Hello all,

Here we come to the end of 2022. It's a time for reflection. Things we did, learnt, missed, mourned, enjoyed! We began this year, in LC, with one resolution. It was kept in a secret box. It was opened every month, to remind us and gauge what we are upto. It seems like this just happened a few days back, and we are already moving to the next year. I am sure, for many of you, this thought is just the same.

Lets check what happened this week…

Judiciary

1. As a facilitator we shared our pain points of the project day. To keep reminding everyone to behave, listen to the presenter, not to disturb the audience, pay attention in circle time and so on and so forth. We told them we are tired of doing this job and now onwards we will not keep poking anyone. Instead, we will exercise our right to complain. Everyone agreed easily. We also decided to have lunch before circle time so our minds are fresh and stomachs are full to contribute to circle time.

1. There are some hygiene related issues, like nose-picking, putting things in mouth which were disturbing a few. So we decided to watch for such traits in ourselves and pinpoint if someone is doing it.

1. We discussed about Yansh and the challenges that kids faced. We also discussed the brighter side of the inclusivity. This also led to expression of gratefulness that we are born with all the possible abilities, the fact that never even occurs to us. We do not know whether Yansh will continue his trial period or not. He has his own challenges too.

Project Day

Shilpa, Prapti were the guests this time. I am sure you all know Shashwat, TISS student who is studying LC for his masters course in alternative education, was here for the last project day. He was very interested to attend this month too. He brought along his friend, Sangeet.

I am glad to express that almost everyone exceeded the expectations. Some started last moment preparations, some did not even contact their mentors. But these were just the exceptions. Overall audience was also better. We wrote a few complaints. But keeping us off from constant reminders for behaviour was a peaceful experience. As decided in the Judiciary, we had lunch first and then went for a circle of reflections. This too was helpful.

I guess, for the first time in LC’s history, we talked about how we can better our performances, rather than about behaviour and unpreparedness. Our guests’ feedback was a good mix of soft, encouraging as well as to the point and emphasising on areas of improvement.

I thank you all for your contribution as mentors. I request you to keep guiding the children in a similar way. As discussed in Let's Samzte Hain, we can also expect a few parents presenting their projects on upcoming Project Day, 25 Jan 2023

Electives

In people and places, we explored the Northern part of Africa, Sahara desert, Suez canal. In History with biggies we had seen the rebel by soldiers and royals against the East India Company (1857). This week we talked about rebel by peasants, the well-known “Blue Rebellion” Indigo Movement.

With Pups (Indian Freedom Fighters) we listened to a few stories of Mahatma Gandhi. This session will continue in the coming week too. During problem solving, pups solved Sudoku and some logical challenging questions. IPM group did their own maths. Biggies discussed their compound interest problems and some did Ratio-proportion. In the games session, children played Rapid Fire card game which was a big hit. Sheikh Sir guided kids to make greeting cards using water and oil-based colours. Along with Gymnastics, Vinayak sir guided kids to play lagori.  

Clubs

The Project day and mocks and overall absentees took some toll on the club, this week. This time in the drama club, children played Dumb-charades. Children enjoyed some free dance. The “Dead Poet Society” movie was left halfway through. We finished it on Friday. Also, Friday food was reduced to simple fruit dish.

On the other hand, volleyball is the new thing in. You will find kids playing volleyball outside, in the play zone, immediately after entering in LC, after lunch, in free time, in between two sessions.

Food for thought

This time around 3-4 children have decided the right to not participate in the project day. I am sure that is going to attract some discussion and coercion. I too was wondering what made them take this decision, when all this while they opted for projects.

Interestingly, I came across this article and found it interesting enough to share it with you guys.

Do give it a read, and we can discuss about this in coming LSH

The Most Basic Freedom is the Freedom to Quit - The Natural Child Project

Reminders

The next project day is on 25th Jan, Wednesday.

Please select the topics you would like to help kids in. Also, let us know if you would like to present your own project.

We have shared video recordings of earlier project day with you. Kindly download and save it as a portfolio. We will be deleting the same after 31st December.

Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, in advance. Let 2023 be prosperous, joyous, sparkling, full of adventures, learnings and unlearnings!

See you next time