Curricular Practices

Shikshantar celebrated its 22nd birthday on Saturday, 28th September ‘24.

This year, the birthday experiences were centered around the theme ‘Shabd Manch - A Festival of Letters’. The children experienced words/shabd in different contexts, styles, plays, expressions and in turn acquainted themselves with the transformative power of words.

The children of Sprouting Seeds became aware of how words give expression to their thoughts, imagination and creativity. Through listening to a variety of stories they developed a fondness for the central character in each of them. “मुझे Elmer अच्छा लगता है”. Their oneness for these meant that Maisy, Gajapati, Fishie, turtle got invited to their Shikshantar’s birthday. “Butterfly makeup लगाकर तैयार हो रही है। Nail paint भी लगाया है", “Maisy cab में आ रही है party में ”. Our youngest friends used the medium of puppets to express their innermost thoughts. The puppet that they had made became their dearest friend. “I will not give you my turtle puppet. I will take him home”, “ये Seeta है। ये रावण के साथ park में walk करेगी”.

Integrating language development with exploring their school spaces, children of Nursery groups wrote little letters to the space they liked visiting in Shikshantar while also exploring the vocabulary of letter friend ‘L,l’. “I love you Shikshantar क्योकि आपके पास trees है जो fruits देंगे ”, “I play on you, I run on you, I walk on you”. They played word games like ‘Chain game’, ‘In and out’ to feel the joy when words become friends. This led them to add words to their familiar songs and personalize them. “I see fishes in ponds, and turtles too. ...What a wonderful world”. Making a puppet using recyclable material, imagining its background to create their own story saw their imagination take wings. “ मैं इस plane में बैठकर Bombay जा रहा हूँ ”. When they expressed their birthday wish for the school, it became a ‘wish list’ of things they want their school to have, “Shikshantar में rainbow tree हो”, “Shikshantar में एक mango tree हो और मैं बठै सकूँ”.

Tapping into the readiness of children of Kindergarten to experience complexity in word usage, play of words was introduced to them through the theme ‘Wonder of words’. Riddles, rhyming words, framing dialogues with things around them, story songs, what are questions like, how can I answer a question or find the answer to a riddle, their world of words expanded in so many directions. While they explored framing clues for their familiar spaces of school, they also put thought to making riddles for familiar things around them. “मैं round हूँ। मुझे bat के साथ खेलते हैं ” . They showed readiness to collectively weave a story through the individual characters imagined by them. There was accommodation of diverse ideas and pride in the joint effort. ‘The jungle story’, ‘Shikshantar forest’, ‘Harry travels over the space and jungle’, their ideas were vast and their imaginations stretched to include each one of them.

On the day of the birthday celebration, parents experienced the same word explorations through the corners set up across the campus. Making a variety of puppets themselves, they eagerly explored ‘ कठपुतलियों से कहानियों तक ’ with abundant joy. For the very first time, they listened to a story narrated in the Japanese street art form of ‘Kamishibai’. Shadow puppetry was another form of story narration that saw them empathize with the character of a ladybird in the story ‘The ladybird and the butterfly’.

Words abound all around us. When we sing or just hum along to the beats of a tabla, words are born organically. They may not have the form and sound of linguistic words and yet they convey our feelings of that moment. ‘Found sound’, ‘ गीतों के रंग शब्दों के संग ’, explorations with music, musical instruments, songs in a new language etc allowed expression of these along with kindling an urge to get on the feet and move creatively.

How do words lend themselves to ‘Oorja’? To jog the mind as well as the body, picture cues, riddles, word pictures were used. To bring focus after a bout of physical activity was the challenge of speaking a tongue-twister while walking on a straight line. Phew!

Do I tumble or do words tumble? What if both tumble and make a jumble! Word play can be intelligent, fun, tricky and captivating. And when parents experienced some of it, they went back to their school days of language learning but were refreshed with the fun element that they now experienced.

A few joyful songs, togetherness, the sun setting on our green lawn and hot beverages. All this accompanied a brief sharing by Minoti Didi on the journey of Shikshantar that began 22 years back. A perfect end to an evening that was celebratory and yet simple, invigorating and yet therapeutic, exploratory and yet immersive!

Happy Birthday to you, Shikshantar!

Monsoon: Water and Rains

The month of July, with its overcast skies, carries the promise of rain. Our young children of Vanar Years eagerly wait for it to rain, especially during school hours. They look up at the sky to spot black clouds, “क्योंकि black clouds बारिश लाते हैं”. When rain-bearing clouds elude them, they participate in ‘Oorja’ exercises or play in Vanar Vatika during ‘Choice time’, despite the sultry weather. “दीदी देखो मेरा पसीना drip drop करके गिर रहा है।”

Across levels of Sprouting Seeds, Nursery, and Kindergarten, rain and water-related experiences are explored by children. Children look forward to jumping and getting their feet wet in the water puddles here and there. Friends of Nursery groups further explored ‘wet on wet painting’ using puddle water and paints. On another day, they relished eating bhutta, the first experience of eating it straight from the Bhuttawala Bhaiya for some of them.

When it does not rain, children also look for ways to experience the coolness of water. “Didi, if we sit in the sandpit we will feel cool”, “If you splish splash water on face, you will feel ठंडा ठंडा, just like it is raining”. Children recall their past experiences of rain and share about the sounds they have heard and creatures they have seen on a rainy day. Their discussions also lead them to valuing every drop of water and exploring ways in which they can save it. “मैंने teeth brush करते समय बहुत थोड़ा सा पानी खोला”, “Rain होगी तो मैं water collect कर लंगी और उसको drink करूंगी”.

But on the day that it does rain, nothing can hold our children back from playing in it. While most get wet with abandon by jumping in the puddles, some bring out their raincoats and umbrellas to take a walk around the campus and soak in the drenched surroundings. Some friends sit at an open door or window singing their rain songs while busy drawing or painting. Every moment spent in the rain is cherished by children and didi/bhaiyas.

The pre-primary day is designed to give each child space to reflect upon and assimilate her daily experiences. Children engage in small or large groups- working on projects; exploring toys, books or puzzles; conducting simple age-appropriate experiments; weaving and narrating stories. Small group interactions allow children to accommodate and share each other’s needs, resolve interpersonal conflicts and reach out to peers in need.

There is also opportunity for a child to be by herself when she so wishes; for exploring nature- tree climbing/nature walk/collecting twigs, seeds and flowers; for recognizing and and indulging her own preferences in Choice time. Every child gets one-on-one time with didis to facilitate any particular interest in learning or to address specific issues and concerns through dialogue and reasoning.

Children spend 45 minutes each day in the outdoors. The outdoor curriculum is designed to enable children to discover new aspects of their own agility, endurance, physical strength, mental strength, stamina and team spirit. A range of sport activities are organised each day to help children connect with their inner desire to stretch, climb, run, jump, fall and strive to discover new limits and new challenges. As children grow, new skills are acquired through a specific sports curriculum that is planned to keep the focus on age relevant physical capacities and potential.

Art, music and drama are an integral part of our curriculum. bi-weekly explorations in the Art Room and Music Room give children an opportunity to explore and experience new techniques and colour, musical instruments, rhythms and patterns. In the classroom, stories come alive as didis facilitate and encourage role-play, pretend play, story dramatization and free expression.