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So we’ve decided to Homeschool…

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We all hear a lot about homeschooling but most of us don’t make the choice to go for it because of a number of life restrictions in India. Lack of a good support system, curriculum and space not withstanding it’s a hard decision to make with our temperaments and the fact that we all need the couple of hours the kids are away at school to catch up on our own lives. We are however living in unprecedented times and many of us are making the choice to homeschool our kids even if its for a year keeping in mind … Continue reading So we’ve decided to Homeschool…

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Building Foundational learning skills in children, at home

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The kids have been home for almost two months and by all measures it seems like the idea of school that we have experienced so far will be vastly different in the post pandemic world. Schools are still working and teachers still need their jobs, they are doing everything they can to keep the system running and the children prepared for returning to the classrooms at some point. While initially it seemed like a great idea to move teaching online the reality has proven very different especially because it involves parental participation to a great extent which parents are not … Continue reading Building Foundational learning skills in children, at home

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The Best Resources for Nature Study in India

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Getting anywhere with our kids in tow is a slow, long winded affair, especially if we are walking, like we do 80% of the time. They stop at every leaf and every stick to ‘explore’ and that’s what kids do. They are present in the now, extraordinarily so, that means they observe, recognise and understand most, the things in their immediate environment.  Initially my kids would be running outside and come up to me and say, ‘Amma where are the acorns? Can we pick come pine cones?’ this was based on books they read or shows they watched in which … Continue reading The Best Resources for Nature Study in India

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Your kids can Play, even when you are on a budget

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Recently in my conversations with parents I seem to hear a lot of ‘Should we buy this toy? Should we buy that new game? Which toys will keep my children occupied?’ Honestly the only one worrying about what your children will like is you. Children will play with anything, allow them some boredom and you will find they will devise ingenious ways to use their talents and strengths and their current stage of learning interest. In the past year I have invested in less than 5 ‘toys’, I say ‘invested’ and not bought because ‘Play’ is not something that children … Continue reading Your kids can Play, even when you are on a budget

Stories From the Season, Tales3 Comments

Nature Study – Watch the seasons unfold with your kids – Making of a Phenology wheel

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As a family we spend a lot of time outdoors, observing the open spaces around us. Trees, animals, birds, insects what stood out for us as we watched the same space day after day for almost a year was that it was never the same. There was always something new – a flower, a pod, leaves turning yellow, different butterflies, moths one season, katydids / grasshoppers the next. This led me to look for ways in which we could track and plot these findings to look back on while also being able to compare each season and each year. It … Continue reading Nature Study – Watch the seasons unfold with your kids – Making of a Phenology wheel