Newsletter, Issue 6; Yr 20-21
Hello all,
Now it's been two months since we started the routine. Looks like time flies away..
Highlights of last few weeks
Sneak peak into last couple of months
One of the important pillars of learning is not just experimenting but reflecting on the experiments. Once we are outside routine schooling system and away from the assessments based on examinations, it is difficult to understand what and how much we have learnt. Reflections and keeping records of the activities is one way to do so. At the beginning of the year, as facilitators we had decided to slowly promote children to chart their paths, have small goals set, and have a periodic reflection on what is achieved.
But this is a difficult task even for adults. For small ones, who are always in ‘present’ this periodic review is rather too much to expect.
As a result, we thought of creating a slide-show of different activities which took place in LC. The activity was enjoyed by all. We received comments like, ‘mere baal tab intne lambe the!’, ‘I forgot we had played in the front yard!’, ‘we were eating samosa!’ ‘yeh drawing maine banayee hain’, … and so on. It was a very refreshing activity.
Movie club
Last friday of the month is also decided as Movie day. The first movie selected was ‘the boy who harnessed the wind’. Children were very excited. Though we could not complete the movie, and have a reflection session thereafter, it was enjoyed by all. Someone said, ‘this must be first school where people watch movies!’. Even though thats not to be taken literally, movies bring so much of learnings. This one took us directly to ‘Malavi’. I am sure once we start the discussions, it will open topics like annual seasons, effects of deforestation, socio-political disharmony, racism, use of natural energy resources, self-directed learning.
Handbag making
One of the activities which attracted everyone and appreciated even by those who did not participate directly into it was making Handbag from old T shirts. Kids made their own bags and carried home/ to LC.
Button Stitching
We explored different types of buttons and how to stitch them to cloth. During this we also had a small chat around what safety measures one should take while doing stitching. A couple of children were interested in making a button-hole. These made their own button-holes and prepared a ring out of it, without anyone guiding them how to do it,or without watching a video
Hindi
The older kids were already exposed to Devnagari script, but had forgotten basic matra. In Hindi, making different words, paying attention to rhasw/deergh (gramatically correct writing) and comparing how Marathi and Hindi differ was an interesting activity. Though activity started with 2 kids and one facilitator, at the end of it everyone had crowded in the language corner
Stories
Stories of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad were told this week. In the book reading session, Tottochan (Marathi version) is being read aloud. Some are interested in listening to the story
Play
Along with jungle gym, skipping ropes,and skating; ‘dongar ka/ya pani’ and ‘flag game’ were in demand this week. Children also enjoyed guess who, cards, UNO were also
Worksheets
The scope of worksheets is a bit expanded this week. Scramble words, comparative/superlative degrees of adjectives, composition/drawing have also found its way along with the maths sum.
Plans for the coming week
We wish to initiate the discussion on dealing with feelings this week.
We also wish to facilitate the discussion around different tasks and challenges the children would like to take up for coming moths. Lets see how it works out!
Stay tuned for updates.
Cheers!