Maadhurya Montessori House of Children - A Success

The Indian Montessori Centre has always strongly believed that the Montessori Method of education is not only for the affluent. In fact, the Montessori Method in the long run will be just as expensive as the conventional education, and definitely more effective and humane.

photo of child doing her work in Maadhurya

The Indian Montessori Centre, Karnataka Chapter and the Hindu Seva Pratishtaana in the year 2006 teamed up to start a Montessori House of Children called Maadhurya to make available the Montessori Method of Education to the economically backward. Maadhurya was set up in a weavers colony in Nele, Banerghata Road, Bangalore. This is a small but significant step and has proved that the Montessori method of education will benefit all sections of the society.

Maadhurya received generous contributions in terms of funds and materials from the Montessori community. The House of Children started with only seven students and a trained-Montessori adult in May 2006. In November 2006 the strength increased to twelve students and an assistant was appointed to help the senior adult in the environment. In May 2007 another four students joined the environment. Ms. Meenakshi Sivaramakrishnan conducted a Parent orientation programme to make the parents aware of the advantages of the Montessori Method of educationin particular, and education in general. Parents of all the sixteen students attended this meeting and gave a commitment for sending their wards to the House of Children regularly and also on time.

In November 2007, as is the norm, Anantha Padmanabha conducted a general parent meeting which focused on the Montessori Philosophy and Practice. Meetings with Parent individually was also conducted whenever it was found necessary. Every effort was made to provide details on the working of the Montessori Method of education to parents to give them the necessary confidence on the efficacy of the method.

Senior officials from the Indian Montessori Centre and the Hindu Seva Pratishtaana frequently visited Maadhurya to guide and  ensure the smooth functioning of the Montessori House of Children.

photo of child doing her work in Maadhurya

Certain materials for sensorial and language activities have been added to the Montessori Environment to meet the developmental needs of the children. Some furniture has also been added. The external areas have been cleared and beautified with plants, flower pots, etc.

On the suggestion of Sridar Sagar of Hindu Seva Pratishtaana the Montessori Adult incharge of the House of Children paid visits to residences of all the children enrolled in Maadhurya. This exercise was called Mane Samparka in Kannada. Mane Samparka, according to the Montessori adult was a rewarding experience as it made the parents and children more familiar with her and thereby making her more acceptable to them.

All the major festivals, including the New Year, were celebrated in the Montessori House of Children.

On the opening day of the Academic year 2008 itself Maadhurya received 26 applications for admissions. This was truly heartening because it signaled the acceptance of the Montessori method of education by the economically backward people of this area.

In the parent meeting that was held at the beginning of the current year by Anantha Padmanabha an assurance was sought and was readily obtained from parents to allow their children to complete their whole term of three years in the Montessori House of Children.

This year also witnessed the withdrawal of some students from Maadhurya. It is interesting to note that some of these students secured seats in schools which are pretty expensive. This again is an indication that Maadhurya has succeeded in impressing upon the parents of these students to invest in their child's education in spite of their economic constraints.

From this year on a small team of enthusiastic Montessori Freshers have been selected to take on the responsibility of running Maadhurya. These Montessori adults are being guided by the veteran Montessorian Geeta Nityananda.

Some tasks which need to be taken for the betterment of Maadhurya in the near future.

  • Maadhurya still does not possess the complete language and arithmetic materials which will be needed as the current batch of students graduate to those levels in the environment.
  • A clear cut policy to minimize the number of dropouts has to be drawn up.
  • Since there is a demand and a need for admissions, Maadhurya will need to expand and add more environments.