29 September 2023

Dear Parents,

Apologies for all the missing newsletters over the past few weeks. There is so much happening in LC, that there's hardly any time to pause and breathe. And by the way, did you realise that there’s only one more month for this semester to end. Next week onwards we will be working on summarising the sessions we are taking. Yes that's right, time flies!

We touched a variety of topics this time. The idea has always been to give children an exposure of different topics and then if they are interested then  continue for deeper learning. Here's what was available on the menu!

People and Places of India

The focus of this session has been to acquaint children with the diversity of India. So we started with the discussion of borders that we share with our neighbouring countries. Geographical features like mountains, rivers, different states in particular North east states and union territories were taken. Different aspects of climate like tropical monsoon, westerly winds, mango showers, etc. were also covered. Regions of India that get heat wave and cities affected the most were also discussed. We also showed few episodes of the epic “Discovery of India” series. We have also covered different dance forms within classical and folk dances. Kids have also done presentations about Union Territories. We intend to explore culture, festivals, languages, etc. next semester.

Math (Poorva)

Kids who are 8 to 12 yrs sit for this session together. Some of the concepts taken are algebra, unit conversions, simple interest, area, perimeter, circumference, parallel lines. Also in the geometry, constructions of angle bisectors, Squares, Circle have been taken. One of the things that has been done this time is that all who take this session get a worksheet. These worksheets are one per day and they get feedback on their work. This rigorous follow up has shown good results. These worksheets are a kind of mixed bag of all the material covered so far. This helps in constantly revising old materials that have been taken and doesn’t make the worksheets boring.

Math (Vipul)

The older ones who had signed up for this session have been doing quadratic functions and have almost finished it. For the following weeks they have decided to complement their work in precalculus which they did last semester with some of the material that they will have to learn for SSC exam. They will also start with geometry.

Analytical, Logical Reasoning

Here we solve the kind of questions that one generally finds in an aptitude test. We have done coding-decoding, number series, missing pictures, puzzles, questions on calendars, etc. We have also taken Probability with the older kids. They all love pictorial reasoning questions, especially the Pups. The only complaint they have from the facilitator is that she doesn’t give them homework. If their interest persists then we can enroll them for one of the Logical Reasoning exams. Ofcourse, only if they wish to!

Astronomy

This session started with an ambitious objective of covering many topics. We started with the Big Bang theory and the concept of singularity. I have observed these sensational concepts, like Singularity, black holes, etc. get kids hooked. They are all wide eyed and jaws dropping. But when I migrated to our Solar system and insisted that we study our nearby planets first their interest dwindled. We explored the moons and rings of different planets. We studied dwarf planets and exo planets. Children also did presentations about the space explorations done by NASA and ISRO on Mars and Sun. Some of the other topics we spoke about are, origins of the names of our months and evolution of our calendar, constellations, how to watch the night sky and some videos of Carl Sagan.

TWTW - The World This Week

This session’s simple objective is to brief children about what is happening around them. How to be sensitive and be aware of how things will affect us, even if they are not at the receiving end directly. We would usually open the World map and the facilitator will read the key highlights of the World news pointing where its happening. Sometimes we only do news related to India. Once we saw a Lok Sabha session (where our beloved ministers were howling!) and discussed about how Parliament works.

Hindi

The objective of this session was to read, write, speak and converse in correct hindi. The methods we have used are to listen to poetries, songs and stories. Some of these books have been taken from the website of Arvind Gupta toys, which is an encyclopaedia itself. Games like word play, understanding and usage of idioms were also done. Children who are serious during this session have received a workbook this time. Some of them found it challenging but are sticking to the requirements of the sessions and learning from each other. If we continue this one for semester then, it is likely that they will get a hang of it.

In the interest of not making this newsletter too long, I will share details of others sessions with you next week. Meanwhile, here’s what we did when we were not taking the sessions.

Football club

Few parents suggested that we engage some football experts in LC since kids were so interested in this sport. So during the discussions in circle time, many kids expressed that they were not interested in getting formal coaching. But all got together to start a football club. Two times during the last two weeks they have got together to play at the nearby garden. But there have been some apprehensions from the watchmen. So we will see what happens next week!

Repair Cafe

This is an initiative started by a couple, Purna and Himadri from Ahmedabad. They are striving to stop broken things from landing in the dumping grounds. We had a decent turnout with adults and children. Some of the things that we were able to repair were clocks, drones, mosquito bat, hand held 3D printing device, mini vacuum cleaner, computer keyboard, iron box, battery operated toys, radio, etc. Himadri showed the group how to service bicycles too. They came with their tool kits and eight expert volunteers. Their idea is not just to repair items but to also teach children and adults to do it on their own, so that we can teach others. By looking at the success of this event we are thinking of continuing this activity. Maybe even partner with Kar ke Seekho group.

Nagla Block Trek

This is that part of the National Park which is not very populated by visitors. We had to walk to the entrance of the park from the bus stop which was clearly a horrendous experience. We walked through potholed roads which was slushy with rainwater. Bikers had captured all the sidewalks, leaving us a narrow strip and at some place hardly any place to walk. It was a glaring evidence of how mismanaged our administration is and the general apathy among people. The one bright thing I observed is that none of our kids complained. Oh yes the second great thing was the trek itself. Special thanks to Atul for explaining to us in great detail the flora and fauna of this place. He remembers the names of several flowers, insects, plants and trees and was enthusiastic to share it with us. Few kids were perturbed by mosquito bites but they quickly retorted to saying that next time I will prepare better by wearing long sleeves.

Review Week

We want to start meeting with Parents of Blossoms from next week onwards, from Oct 3rd. We will send you the reviews soon.

That's all for now,

Until next time!