The seed for SwashikshanTV was sown in a casual Facebook post on the Swashikshan page, a few months ago; where Hema A. Bharadwaj said that she was keen that we start a YouTube channel for Indian Homeschoolers. This was even before Swashikshan was formally launched!
Just as a seed starts to germinate when the time is just ripe, this idea too became a reality and took root only a little over a month ago, when a couple of people, who were passionate about this idea, got together to co-create this space – as another forum to document and share stories of Indian homeschoolers. That was how SwashikshanTV was born!
Most people, who are thinking of homeschooling as an option or those who have just started out, often feel a real need to talk to someone or listen to someone’s story (rather than reading blogs or articles). They want to know about real people and real issues before they take the plunge. Often, there is a need to know and assure oneself that there is a community of homeschoolers out there, who have already been there and done that. They may have many questions, many fears, and many doubts – many that cannot be answered through phone calls or one on one meeting. Then, this channel could help anyone who is keen to homeschool to “meet” virtually many who are already on this path.
Swashikshan TV could provide the resources for such a person –
- where he/she can see and hear REAL people and REAL stories from different parts of our country, instead of stories from other countries and other cultures
- where he / she can relate to and draw inspiration from stories and journeys whenever needed
- where a community of like-minded people could share ideas and connect with one another
So SwashikshanTV is OUR own Indian Homeschoolers’ YouTube channel – a great resource of our very own, with our own Indian flavour – to share, learn and discuss OUR real stories of homeschooling / unschooling. WE can view, upload, discuss and share video or audio recordings that reflect OUR OWN diverse, real and rich homeschooling / unschooling journeys such as:
- kids talking about their passions
- parents sharing their stories on their decision to homeschool
- challenges and how they were overcome
- how children learn, play or interact
- any other topics that could be relevant and useful for other homeschoolers
Some video and audio recordings have already been uploaded on the channel. If you have not already seen them, then here is the link to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/SwashikshanTV. Here is a sample of some content that is already online.
- A 16 year old unschooler from Coimbatore – Aditi Parekh – recently dropped out of school to pursue her passions. Click here to view the video as she talks about her decision.
- Saraswati Chavali and Sharad share their homeschooling journey with Film maker, Shammi Nanda. This audio recording in Hindi was done using a mobile phone. Click here to hear it on SwashikshanTV
- Hema A. Bharadwaj’s son Raghu talks about his passion for video gaming.
There are many more videos that have been uploaded too! Do take a look and leave your comments!
While some of us have put our energies to get this going, we would love to move on with more people sharing their energies with us in this endeavour. For anything to grow and serve its purpose, it has to grow and change with time and with the proactive efforts of a diverse group of people. That would mean more of us to think about this, discuss, share ideas and upload audios / videos to the channel. We hope that SwashikshanTV too would be a space that we can co-create together, and that it would evolve to what every Swashiksharthie would like it to be.