Vikram Sarabhai Education | Montessori Home School

Welcome to the Vikram Sarabhai Centenary Celebrations Series. Learn about Vikram Sarabhai education from a Montessori Home School.

Welcome to the Vikram Sarabhai Centenary Celebrations Series. Learn about Dr Vikram Sarabhai education from a Montessori Home School.

Vikram Sarabhai Centenary Celebrations: The Montessori Home School

Ambalal and his wife Sarla had radical ideas about the education of their children. Based on the book Times Literary Supplement by Maria Montessori, they established a Montessori home school for their eight kids at their home. There were around a dozen teachers; three were PhDs, three were graduates from various European universities and the rest were respected local stalwarts such as Karuna Shanker who taught Sanskrit, the Cambridge-trained mathematician SH Gidwani, and the poet Dhumketu. Gujarati, Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Bengali, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, drawing, painting, dancing, music, pottery, handicrafts and sculpture were all part of the curriculum.

Not just the above subjects, even games such as badminton, tennis, riding, archery and yoga were encouraged for the athletically inclined. Toys would arrive periodically in fat cloth parcels and, exclusive comics from England were delivered on Saturdays. As an essential part of children's education, Sarabhai's would journey on long vacations accompanied by a retinue of servants, pets and the entire team of teachers. Mussoorie, Simla, Shillong, Kashmir, Ooty, Ceylon, Mount Abu and Matheran were some of the places they visited.

Amongst all this, Vikram Sarabhai showed a preference for pure sciences since childhood. He, along with their carpenter, made a steam engine complete with tracks. His parents established a full-fledged mechanical workshop with lathes, drills, a foundry and even an instructor. The experience he gained at the workshop and the Physics and Chemical Laboratory (later) would prove vital for making his instruments for his future experiments.