Our world is going to be radically different in the next 20 years. Think about it, robots are already taking over our jobs. AI and super computers will mostly likely make a lot of today’s job redundant in the future.
We thought, what skills do children need for the future. Surely my child won’t be using the skills that I required to enter the professional world.
The skills required to make today’s children successful in future are 21st-century skills. In 2002, following a great debate on skills required for the 21st-century, a non-profit organisation named P21 was formed by the United States Department of Education, AOL, Apple, Cisco, and other institutions. The main goal of this organisation was to identify and promote 21st-century skills. In summary 21st-century skills are Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. These 4 skills will be a must for any child to succeed when he grows up and joins the workforce.
However, these skills are only talked about in higher education. The skills are not getting any attention at the preschool level. The learning at preschools is typically one-dimensional and teacher-led. Preschools still promote rote learning, computational skills and memorization, which are redundant skills for the new century. We were not happy about the way children are educated hence we started researching in early childhood education.
After researching quite a bit, we stumbled upon the Montessori Method designed by Dr. Maria Montessori. The principles of the Montessori education are designed to make children independent, curious and creative.
The Montessori method fosters 21st-century skills. With child-led and hands-on approach to learning the children tend to dive deep into each area of their interest. The interest may be in Arithmetic, Geometry, Botany, Zoology, Language, Culture, Arts and Science. The teachers guide their learning and encourage them further with meaningful assistance.
The Montessori method is very different from the traditional approach. The Montessori approach is child led instead of teacher led, with highly individualised curriculum. The teachers spend more time observing and guiding the child instead of orating lessons to the child. Dr Maria Montessori famously quotes
“We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.”
We started paying a lot of attention to the Montessori method after the birth of our child. We have observed the difference in our child’s behaviour and attitude towards life as he was exposed to the Montessori Method. Hence we created Savi Montessori, a Montessori preschool for 2 to 6 year olds to enable parents to educate their children and make them life ready and future ready.