The Montessori Method
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child…”
A child's mind between the time of birth and six years of age is that of an "absorbent mind". During this age children have a tremendous ability to learn and assimilate from the world around them. Hence, the Pre-Primary Department of Alfot dale secondary school believes in providing our tiny tots, an environment that helps them to explore the world around them by working with concrete material and developing basic cognitive abilities through experiential learning at their own pace. They have the freedom to make creative choices that respond to their evolutionary needs. The activities include sorting, spooning, transferring, folding, pegging and many more.
Young learners get hands on experience by performing these activities thereby fostering their growth of independence, concentration and sense of order. It offers opportunities for building confidence and self-esteem, nurturing a happy and motivating environment for their holistic development. It also aids in improving their fine and gross motor skills and paves the way for building stronger foundation.
"Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand." Keeping this in mind, we organize a flurry of activities like seed germination, nature walk, pre-math experiments etc. where children get the opportunity to unleash their own potential and explore new ideas and knowledge through meaningful, interactive and fun-filled activities thereby helping them in the process of growing up into smart and confident individuals.
Young learners tend to react to visual information faster than they respond to plain text. We furnish a perfect amalgamation of technology and pedagogy to engage, educate and entertain our junior learners. Extra marks digital Learning platform empowers students with tons of animated lessons that make the learning experience exciting and charming. Besides all these, our teachers teach various topics through PowerPoint presentations.
STEM activities help us to deal with spatial judgment and the ability to visualize with the mind’s eye. These activities enhance logical reasoning, fine motor skills and the ability to think in three dimensions. To ignite the mind and promote the holistic development, we make conscious effort to involve our little ones in STEM activities through our fully equipped Eureka Lab (Spatial Intelligence and Coding Lab). Tools like ‘Link and Lace’ enable our Lotus Buds to create shapes of various objects, alphabets, patterns by using board, plastic needle and lace. ‘Trudie 3D’ shadow teaching is done to make the child understand how objects look from different angles thus enhancing their problem-solving skills in a play-way method.
Every morning, the Circle Time activity is conducted wherein the children engage in discussions, story narration, role play, show and tell, question and answer sessions and quizzes etc. They are exposed to different monthly themes, life skills, moral values and ethics. This activity helps in developing positive relationships amongst children and strengthens the bond between the teachers and the students.
Celebrations help the children understand the significance and traditional values related to various festivals and inculcate respect for our culture, customs and religions. Many theme-based parties and celebrations are organized at the school such as Dussehra Party, Diwali Party, Christmas Party, Childrens’ Day etc.
A Home Without Books Is Like A Tree Without Birds......... Stories play a vital role in the growth and development of children. These are a useful source of information and make children familiar with sounds, words, language and the value of books. Considering the importance of story-telling and read aloud, we have the ‘Big Book Program’ for our little children. Through this program, our young learners are exposed to various interesting stories throughout the year. This program enables our children to build vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading and helps children recognize what reading for pleasure is all about.
We organize excursions and picnics each session for the children. Such outings create lasting memories in the minds of children and help them to explore the natural environment, express themselves and build self-confidence which eventually broadens their horizon of knowledge.
‘Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world’ Robert Mckee Storytelling is a universal and traditional art form that has featured strongly in Indian culture as an effective tool of communication. Our storytelling sessions are fun filled and exciting. The voice modulated narration, interesting props and handmade puppets fascinate all the children to listen to the stories with full concentration and enhance their imagination and expression.
“Music has a power of forming the character and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young” -Aristotle Music is an integral part of our school curriculum. Theme related rhymes are sung in our classes wherein teachers use beautiful, handmade props which mesmerise the little ones and allow them to feel confident about singing, dancing and performing. The smiling faces and the instant
Dance is the most loved form of expression. It is an assimilation of our culture and tradition. Our little buds proudly showcase their love for dance through various events like special assemblies, annual shows, class parties etc. Apart from fun, expression, culture and tradition every dance provides valuable life lessons to our children.
Celebrations are an important aspect of life. At Lotus Valley our young buds of Pre-Primary celebrate the spirit of festivity in the form of Special Assemblies which help them get a glimpse into the cultural and national festivals of our motherland, India. Through class Assemblies, our young buds showcase their talent by depicting colourful dances, songs and sharing the significance of each festival with the audience. By celebrating all festivals like Diwali, Holi, Eid, Gandhi Jayanti, Independence Day, Gurupurab, Dussehra, Christmas etc. with zeal and gusto, we aim at giving exposure to children to varied performing arts like music, art, theatre, dance and drama and promote communal harmony.
The most important event of the year ‘The Annual Day’ is celebrated with great fervour in our school. It provides a platform for the students to showcase their talent and exhibit their immense potential through varied presentations. From dance performances to plays and musical events to speeches, the annual day is eagerly anticipated by children and parents alike. Our annual show guarantees a hundred percent participation and exposure on stage for every child thereby making them confident and proud. The thought-provoking themes leave the audience entertained as well as enlightened.
We firmly believe in taking children out of the classroom spaces to experience the real world through varied experiments and hand-on activities. Sandpit play is another important feature of our school as it acts as a medium to develop eye-hand coordination and small muscle control. There are no said rules or instructions when playing with sand. The child determines the direction and the path of his or her play. They dig around, build with it, pretend with it, sift and explore. Their imagination expands thus offering endless opportunities for fun and learning.
