Tuesday, June 10, 2008 School markets teaching method by training government teachers
STRESSING the need to develop future leaders in today’s children, a school offering Montessori type of education for toddlers and pre-schoolers has chosen a different strategy to attract students.
Marivic Bathan, president of the Cebu Children’s Paradise Montessori School Inc., said the school conducts training for private and public school teachers to promote the Montessori method of education.
Although by doing so Children’s Paradise would be creating more competition in the future, Bathan said spreading the benefits of the Montessori method is more important.
“We need to develop good leaders for this country and I believe that the Montessori method (of education) is the most effective way to achieve that goal,” she said in a press conference Thursday. Dealing with competition is not important, she added.
Under the Montessori method, children develop independence, discipline and other values by participating in activities instead of lectures.
Character
“From zero to six years, children absorb everything. That’s the state where they learn the most. The character of the person is developed during this stage. And they (children) learn through experience,” Bathan said.
At Children’s Paradise, classes are comprised of children from different age levels between three to nine years old. Bathan said class levels are also not determined based on age but on the child’s learning abilities, unlike the traditional method of education.
Learning is also individualized to allow each child to fully absorb lessons at their own pace.
The school, established in 2006 in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City, can accommodate 40 pre-schoolers and eight toddlers in one learning session.
To reinforce the lessons children learn in school, Children’s Paradise also give parents of its students seminars about the Montessori method.
The school and other member-schools of the Association of Montessorians in Southern Philippines continue to conduct trainings with the Department of Education Cebu City Division to promote the Montessori method of teaching among day care and nursery school teachers in the city.
“Our mission is to give each child a better childhood education and I believe this is possible through the Montessori method,” Bathan said.
Although most Mon-tessori schools are more expensive than traditional ones, she said parents ought to set their children’s education as priority.
Tuition at the Children’s Paradise is P32,000 a year, but parents have the option to pay in installments. (LAP)
