It has been over five years since Akshara Education Project (AEP) was initiated in August 2001 with fifteen government schools around Madanapalle with support from Asha For Education, Seattle. This year has been a year for contemplation and reflection on the work, experiences and plans for the future. All these years it has been our main focus to provide learning and teaching experiences that are joyful and realise the potential of the child and the teacher. In the process we have experienced both the high and the lows. It definitely is encouraging to see children who are happy and joyful learning through activities. It may not be possible for teaching all concepts through activities but wherever possible it should be encouraged, when this does not happen it bothers us. We are very happy when other schools and NGO’s appreciate this way of learning and ask us to help their teachers. It saddens us when we find that such a learning atmosphere does not persist in our schools. It is wonderful to see the curiosity in the eyes of the children when they do science experiments but when some teachers think it distracts the children, we tend to get unmotivated. We are delighted to see the children read with ease and interest the library books and eagerly wait for our next visit. We get disappointed when the teachers do not allow the exam going children to borrow books. The factors for this could be many such as; our infrequent visits or the stubborn system that we are working with, but it is a reality that we are to face and move forward finding the right ways and means.
During the year we have been keenly observing the children of class I to class V and have tried to informally evaluate their learning levels. Most of the children are able to listen to and understand conversations, directions, instructions and to simple readings.
We have noticed this while we give out instructions during an activity; the children pay attention and follow them with a lot of interest. Sometimes to motivate the children of class II and III we read simple stories and ask questions, they answer without any difficulty.
We have found that many of the children have trouble speaking on a given topic for a short period of time; they are not good at describing things, events and asking questions. Some children are good at narrating stories which they have read or heard.
To overcome this problem we have started an activity ‘Show and Tell’, the children get turns to show any object they can bring to class and talk about it for a short time. We also ask the children to share about the book they have borrowed and briefly tell the story making sure not reveal the ending. We make it a point to encourage the children to talk and ask questions.
Thanks to the library progarmme most of the children are now good at reading. It is a pleasure to see class III and IV children read with good speed and ease. We have prepared reading cards based on the text-books; this is helping the children improve their vocabulary- antonyms, synonyms, plural and singular words.
The hand-writing of children needs a lot of improvement. Most of the children’s hand-writing is not neat and legible. Almost all children find difficulty in writing guided composition or something on their own (creative writing).
The problem of bad hand-writing is mainly because of the uncomfortable practice children have of writing in slates with tiny bits of chalk, scribble in their notebooks to save both paper and pencil; no proper guidance is given in making the strokes and holding a pencil. We continue to have our drawing and painting classes, hope this brings some order in the hand-writing. We are in the process of making copy writing strips and collecting some samples of good hand writing. Once these are ready we will have regular sessions on hand-writing. Regarding creative writing first the children need to improve their ability to express orally.
The children’s levels of learning in mathematics had improved greatly. They have a good number sense but some children still have a problem understanding place-value.
At class II and class III levels we have introduced several games played with pebbles and seeds, this has improved their concept of place-value.
Most of the children have learnt the multiplication tables by heart but they have a problem giving answers randomly. To overcome this problem we have prepared multiplication table cards.
The children tend to make a lot of mistakes while doing arithmetic. While doing addition and subtraction involving carry over and borrowing they find it difficult. They also have problem doing multiplication and division with large numbers.
We have found that this problem is mainly because they have not understood the place-value concept and lack of practice. To make the concepts clear we use number strips, stick bundles and abacus. For giving a systematic drill in these skills we have made practice cards. The advantage of these cards is that the children can work on their own (with minimal teacher supervision) and the cards are well graded. The child is motivated to do work on these cards because they start at a level which is comfortable to the child and gradually moves upwards.
The levels of learning of children in environmental studies are fairly good. We have had mapping exercises and other activities to understand the village and the surroundings. Paper models were made by children to understand how the human body works and of late they have started doing simple science experiments. This year we are planning new activities to learn about the weather.
In January and February it was a good opportunity and experience to help some teachers in REAP, Gujarat in preparing learning material and guiding them on how to use it. In June we had 14 teachers from World Education, Mahboobnagar who were here to for a week to learn intensively about Activity Based Learning. It was nice sharing thoughts and activities on experiential learning with teachers at RDT schools in Tiruporur, Tamil Nadu. In November and December we spent a few days with teachers in three schools in the neighboring Kolar district on finding ways in making learning a more child-centered activity rather than a teacher directed one.