At Dew Drops Academy, we encourage children to work in collaboration with rather than in competition against each other. All children are valued and receive equal opportunities. Differences and diversity are celebrated in Dew Drops Academy.

Every child’s independence, self-confidence, and self-discipline are respected. Each child has the freedom to learn at their own pace and this freedom naturally follows the level of responsibility the child shows. At Dew Drops Academy, we allow and observe a child’s mistakes because we believe that making mistakes and learning from them is a part of the entire learning process. Of course, Adults do intervene, but only after some deliberations and only if necessary.

“Every great cause is born from repeated failures and from imperfect achievements” – Dr. Maria Montessori

Having said all this, human beings are natural competitors. Children will naturally compete, either on the playground or among themselves. At Dew Drops Academy, this competition is never made into the motivation to learn something new.

Competition is natural and that which is not forced or motivated is what makes it healthy. We at Dew Drops Academy promote lifelong learning and acquiring knowledge even in the absence of competition.

“The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences” – Dr. Maria Montessori

Dew Drops strongly believes in absorbing each child’s individual capabilities and facilitating childrens’ needs. Adults are trained to observe each and every child and their unique capabilities of learning. To facilitate our Adults in observing our children we need a suitable environment/classroom. We have ample open spaces for interactions among the children themselves as well as with the adults and a natural garden as an extension of our indoor environment. Bright classrooms with direct natural light and environments that are uniquely tailored keeping in mind each stage of development are a part of our environment as a whole.

Furnishing: Very important factors in our classrooms are the substitution of heavy desks, benches, and chairs. With small rectangle tables made of wood which are light in weight and solidly firm. These are such that 5-year-old children can easily carry them to their workplace. These are smaller tables where one child can work independently.

The environment also contains slightly larger tables which are also lightweight and two 5-year-old children, in collaboration, can easily carry them when they want to work in a group. Steel racks in our classrooms are equipped with easily accessible shelves that house all the working materials. Intentionally, there are single sets of each material in order to help the children learn self-discipline and empathy.

Mats: Mats are an integral part of our school environment. They define the child’s space and in the case of the younger children, it is understood that nobody can enter that space without permission from the child himself. This changes as the children progress to the elementary stage by which time, they begin working in groups, using the larger tables and multiple mats and the concept of personal space now encompasses the space occupied by the group.

The idea of discipline through freedom is of no use unless the child is independent. By the age of 3 most children develop 95% of necessary life skills and they are independent and free. Children learn to walk and run without assistance, to go up and down the stairs, to pick up fallen objects, to undress and dress themselves, to bathe themselves, to speak distinctly, and to express their own needs clearly. We offer little help as and when required to make it possible for children to achieve satisfaction in their own individual aims and desires. All this is a part of education for independence in their future.

Our Teachers are known as Adults. Their main role is not to teach but, through observations, provide enough space for every child to blossom. All our adults go through rigorous training to prepare for scientific observation. They do not interfere with the processes any child is going through.

Once, two children approached one of our adults with complaints about each other’s behavior. The adult, after asking them both to calm down first, asked them each to narrate the incident from their point of view. After the first child finished, the second child was narrating. In the course of talking, they realized that their reaction had been a bit extreme and they had over-reacted. During the narration of the entire incident, both of them started laughing and the adult merely asked, “so has it been sorted now?” and both the children smiled and left to get on with their work.

This only goes to prove that the adult’s presence provided a sense of stability to the children. However, they were able to effectively reach a logical conclusion themselves.