Directress
Sanchita Karunaratne
I was educated at St Bridget’s Convent Colombo 7 and returned there to follow the AMI Diploma in Montessori Education in 2003, at the Good Shepherd Maria Montessori Training Centre. Completing the course while caring for my 2 children, Sheal 5 years and Shemaiah 2 years at the time was quite a challenge! However, having accomplished that feat, I went on to gain more practical Montessori teaching experience and joined an AMI affiliated Montessori House of Children where I worked for 4 years.
To further my education in teaching, I obtained a BSc in Teaching Technology from the Sikkim Manipal University of India.
During these years spent with, and around little children, I have realised that no two children are alike. Some times even twins can differ in personality. There are children who may not be as quick walking, talking etc as other children the same age. To be able to accommodate and understand their needs deeper, I followed a course in Special Needs Education and obtained a Diploma from the Ladies College Vocation Training Centre.
At Little Explorers children find a home away from home.
Sanchita Karunaratne
The Founder and Directress of Little Explorers
Our Team of Professionals
Gayangi Liyanage
Aunty Gayangi joined Little Explorers in November 2020 after ten years of teaching Pre-school as well as Primary School students at Asian International School. Learn more »
Shahama Kamil
Aunty Shahama, a parent who entrusted her son to our care in 2012, joined our team of Montessori teachers in 2022. Shahama has 8 ½ years of teaching experience from The Little Flowers AMI Montessori House of Children. Learn more »
Nishani Jayathissa
Aunty Nishani first joined Little Explorers in January 2018 and left for Canada in August 2020 where she worked at two schools. Richmond Montessori School in Winnipeg, MB (24th August 2020 to 2nd May 2022) and Montessori Academy in Winnipeg, MB (September 2022 to February 2023). She came back to us in May 2023. Learn more »
Khatija Kassim
Aunty Khatija joined us in August 2020, freshly graduated from the AMI Diploma Course. She has since obtained a Certificate in Personality Development Psychology and a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. She is multilingual having learnt Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Basic Tamil. She has been an Album Reader at the Good Shepherd Training Centre Colombo since 2021. Learn more »
Ruvindya Suraweera
Aunty Ruvindya joined us in January 2023 after having gained teaching experience at Nest Montessori, Nawala (2020-2022). Her love for reading led her to volunteer at the library of The Overseas International School Battaramulla for 6 months after leaving school in 2017. Learn more »
Piumi Wijesinghe
Aunty Piumi joined us in January 2022. She has interests in Human Resource Management , having gained some experience working in this field prior to embarking on her teaching career. Learn more »
Nuwakshi Perera
Aunty Nuwakshi is our latest recruit to the Montessori team of teachers, having graduated in May this year. In addition to her Montessori diploma she has qualifications in Elocution, Music and Speech and Drama. She is a talented singer and has interests in fashion designing. Learn more »
Toddler Class
Tareeka Wijithananda
Aunty Tareeka has been with us from the inception of our Toddler Class in 2014 after having given up her lucrative career in the mercantile sector, Learn more »
SASANKA MEDHAVI WEKADAPOLA
Aunty Medhavi joined us in September 2022, having had work experience from two Montessori schools on completion of the Montessori course. (Great Beginnings Montessori (2014-2015) and Little VIP’s AMI Montessori House of Children (2015 -2017). Medhavi apart from being interested in hair and beauty culture, is talented in Paper Tolling. Learn more »
Raemanthi Perera
Aunty Raemanthi assists Aunty Tareeka with our youngest group of children. Being the youngest member of our staff, she is musically talented and plays the piano for the children when the regular teacher is not available. Learn more »
Special Education
Menaka Perera
Aunty Menaka joined us in October 2016. She has experience having worked as a Learning Support Teacher at “Room to Bloom” and at “Avakasha Kendraya”. Learn more »
Sujitha Dissanayake
Aunty Sujitha joined us as a shadow teacher in 2022 and in April 2023 joined our team of Special Educators. Sujitha has prior experience working as a Shadow Teacher at ABC Preschool (2019). Learn more »
Lasni Gonaduwa
Aunty Lasni joined our team of Special Educators in December 2022. She is qualified in Special Needs Education and Computer System Design and talented in drawing. She has experience working and lecturing in the computer field (1994 to 2009) and teaching computer to children with learning disabilities. Learn more »
Learning Support
Pavithra Wijeratne
Aunty Pavithra has taught dancing to the children of Little Explorers since 2020. During the Covid Pandemic she conducted online sessions to keep the children active and engaged. In May 2022 Pavithra joined our team of Learning Support Staff. She is a visiting lecturer at the University of Visual & Performing Arts, Colombo. Learn more »
What We Offer
Montessori Education
Ages 2 ½ to 5 years
Toddler Education
Ages 1 ½ to 2 ½ years
After Care
Ages 2 ½ years upwards