about us

WELCOME TO PRODIGY

International Montessori School
About Prodigy
Prodigy (which means whose talents are recognized at an early age) was founded on 3 October 2014. We offer a dynamic learning environment designed to meet the needs of various age groups and to make learning an exciting and continuous process. At Prodigy, we respect each and every child’s uniqueness, recognize their abilities most importantly we give them freedom to accomplish what they want. For instance, while doing a task, adults never interfere or help the children if it is not needed. We strongly believe in the power of individuality. In Montessori methodology, the day of admission will be considered as the first day for the children i.e. admission can be done at any time. All the rules of the Montessori are followed and we are certified by Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). All Prodigy adults are Montessori certified and the ratio is 15 children for 1 adult. There is a snack corner in the environment and the child is aware of the fact that he/she can have his/her snack whenever he/she wants, there is no time specified for snack. Prodigy works Monday to Friday and has 3 environments in Hopes, Peelamedu. We provide before/after school day care for the children. We have trained housemothers to cater to the needs of the children. The kitchen is equipped with a refrigerator and a microwave. The goal is to make our children feel like at home away from home.
PIMS Team
PIMS is supported by a team of passionate professionals. Our goal is to serve both the child and the parent equally. Montessori educators in both primary and elementary are certified and experienced Montessori diploma holders. They take the responsibility to prepare the environment, observe and assist the children according to their individual needs. Our team is sincerely concerned about each child’s personal development. They are passionate to do their best in every classroom every day. The team’s happiness and passion inspire both children and parents to create a fun filled environment. The academic staff is supported by dedicated non-teaching staff to help coordinate the educational efforts.
Mission
From the moment of birth onwards, humans strive towards independence. Children feel this need very strongly; they want to do things for themselves, and to participate in the world around them. In Montessori classrooms, this natural drive towards independence is fostered through practical, social and intellectual experiences. The child becomes an active agent in his/her own education, saying, “Help me to do it myself”. We honour this by helping children move to increasingly higher levels of independence and self-reliance.

About Montessori Pedagogy

What is Montessori philosophy?
Montessori is a method of education based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. Children work in groups and individually to discover and explore knowledge of the world and to develop their maximum potential. Montessori classrooms are beautifully crafted environments designed to meet the needs of children in a specific age range. Dr.Maria Montessori discovered that experiential learning in this type of classroom led to a deeper understanding of language, mathematics, science, music, social interactions and much more. Every material in a Montessori classroom supports an aspect of child development, creating a match between the child’s natural interests and the available activities. Children can learn through their own experience and at their own pace. They can respond at any moment to the natural curiosities that exist in all humans and build a solid foundation for life-long learning.

About Maria Montessori

Who is Dr. Maria Montessori?

Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian physician and anthropologist who devoted her life to understanding how children develop socially, intellectually, physically, and spiritually. By carefully observing children all over the world, she discovered universal patterns of development which are found in all children regardless of their culture or the era in which they live.

Dr. Montessori was one of the first women to be granted a diploma as a physician in Italy. Following her interest in human development, she assisted at a clinic for children with mental illnesses. She later directed the Orthophrenic School in Rome for children with physical, mental and emotional challenges. During this time Dr. Montessori lectured throughout Europe concerning the needs of children and their value to the future of our societies. She stressed the need to change our attitudes about children and their treatment.

In 1907, Dr. Montessori was given the responsibility of caring for a group of children in the Rome’s San Lorenzo slum district. She began to see the importance of a positive, nurturing environment that changes with the developmental needs of the child. As she observed the children and their response to the environment, she saw them demonstrate capabilities and interests that exceeded her expectations. The set of materials used in the "Montessori" environment were designed over a period of many years by Dr. Maria Montessori and her associates, creating a concrete, physical representation of the concepts and skills that children are naturally motivated to learn in their normal course of development.

Dr. Montessori conducted her first international training course in Italy in 1913, and her first American training course in California in 1915. As she carried her vision around the world, she felt that a time had come to ensure the quality and integrity of what was being handed down in her training courses. For that reason, she founded the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) in 1929. Today AMI continues to support quality teacher training worldwide.

