturing and stimulating environment for our students in Anna Nagar West Extension.

Primary

Elementary

(2.6 to 6 years of age)

Keeping in line with the above principle of Dr. Montessori, at MahaSai the Primary age group is led to explore the child’s psychological, physical, emotional, social and intellectual needs. Every day they walk into the centre, we observe the child’s intuition and interest in choosing the activity they wish to perform amongst the range of Exercises of Practical Life (EPL), Sensorial, Language, Arithmetic, Science and Social studies, and let the child explore working with the material guided by the Montessori facilitator. We hold their hands when needed, but children that age are capable of learning it their way. No classrooms, no books, no homework, no tests / exams gives them the liberty to think and do the activity in a manner that is most convenient to them. The freedom to choose what work they want to do, the freedom of time they spend on each activity, the freedom to self-learn, the freedom of independent thought - all leading to a sense of order, discipline and self-control.

(6 to 12 years of age)

“If teaching is to be effective with young children, it must assist them to advance on the way to independence.” (Dr. Maria Montessori - The Discovery of the Child)

In the elementary environment, the children focus on specific topics of interest and work in smaller groups or individually. The learning becomes more focused and shifts from concrete material-based learning to abstract. Their search for knowledge in specific topics leads them to read from a wide variety of books and strengthens their understanding of the subject matter. The children are also introduced to a wide variety of real-life practical lessons in botany, zoology, geography, and arithmetic in addition to general learnings in history, civics, business basics, arts, and life skills, all at their own learning pace without the need for the typical classroom, test-based assessment of the learning. The children turn out to be little butterflies when they complete their elementary phase.