Gift an education...Make a life !

Villupuram School's Kindergarten students and
teachers celebrated "Fruits Day". The day was
planned to become familiar with colours, shapes,
texture and many other facts about the fruits.

Students had been asked to get one fruit each on the
day. Fruits brought were arranged in different ways
which excited the students.

A lot of preparation had gone into the day.
Teachers had crafted fruit themed hats, masks,
lapel pins which they distributed as soon as
kids trooped into the class.

Students learnt about the taste, smell, colour,
physical appearance of each fruit. The teachers
also took the opportunity to teach about importance
of washing fruits well before eating, benefits of
eating fruits and how to cut each fruit.

The day ended with serving of fruit salad made
from fruits brought by the students!

A teacher's sharing on how the children enjoyed
the 'Fruits Day' celebration at the school:

"As the students were very small kids, they might
have come across only some of the types of fruits,
and seen only some of the fruits.  The fruits setup
was made in the classroom.  They saw the colours,
texture of different fruits.  They are able to
identify the fruits by seeing the colours. After
eating the fruits, they came to know the taste of
the fruits and they are able to identify the
fruits by tasting them.  So, they grasped the
concept in-depth by seeing real fruits, by their
colour, texture and by tasting."

A teacher's sharing on how they will sustain the
interest of fruits in students:

"I am sure that the 'Fruits Day' celebration at our
school will sustain the interest on fruits in the
children.  They bring fruits as their snacks. On an
ongoing basis, we will ask the students about the
name, color and texture of the fruits.  They have
a session in the Montessori to sort the fruits and
vegetables. We will instruct the students to
keep observing the fruits at the shops and on their
way to their homes."

Children sharing! :

"We learnt the names of the fruits, colors, texture,
taste, number of seeds and whether the fruit grows
on a tree or a plant.  We learnt the action words
sequence of what to do before eating the fruits:
Washing, Cutting, Peeling, and Slicing.  We also
learnt the vitamin contents of the fruits.

We decided that Mango is our favorite fruit, because
of its color and taste!"

It's great to know that Isha Vidhya students
learnt about the fruits that is a part of our daily
food!


Isha Vidhya at Global Giving December Campaign

It's the final few days in December when we raise
funds for 30 laptops costing around US$425 each
to be used by the academic co-ordinators who design
the curriculum for Isha Vidhya schools and the
Isha supported Govt. schools in Tamilnadu.

The need is urgent, as the laptops that they are
using right now are old, have battery problems and
need frequent backups to avoid losing the valuable
work that they do.

Here's a sharing from Silambarasan, an academic
co-ordinator on the importance of laptops for their
work:

"Isha Vidhya is a chain of 8 schools which are
located in the rural areas and imparted to educate
poor children. Availability of resources in these
rural areas is limited, especially human resources.
So we are in need to train teachers in teaching
methodology and required teaching skills. These
teachers who are recruited are given training by
school coordinators periodically, to match
Isha Vidhya’s requirement. School coordinators also
design the content, text material, manuals and work
books based on the school’s objectives. Since
periodical update of teaching aids and methodology
is needed, laptops, internet and other gadgets
become imperative. Since all the SCs are travelling,
their only way of communication is through mail.
Their entire task is monitored and regulated via mail.
More than 80% of our work are through laptops and
mails. Apart from content creation, assessment and
analysis of assessment is very important. For this
SCs need a good laptop with necessary software
installed. So mail and laptops play a vital role in
our academic support team."

We encourage you to donate generously in this
year-end campaign to support Isha Vidhya to procure
the laptops for the academic co-ordinators!

We also request you to share this message with your
circle of contacts, so that they come to know the
important work that Isha Vidhya is doing in the
area of education.

As always, we thank you so much for all that you
have done for supporting your favorite project
Isha Vidhya!

Thanks & Best Regards,

Links:

• Isha Vidhya at Global Giving