3 Dec 2021

Dear all,

One of the pioneers of Democratic Education in the world, Daniel Greenberg passed away this week. I opened the window to alternative education through his book, Free at Last. If I were to trace back to my alternative lifestyle, I think the pivotal moment was reading Greenberg’s books and essays. He has not just left a legacy but changed the way we think of educating our children and inspired many like us to join this journey. His absence will be deeply felt in the alternative education community. I secretly coveted meeting him in some conference. He was 87. I am attaching a link here of his writings from the Sudbury Valley School website. Hopefully, you will enjoy and get inspired. Here’s the link.

https://sudburyvalley.org/author/daniel-greenberg

Onto some of the highlights of this week…

Judiciary

We have decided to have two meetings now. One is Judiciary which is not mandatory and the other one is Circle time which is compulsory for everyone to attend. Judiciary meetings involve decision making and debating, while the other one is a forum to dispense information that concerns all. Judiciary meetings are on Mondays 9 - 9.30 am and Circle times are on Thursdays 9 - 9.30 am.

One of the major discussions this time was to discuss the pros and cons of extending LC till 3 pm. We wanted to know how everyone envisages spending these extra hours in LC. Cons were -  there will be no time left at home to finish the homework, since mostly all of them go for some sports class. About pros, we need to say more.

Circle Time

This week we had our first circle time and discussion was about the project day. Last month a few kids expressed why it was necessary to do project day, so we intend to discuss it with those kids who find it unnecessary. Also we plan to discuss with everyone about their projects on a weekly basis.

Ground day

Tuesdays have become a fun day now with ground play. Almost all of them take a jog around the ground too. The popular game is still virus-virus.

Trial Period

We have three new kids who are doing their trial period with us. Vyom who is 10 is in 5th grade, likes to sing and dance. Pearl, 8 years old, loves arts and painting. Keshnika is 12 yrs old and loves arts and cooking. There was an orientation for them to explain the rules of LC.

Movie Club

So we have now finished watching both the movies, Gods must be crazy - part I and II. I believe it's one of the funniest movies out there. It's a story of a man from the Bushmen tribe from the Kalahari desert and his adventures with the modern people and their things. There are several parallel stories which add to the flavour of the movie.

Friday Food

Sticky and chocolatey fudge, with a slight burnt flavour (which only accidentally added to the flavour). This time two kids who never used to attempt taking turns for food cooking took their turns. They checked the recipes from youtube and finally made it. It had left everyone licking their fingers while watching the movie.

Geopolitics

One of the electives is Geopolitics. It's inspired from the interest a few kids have in politics and geography. While teaching the facilitator realised too, that geography cannot be treated as a static subject, there’s a bit of history that comes with it. The influence of politics cannot be avoided from geography.

Nature Systems

All the kids got pots from home. They first began by making holes underneath the pots and then filled it with soil. They also carefully named their pots and planted a few seeds of methi, moong, matki and some seeds of flowering plant. Kids were excited to see their seeds germinating from their pots.

Drawings Competition and Exhibition

We had one of the most wonderful Paintings Exhibition by our own Sheikh Sir. Few parents got the opportunity to talk and hear from him about art and his inspirations. There weren’t many kids from outside, in fact not all our kids turned up. It was a pleasure to hear him talk about his journey as a student and as an artist. We hope he will continually inspire our kids with his arts and guide those who want to start a journey.

That's all for now...see you next week!