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BAALYAA’s Educational
Philosophy and Approach
Children’s interest and 'need
to know’ motivate learning. Children learn best when
their physical needs are met and they feel psychologically safe and
secure. Children construct knowledge and learn through “Play”.
Children have significant cognitive
growth and think differently than adults.
The purpose of
Early
Childhood Education
The goal of early childhood
education should not be to fill the child with facts from a
pre-selected course of studies, but rather to cultivate his own
natural desire to learn. In the classroom, this objective is
approached in two ways: first, by allowing each Child to experience
the excitement of learning by his own choice, rather than by being
forced; and second, by helping him to perfect all his natural tools
for learning, so that his ability will be at a maximum in future
learning situations.
Since the child retains
this ability to learn by absorbing until he is almost seven years
old, a classroom should demonstrate basic educational information to
him. A young child can learn to read, write, and calculate in the
same natural way that he learns to walk and talk. The best way a
child can concentrate is by fixing his attention on some task he is
performing with his hands.
In The Absorbent Mind, “The
most important period of life is not the age of university studies,
but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six. For that
is the time when man’s intelligence itself, his greatest implement,
is being formed. But not only his intelligence, the full totality of
his psychic powers. . At no other age has the child greater
need of an intelligent help, and any obstacle that impedes his
creative work will lessen the chance he has of achieving
perfection.” Recent psychological studies based on controlled
research reveal “From conception to age 4, the individual develops
50% of his mature intelligence; from ages 4 to 8, he develops
another 30%. This would suggest the very rapid growth of
intelligence in the early years and the possible great influence of
the early environment on this development.” The environment will
have maximum impact on a specific trait during that trait’s period
of most rapid growth.”
Reinforced by modern
research, is the importance of the sensitive periods for early
learning. These are periods of intense fascination for learning a
particular characteristic or skill, such as going up and down steps,
putting things in order, counting, or reading. It is easier for the
child to learn a particular skill during the corresponding period
than at any other time in his life.
Although the entrance age
varies in individual schools, a child can usually enter a Montessori
and kindergarten classroom between the ages of 2 and 4 years,
depending on when he can be happy and comfortable in a classroom
situation. He will begin with the simplest exercises based on
activities, which all children enjoy., Coordination, and working
habits necessary for the more advanced exercises he will perform at
five and six. The entire program of learning is purposefully
structured. Parents should understand that a Montessori and
kindergarten school is neither a baby-sitting service nor a
playschool that prepares a child for traditional education. Rather,
it is a unique cycle of learning designed to take advantage of the
child’s sensitive years between three and six, when he can absorb
information from an enriched environment.
Practical Life Exercises
The child is attracted to
activities that give him independence and control of his own life. A
most important need of the young child is to develop his muscles and
coordinate his movement through such Practical Life Exercises. These
activities provide the very foundation on which the child approaches
more intricate academic exercises. The Practical Life Exercises are
of greatest significance during the ages 2~ to 4 years, although the
advanced exercises continue to play an important role in the
classroom through age 6.
Sensorial Materials are
designed to sharpen the senses of the young child and to enable him
to understand the many impressions he receives through them. Each of
the Sensorial Materials isolates one defining quality, such as
color, weight, shape, texture, size, sound, and smell Through the
Practical Life and Sensorial Materials Exercises, a young child
develops the sensory awareness and concentration and attention span
that prepare him for the academic subjects.
Mathematics
The materials for
mathematics introduce the concept of quantity and the symbols for
quantity: the numbers 1 through 10. The exercises not only teach the
child to calculate, but they provide a deep understanding of how
numbers function. He learns concrete mathematical concepts and the
materials lead him to the abstract, so that his understanding has
substance. Because of the concrete nature of the instructions, the
child is able to work with basics of fractions and geometry.
Language
The evolution of language begins with the infant’s unique capacity
to absorb intact fragments of language, which will serve as a basis
for his development. This continues through an orderly, unconscious
process of assimilation and abstraction. The child first discovers
that sounds have meaning, and then he isolates the parts of speech.
Finally, he grasps the use of sentences. The constant assimilation
of language results in a sudden expansion of vocabulary. The child
learns the oral language naturally--he automatically takes it from
his environment. The work of the teacher is to expose him to the
equivalent forms of written language, which he learns through the
same general pattern of development.
Children learning through
observation
The Objectives for the Art Program
1.
Development of creativity in thinking and doing.
2.
To stimulate an awareness of the world around the child.
3.
To foster individual expression through a wide variety of art
experiences and activities.
4.
To encourage growth of confidence and skill in the use of various
art media.
5.
To encourage group cooperation and personal responsibility in use of
the materials.
6.
To encourage development of a healthy self-concept through artistic
expression.
BAALYAA School
#97,I Street,K.G.K Nagar
(Opposite Easwaran Koil
Keelakattalai, Chennai 600 117, Tamilnadu,INDIA
Phone: 044-2247 4756
Email:
baalyaa@rediffmail.com
Philosophy
Early education
Children Learn
Early Years
Sensitive Periods
Age
Sensorial
Learning Observation
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