Our connect with books
“That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet”
Jhumpa Lahiri
(British-American author)
At Shikshantar, travel via books is par for the course not just for its students but for its didis / bhaiyas and parents as well. With well-stocked libraries - Nachiketa, Tri Nachiketa and Jigyasa, books are always within reach as an escape for all.
While in the Vanar Years, the children visit Nachiketa once a week where they not only listen to a story narrated to them but also browse books of their choice from the shelves. They develop a love for books and along the way learn to treat them responsibly as well. By the time they move to Primary years, they are raring to go and welcome the opportunity to have books issued to them so that they can also read at home. This is in addition to the ‘class library’ within all groups. The children deepen their relationship with the written word as they grow. Children read to understand, reflect, analyse, and often discuss. They read content in different languages, pure and translated.
Didis / bhaiyas stay abreast of vivacious, impressionable and imaginative minds by being readers themselves. They expand their minds and worlds through the books that they read, develop new interests, nurture old buried passions and co create scintillating classroom environments.
The parent community too finds itself absorbed in the reading culture encouraged by the school. Newspapers like ‘The Telegraph’ are made available in the Visitor’s Area; healthy exchange of books is facilitated through the ‘Book Nook’ initiative; recommended reading lists are provided from time to time. Along with this, being included in periodic talks by experts of various fields invited to the school, parents and grandparents catch on quickly to the reading ethos.
Shikshantar ‘walks the talk’ while passionately creating a community of thinking and conscious individuals.
Happy reading and travelling !