Frequently Asked Questions

The Montessori educational approach aims to foster children’s natural interests and activities rather than using formal teaching techniques. The Key features of all Montessori programmes are A Prepared Adult (a person who has been professionally trained for her role to guide the child) and A Prepared Environment (Montessori classroom is referred to as the prepared environment where furniture, toys & activities are designed as per Montessori methods). One of the greatest benefits of the Montessori Method, particularly during the early learning experience, is the focus on hands-on learning. The emphasis is on concrete, rather than abstract learning, as students work on activities that teach language, math, culture and practical life lessons.

Dr Maria Montessori is an Italian physician & educator, known for her educational methods and beliefs that children learn naturally in an environment. She was born in 1870 in the Italian province of Alcona. While her family was educated, they were not wealthy. The Montessori method of education was developed by her after a thorough process of careful observation, scientific design, research on child development, and trial and error over five decades. The first Montessori environment was opened on the 6 January 1907 in San Lorenzo, Rome, Italy, by Dr Maria Montessori called as Casa dei Bambini which means “Children’s house”. She put many different activities and other materials into the children’s environment but kept only those that engaged them. What Montessori came to realise was that children who were placed in an environment where activities were designed to support their natural development had the power to educate themselves. She met Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore, and was generally very much taken by the spirituality of the Indians and their generosity and kindness towards her. Her detailed observations of a group of children committed to her care, led her to design unique learning materials, to train others in her teaching methods, and then to open schools, first in Italy in 1907 and then in numerous other countries. In addition to her work in early childhood education, Montessori was known as an altruistic person and championed women’s rights and child labor law reforms. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, in 1949, 1950 and 1951. She died in Nordwijk, Holland in 1952, but her work lives on.

• In a Montessori, the school meets the requirement of children where there are mixed age group of children; whereas in a traditional school students fit to the mould of the school having same age group of children in a class.


• Students are active participants in a Montessori school environment as they can freely follow their ideas and interests, in other words, curriculum is customised for every child. But in traditional schools, the students are passive learners as they have to follow the curriculum that is structured for the entire class.


• Children teach themselves using materials specially designed for them in Montessori and are encouraged to learn and speak in groups, unlike a traditional school where they are taught by the teacher and work silently at their desks.


• The children identify their own errors based on the immediate feedback from the educational materials that are designed for self-correction unlike in a traditional school, the teacher identifies the mistakes for correction.


• Child can work where he/she is comfortable, move around and talk at will while not disturbing others but in a Traditional school the child is usually assigned own chair and is encouraged to sit still and listen during group sessions.


• The child is led by the teacher in a traditional school; the teacher works in collaboration with the children in Montessori.


• Learning is based on the fact that physical exploration and cognition are linked in Montessori unlike a traditional school where the children sit at their desks and learn from a whiteboard and worksheets.


• In Montessori, the child’s individual development brings its own reward and therefore motivation but motivation is achieved by a system of reward and punishment in a traditional method.