Learning and Farming plays a very critical role in life of individual as well as society says Claude Alvares. He claims that though they seem separate, but, in reality, they are deeply interconnected. He laments the fact that the way multinational corporations, for their vested interest, are destroying native agricultural practices. He also grieves over […]
Learning and Farming – An Indian View Read More »
We too had to decide what we will take of school and what we could leave behind for good or …
Suddenly there was no need to get up early and rush for school and that meant no need to forcefully get into bed early too. Suddenly an unknown fear began gripping at me. What are my children’s interests that I can fan?
Reached Somewhere … Going Nowhere Read More »
When my eldest son was born, I was unskilled at mothering. I had been until then, under the misconception that once I give birth, I would instinctively know how to care for my baby. It could not be any other way, the rest of the animal kingdom do not have the luxury of parenting books,
The Day My Baby Taught Me How To Parent Him Read More »
When crawling around as tigers stops being fun, we might break into an impromptu jig. She loves singing and dancing and music is almost always present. She has her favorites, to which we sing and dance together, with gay abandon.
I think for a long time, before D was born, I was under a misconception that staying all day at home could never ever be simulating, would be boring and it is for lazy people. But D has shown me otherwise in more ways than one. For one – our home and neighborhood is all
A Journey called Home Read More »
When our daughter saw that the numeral 10 comprised a 1 and a 0 she flung herself upon a chair and cried. We were taken aback, unprepared for the blow this dealt to her understanding of number and how she would struggle to make sense of it.
Zero is Beautiful: Teaching Mathematics as if People Mattered Read More »
Here is the transcript of my speech given at the National Institute of Open Schooling’s 25th Anniversary celebrations at Chennai, where I was recognised as the all-India topper for the Senior Secondary April 2013 exams. Each time I open an NIOS textbook, I am greeted with the words – “Congratulations! You have accepted the challenge
The power of open schooling Read More »
My son Megh, eight and a half, and I were lying on the floor and talking of fireworks, during the festival season of Diwali. I told him about my childhood and how crazy I was for fireworks. I told him I would run for more fireworks as soon as the earlier lot was used up.
Say NO to fireworks but not to fire experiments! Read More »
Twenty one years ago, a princess of the flowers was born to me. My friend gazed down upon the little baby and declared her princess of the stars. We laughingly agreed that she was a star-flower princess. Sahya knew nothing about our secret, yet, three years later, she returned from a walk in my ancestral
Healing Relationships, Healing Mother Earth Read More »
When I decided to present a paper for The Homeschool Conference (http://www.homeschoolconference.com), I was not sure what would be the theme of the paper. Each day for a month I sat down at my lap top and opened a blank word document and stared at the screen, with nothing coming forth for me to write.
How do I explain Unschooling to skeptics? Read More »