About Us
Vismaya
Vismaya [विस्मय | விஸ்மய | ವಿಸ್ಮಯ | విస్మాయ] means wonder, admiration, awe, amazement, surprise. And what better word to describe these wonderful gifts from God, our children? Can we ever stop admiring their innocence, their curiosity, their never give up attitude, their creativity, their hunger to learn, be it to stand up and walk or to learn new words and speak their thoughts.
And it for these wonders that we want to provide a nurturing environment, one that would allow the natural learning mechanisms in the child to take root and flourish.
More about the special preparation of the learning environment is here.
Did you know? The exclamation mark ('!') is called vismaya bodhaka chihna (विस्मय बोधक चिह्न) in Hindi.
Montessori
Born nearly a century and a half ago and half way across the globe in Italy in the year 1870, Dr. Maria Montessori was the first woman to become a qualified doctor. She was also a trained in engineering and anthropology, all of which were to play a crucial role in her life long work with children spanning nearly six decades.
Dr. Montessori has been celebrated across the globe as an ambassador of children, working towards improving their position in the society and had as her supporters the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, JK, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein, etc.
Thanks to her anthropological training Dr. Montessori observed children across various countries over many years and using her technical skills devised many materials that would invite the children and let them learn by themselves, even letting the children correct their own mistakes. More ...
Shalini
“... the teacher in our method is more of an observer than a teacher, therefore this is what the teacher must know: how to observe.” - Dr. Maria Montessori
Shalini vehemently opposed when her husband took a big leap of faith and admitted their son into a Montessori House of Children six years ago. For if they both had successfully come out of the traditional education system why did their son have to go to a 'special' school, especially when he was just as normal as any other child of his age?
But seeing the development in their son Shalini became a convert and took up Montessori training for pre-primary (3-6 years) and primary (6-12 years) levels from Indian Montessori Training Courses, a direct descendent of the training courses started & conducted by Dr. Montessori herself in Theosophical Society, Adyar, Chennai in 1939. She went on to work at Head Start Academy, Sarjapur with 6-9 year old children. More ...