At Vidyarambham your child is welcomed into an environment which is Flexible, Friendly and Free. I think of it not as a ‘school’ in the traditional sense of the word, but a place where your child discovers the joy of learning. The Journey of Vidyarambham
Early Days
The seeds of the now thirteen-year old Vidyarambham tree were sown in June 2001. This millenium baby has been conceived and nurture
d by me, when I shifted to Pune. Having been exposed to various facets of the educational sector for more than a decade previously, ranging from a pre-primary teacher to a degree college professor and primary school teacher and junior college assignments in between, the notion of working closely with children in the pre-school age group seemed most fascinating to me. The idea of an informal place for two-to-three year olds to gather within the society premises was welcomed by a couple of residents. The first batch had five children: 3 were at the Playgroup level and 2 at the Nursery level. When the Nursery kids got placed at a prominent ICSE school and a popular convent school respectively for KG, I felt that the debut, was successful. I did not even have to advertise the new venture as the parents did that for me. The confidence with which the children of my first batch spoke English and conducted themselves was a testimony in itself. Toddling On…
Five years of single room -single teacher and with the increased expectations of parents Vidyarambham got its exlcusive premises. Another dedicated and sincere ex-parent joined as a teacher/facilitator. Having been a part of the school for two consecutive years as a parent, she became an invaluable part of the staff. Patience and originality are the key qualities that I looked for in a prospective teacher. Fancy-sounding training on latest theories are not the ONLY pre-requisites to being good teachers. Genuine rapport building and single-minded absorption in the activity are more essential, in my opinion. Different approaches to teaching/learning and more creative activities helped the school to grow to provide better learning opportunities for the kids. A bit about me…
My name is Meena Kalyan. I am the founder-facilitator of Vidyarambham. My earliest remembered dream was to be a teacher. I more than realised it by setting up my own school! Drawing from all my varied experiences I have endeavoured to create a niche where children get the maximum opportunity to play, to interact with other children and enjoy learning in a home-away-from home atmosphere. The thrust has been on ensuring children’s comfort and security. I believe in providing a lot of stimulus by way of toys, puzzles and books to children to jog their imagination and develop skills and memory. A little bit about myself – Though I would rather talk about the school
(You will find that my narrative is intertwined with that of Vidyarambham!)
As far as my educational background goes, I am a first class post- graduate from the University of Bombay with a degree in Education from Annamalai University. I completed my formal primary and secondary schooling in a convent located in Bandra, Mumbai. My dream to be teacher got side-tracked when I landed a coveted’ bank job’ after my graduation. The experience enriched me to the extent that it made me aware of my true sensibilities. Matrimony and motherhood gave me a perfect excuse to chuck that job. I honed my housekeeping and culinary skills and also enrolled for B.Ed. (by correspondence). As my son started schooling, I also started teaching. My assignments were taken up with a view to ensuring I spent maximum time with my son. It encompasses classes from pre-primary to degree college with various primary and junior college in between. I am an avid reader and enjoy all genres of fiction – action, humour, romance, political thrillers, – learning and religion -.I enjoy word games and puzzles and am a crossword enthusiast. I have been involved with organizing various activities for children.(as a teacher)I make great efforts to introduce kids to BOOKS. ‘Catch ‘em young!’, I say! In the school, special time is earmarked as library time, when each child can go to the cupboard and choose a book and sit with it in a corner, learn to turn pages, recognize what is familiar and gradually ask about what is new. The books in the cupboard are periodically rotated to keep enthusiasm alive. But, I understood that a child likes to take the same book regularly and tries to perceive changes or recall what he/she has previously observed. They don’t get bored. That a book will contain the same images, in the same order, day after day, is also a novelty for them!! I can speak my native Tamil fluently as also Hindi, Marathi and English. I have picked up phrases in Malayalam, Bengali and Kannada to put kids at their ease. It means a lot hear words of reassurance in a language they comprehend. It is important that the child does not feel alienated in its new environment. Everything is done gradually. The hours of school, the fading out of the parent’s presence are all done with the child’s knowledge and consent. This consideration of the child’s opinion goes a long way to build the child’s self-image. When I shifted to Pune following my husband’s transfer, I got the brainwave of setting up my own Nursery rather than apply for jobs. I was encouraged by a few neighbours who wanted a centre without exposing the child to the horrors of a commute by autorickshaw. The focus has always been the child. The structure has acquired its shape by the demands of children and their responses to various activities. That a three year old, after a term at Vidyarambham, is capable of giving feedback about the school and its programme speaks for what Vidyarambham is about.
