SOULspace

She was all of 9 years when she came to my class. Bright eyes, short cropped hair, toothy, gummy smile! It was a small class of four students (only!). A cozy class!! The significant fact was that we are all newcomers. I had just joined school as a teacher; our class was new, especially set up for us. The walls were bare for us to fill, the furniture was new for us to choose and claim as our own. New ideas, new experiences and new relationships! For Sneha this was her first schooling experience ever, and she was like a kid in a chocolate factory. Fidgety in her chair, eyes eagerly absorbing all the newness. Impatient to do something, wanting to impress! For a mere one year she came to school, thoroughly enjoying her bus ride from far off Yelahanka. We did some painting, some music, drama, some numbers, alphabets, puzzles. Every day was fun. “I am glad she is coming to school, It’s her dream” her mother confided in me one day. “Is it not too far from where you live?” I asked. ...

  (click on collage for enlarged view) Yes, finally got to put this post up!! It was carnival time at SSK, and I have been canvassing Pratham books for some time here. So decided to get a stall and sell the books!! I was so excited; so much so that when I sold 5 sets of books at one go, I got the addition all wrong! ( typical if I say so myself!!) The folks at Pratham Books were very sweet, not only did they support my eccentricity they had done a great job too. The books arrived all packed in sets of 5 to 6 books, costing 100 to 115 only! Thanks Sanjay! I really believe the low cost books are amazing in their simplicity of story, and classy in terms of paper quality. Ideal for children who are first time readers/learners of the English language. I also found a friend in need! Rajini, a Librarian with many years of experience and many more years of passion for books, sat with me at the stall. She too volunteers at the school as the resource room in charge (perfect don...

                                                    A Tale with a Difference:                                           A cosy Home away from from Home:                 Teachers, Parents,Students, an environment that always makes one feel blessed Uthara and I on World Disabled Day, Dec 3rd, that also happens to be my birthday Took my kids along too and did the story of "The King's Moustache" by Asha Nehmiah (CBT). It is the funny but endearin...

Yep! I had a blast! Today was the culmination of my efforts in storytelling for this term at my special school. Over the last 4 months, I've been doing one story with the special children in the Non-Formal educational group, every Thursday.( Non- formal implies that these children, who have cerebral palsy and other associated disabilities like mental retardation/sensory impairments, get training in a number of life skills, along with some functional literacy skills.) Every week it was a challenge selecting a story for this group. The story had to be simple and realistic enough for them to relate to. Fantasy doesn't work, as it has no meaning, long plots also have no value. Finally out of all the stories done, it was Varsha who decided that it would be the story of the Milkman's Cow. Varsha is a shy, reserved, non-verbal teenager, and when i started off with these sessions, she would be looking elsewhere, not interested, just not connecting. Then I did Milkman's Cow, an...