We talk, we dance, we play, we learn...!!!

          Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

Oh boy, didn't we learn that! 

11th August, 2012

            It was only the second school visit by the Social Causes club, yet the number of volunteers had risen to hover around 20... After the first visit none of us could actually wait to meet the kids at Olcott again but our agenda included visiting multiple schools, so we steered ourselves toward another school - Venkata Ramana Primary School... Clearly, it was a challenge since we were to handle kids of grades 3,4 and 5. So,  completely perked up, we made our arrangements with a different set of activities and set  off.
        In the short while that we were settling the kids down,we realized one thing that hadn't changed from the previous visit - the excitement of the kids. They were extremely active and indulgent. We started off with the usual introductions by the kids followed by some fun games...
             We split the kids into 4 teams of about 5 students each and had  one or two volunteers with each team. We took some general pictures with us which we asked them to identify. The kids could identify most of the pictures and the volunteers helped them out when they couldn't. They were more than willing to answer, thanks to the chocolates we handed over to the ones who did!!
              After that we had a crossword quiz containing the names of toys. We reckoned it would be easy but we were way off the mark on that one. The kids knew the words that we had chosen but they didn't know how to spell them, which made guessing a hard task.. We understood that we should teach them simpler stuff before trying out these kind of games.  Then we arranged the kids into a circle and played a word building game which was fun too.

             To end the session we had them dance to the tunes of 'Why this kolaveri...'  which brought most of the kids to the floor. They were enjoying themselves so much that we could just sit and watch them dancing with all their heart. Yet again, we were surrounded by pleas to come again and to spend more time with them.Finally we walked out the school with the same sense of happiness that we'd found in Olcott Memorial School and the longing to be with these kids as often as shall be possible....