Inside a Montessori Classroom

Montessori classrooms are peaceful, happy places designed to meet the developmental needs of each child in every stage of life.

They contain many places for children to learn and play, in many ways: by themselves, in pairs, in small groups, in large groups, inside, outside, at tables, on the floor. All items in the environment are scaled to the child’s size, including furniture, shelves, utensils, dishware, cleaning implements and the Montessori materials themselves. There is no focal centre to the classroom; this reflects that the teacher is not the focus of the children’s attention, but that they are all one community together. Bright and attractive colours, natural materials, fascinating cultural objects and interesting pictures on the wall all offer the children complex sensory and intellectual experiences. When children first enter a Montessori environment, there is an immediate and touching moment when they realize that this place is for them.

In Montessori classrooms, children are taught how to regulate their own social interactions. Through fun role-playing activities and appropriate modelling, the teacher demonstrates the best way to respond to arguments or new situations, giving the child the ability to act confidently and pro-socially when the actual problem arises. The result is a self-regulating classroom, in which natural social tensions are resolved mostly by the children themselves.

Children move freely throughout the environment, choosing activities that interest them, or working with the teacher, individually, or in small groups. Their movement is unrestricted by the teacher unless it endangers themselves, other people, or their surroundings. Outdoor environments are important in Montessori schools, and offer opportunities to engage with the natural world.

Guiding Principles
The guiding principles of Montessori education are the same across all age levels and are grounded in over one hundred years of work with children around the world.
  • RESPECT

    Maria Montessori profoundly respected children and the developmental powers that drive them to seek certain experiences. Montessori education reframes the adult/child relationship to place the child at the centre of his own learning.

    In Montessori classrooms, teachers respect children as separate and unique individuals. They guide children to respect the people and objects in their environment, and as the child grows older, to respect and understand the connectedness between all living and non-living things, leading to the adolescent’s profound awareness of the complex web of human existence.

  • PREPARED ENVIRONMENT

    Children’s needs change as they move through stages of development. At each level of Montessori education, this difference is honoured through the preparation of the classroom environment. The environment is prepared in every way for optimal development: physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. By aligning the activities in the environment with what each child needs at any moment, Montessori prepared environments liberate children’s energy for growth and learning.

  • HANDS-ON LEARNING

    Montessori classrooms are interactive environments in which hands-on exploration is not only encouraged, it is necessary. By using the mind, the body, and the senses, learning becomes an activity that engages the whole self. Any parent will agree that children do; Montessori environments follow this natural inclination of children towards activity by offering an appropriate variety of objects and activities for meaningful engagement.

  • DISCOVERY

    One of the most profound differences between Montessori education and conventional education is that, in Montessori, children are given the experience of discovering the answer for themselves. This leads to a much deeper learning experience and creates a lifelong love of learning as a self-directed process of problem-solving and discovery.

  • The trained Montessori teacher links the child to activities and experiences in the prepared environment. Specialized training results in a deep knowledge of child development, the purposes and use of each activity, and an understanding of how to foster and maintain social harmony in the classroom.

  • IMAGINATION

    Montessori classrooms support the development of imagination and creativity at every stage of learning. The open-ended activities allow children to explore new ideas and relationships, providing a foundation for self-expression and innovation. In the early years, the building blocks of imagination are firmly established through sensory exploration of the world, launching both imagination and creative self-expression.

  • FREEDOM OF CHOICE

    Maria Montessori recognized that when allowed freedom of choice within clear, firm and reasonable boundaries, children act in positive ways that further their development.

    Freedom is frequently misunderstood, and many people take it to mean that children can do whatever they want. Montessori believed that freedom without boundaries was abandonment. In Montessori classrooms, expectations are clear, and children experience the natural and logical consequences of their choices. This freedom within limits allows for the natural development of self-regulation within the society of the classroom, as well as mirroring behaviours expected by society in general.

SAFETY AND SECURITY MEASURES IMPLEMENTED AT PIMS

  • Installed CCTV in the school campus
  • The school campus is gated
  • A security guard (24/7) is employed
  • Clearance should be given to any visitor before entering the school premises