Footprints

Footprints
Learnings at Parentsteachers
meeting
In our childhood, a parent-teachers
meeting is an unscheduled
encounter between parent and
teacher on the road. It would start
with a greeting and end with the
teacher's answer to the parent's
inquiry about how the child is
doing. So we were excited to
attend our first parent-teachers
meeting at Anweshana. We
reached early. There were a couple
highlighting each step, starting
with taking the mat, executing the
activity, keeping the items back,
folding the mat and returning the
mat to the same place where it
was taken from. When the floor
was opened to parents, they
started asking questions.
Somewhere curious. Some
questions were on the border of
'Why not appreciate children with a
star of appreciation to increase the
confidence in them?' For every
suggestion and question, reply
bus and started making words he
never heard before, the doubts
vanished.
As the children grew, so did we.
Our confidence in the Montessori
method increased. We arrive late
at the parents-teachers meeting;
just to clear other young parent's
doubts and questions. All the
actions or inactions that puzzled us
in the beginning, started to
become clear as we grew along
with our children. We realized why
competition is ineffective in
of parents already waiting. From
the look, they appeared like new
parents, just like us. After a few
minutes of small talk, the meeting
started. Among other talks and
presentation, one of the teachers
demonstrated how a child is
performing an 'activity'. It was
dramatic and elaborate,
from the principal, Bharathi was a
not-so-obvious nod. I am sure it
left the parents further puzzled. As
with every parent who is new to
the Montessori method, we had our
doubts. Once When we saw our
son, at the age of four, joined the
letters written on the back of the
motivating children, why we should
do things that we do for selfsatisfaction,
why we should learn
'how to learn' rather than learning
things.
-Padmanabha Holla, Parent of
Navaneeth and Neethi
Montessori is an education for independence, preparing not just for school, but for life - Dr Maria Montessori