Dear Parents,
With tons of happiness, parenthood brings a greater level of responsibilities. Every parent wants to give
the best and most secure future to their children.
The path to empower children to reach their potential starts here. A Montessori Preschool is not just the first step of your child outside home but it’s also the first platform for learning. Hence deciding a pre-school is like sowing a seed for foreseeable bright future.
It’s worth mentioning that in the past joint family atmosphere provided ample opportunities for children
to learn by being with elders now with micro families and working parents the importance of having
right pre-school is even more important as that is where most learning happens at that age.
It is not about how close to your home or how many of your friends’ children going to a particular school
but finding a well-equipped school to nurture the development of your child is of paramount
importance. Sadly, many parents not aware that 80% of brain development happens before the age of
5.
According to Dr. Michael Phelps, UCLA School of Medicine &Source: Urban Child Institute, U.S.A.
between age of 2 to 5 years trillions of brain nerve cell connections are developed if these are not used
then they are disconnected and wither hence it is important that we provide right education to kindle
the curious mind of the child thus selecting right school is a great decision you are making on behalf of
your child, and it is not play school is just few hours out of home time for a child.
The foremost objective of the playschools should be focused on the sensory-motor development as well
as the social development of the child instead of aiming the development of the academic skills.
The need at this age is to kindle their curiosity, imagination, support system to create strong paten of
thinking abilities which act as foundation for their future lifelong learning process. Among the various
other plus points, a key benefit of the playschools is that it helps in minimizing the separation anxiety
displayed by children. They prepare the children for their entry into a more formal setting
More than teaching the letters of the alphabet and numbers school should encourage hands-on
activities, with storytelling, songs, learn through activities wherein child’s brain is constantly engaged
and support to think and be creative. The school should have enough space, activity materials to keep
them engaged as the attention span of child is not more than 15 minutes on any given activity or
session.
It’s not all about the name/ brand of the school or distance from your house but below things should drive you to choose the right Montessori Preschool for your child.
Trained and courteous teachers who can exhibit agility and adopt their style based on individual
child’s ability
Onboarding process, this is critical part, in this process in most cases child’s confidence level is
broken as force fit might make them feel they are in a vulnerable place hence slow and study
and customized approach is required to retain and build the child’s confidence when they are
brought to a place far away from their secluded home.
Infrastructure plays vital role in influencing learning atmosphere, the place should be well lit,
ventilated and has sufficient space for free play.
Should have outdoor play area thus provides opportunity for kids to exposed to external
environment and help in getting sufficient sun light (vitamin D).
Curriculum focused to kindle children’s curiosity, interest to learn, build confidence, learn and
practice values, discipline and not academics.
Space and Freedom for self-expression and thinking
Wide variety of activity materials to indulge children in play thus “learn through play” and not
focused on “while board “based learning.
Safety and Security is paramount importance, evaluate if the premises is insulated with safety
measures like - no sharp edges, stairs are safe for children, sufficient staff to be with children all
the time, cameras to monitor human traffic in and around the building.
Other factors include – Hygiene environment, clean rest rooms, location, budget
Conclusion
Ask your friends, family members, search on the internet to get the list of schools in the vicinity, visit at
least 5 to10 schools and evaluate them based on above factors, focus on your research and
observations, and don’t go by word of mouth instead decide based on your experience and findings and
score them based on the parameters given in this article. Hope this article is helpful, wish you all the
best in selecting the best school for your child.