A class at Disharee Montessori House. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

Four-year-old Mohit Roy is engrossed in counting the beads given to him in activity class. With the teacher helping him along, he picks up the basics of the metric system. The camaraderie between the duo is evident.

At Disharee Montessori House, on Ballygunge Circular Road, the boundaries of the classroom stretch beyond the formal teacher-student relationship. Founded in 1986 by current director Reeta Basu, the school eschews regimentation in favour of letting kids explore their interests.

“We are particular about using Montessori equipment for teaching, with which children can learn through play,” says Basu.

The Montessori equipment includes colourful objects like cylinder blocks, pink towers and red rods through which kids learn to identify shapes and colour. “We try to show rather than state. For example, with rods of varying lengths, you can illustrate that five is bigger than three,” said Basu.

The school follows a 1:12 teacher-student ratio. Admissions are in January, April and August, with kids from two to six years of age taken in on a first-come, first-serve basis.

There are now 75 children on the rolls. “We do not confine them to one class. They can choose an activity, like identifying animals, learning numbers or drawing and do it in any class they want,” says Rita Bose, co-director.

Rather than asking kids to memorise spellings, the school uses phonetics. “They remember what they learn long after the lesson is over,” says Bose.

Disharee draws in students from as far as Salt Lake. Says homemaker Snehlata Agarwal, whose four-year-old son Hitansh attends the Montessori house: “My elder son studied here for four years before joining St Xavier’s Collegiate School. They taught him so well that I did not think twice about admitting Hitansh here despite the distance.”

The school has moved with the times and introduced computers. “They learn memory games, as well as how to identify animals by listening to their calls,” said Basu. Among the extra-curricular activities, pottery is a favourite. “Every year, potters come to train our children. We insist on pottery because it develops both concentration and coordination among children,” she added.