You can’t assume how a Montessori Course is going to be just by listening to another people’s experience. You have to live it and judge on your own. That was the first conclusion I reached after the first week of our Montessori Foundation Course in Hyderabad, India.
Let me start by saying that I had the best roommates ever, who welcomed me with joy and love. And after a few days of wondering around the city with them, looking for accommodation and figuring out India’s lifestyle, we got to our first day of the course. All of us were excited and looking forward to our first class.
Discovering a great Montessori environment
My first reaction when I entered Pebble Creek School was
“Oh my God! This is what a Montessori Environment should look like!”
There was a big, green, field, where children played football, beautiful trees and flowers surrounding everything and the classrooms were spacious and simple but filled with all the Montessori materials.
We were led to our assigned classroom and asked to take a seat. I remember that I sat down, opened my notebook and with my hand (and soul) shaking,
I wrote on the upper right corner the date, just like I used to do it when I was a student in school.
Beginning of our Montessori training course
The course started with a beautiful ceremony: the amazing people who organized everything lit up some candles and did a little prayer for everybody there.
It was touching and inspiring and gave us a sort of confidence that everything will run smoothly.
Uma Ramini was our foundation course trainer and since day 1 she filled the room with peace, love and gratitude towards tiny humans and their amazing potential.
When she started talking about Montessori being a way of life and how we have to become Montessori ourselves, before even trying to guide the children, I knew I was in the right place. I was convinced that I was about to start a great journey in the Montessori world and that this method was going to change my life.
And it did!
I can barely remember how time passed that day, because I was absorbed by every word Uma said but I know that at a certain point I stopped, took a look around me and saw something even more amazing.
I wasn’t the only one starting a journey. There were 90 of us and we were all excited. Even though leaving Romania and my loved ones was pretty difficult for me, as I was gazing across the classroom, I realized I wasn’t alone after all.
I was about to enter a new family, a family filled with laughter, craziness, hard-work and will, a family capable of doing everything in its power to help you when in need.
As Greg MacDonald, our director of training, would say: I have many more stories to tell you about the beginning of the course, about our adventures in Hyderabad and about what Montessori Training is all about, but those are stories for another day!