April and May of every year are our dedicated months for revisiting the curricula of our kindergarten and grade schools. For the last 14 months of this Covid-19 pandemic, I have been in a fix. The deeper I dig, the louder it cries, i.e., what is the purpose of our school and education?
And on the other side, a child, the silent warrior in this pandemic, has been deprived of his first and basic right of PLAY, i.e., play outside, play with his friends, play in his school, and just play effortlessly without any gadgets and education agenda.
My curriculum design must focus on these two core needs, shouldn’t it?
First, the curriculum must answer explicitly to this burning question of the ‘Purpose of Education’ and the second it must include PLAY vividly.
Last year in March, preschools and K-12 schools were made to lock their premises down abruptly one day. The very next day, K-12 schools took their omnipresent avatar through online platforms and got busy completing their syllabi. Preschools were confused, so they sang rhymes, told stories, conducted puppet shows, showed flashcards for learning subjects, and whatever it took them to stay seen they did. Of course, there was nothing wrong.
And I was freezing because I wanted to revisit my idea of education and schooling. I did not want to complete the syllabus for the sake of it. Out of fear and insecurity of being left out behind, I sincerely consulted my parents’ community for doing what others were doing, they said they would do all of the above at home.
The first-ever on earth online academic year 2020-21 started, the sense of responsibility grew more profound and this year, 2021-22 far more profound to meet both of my core needs to include in my curriculum designs.
I chalked down. First,
Objectives and Outcomes of learning:
A child’s learning journey can be divided into many parts like:
- Exposure and activities for going from known to unknown (Discovering new and growing towards knowing and attaining the purpose of life)
- Exposure and activities for unfolding different intelligences and increasing neuron powers (Unleash powers of our brains)
- Experiencing that education is life (Possibility Thinking)
- Exposure for activities for muscle memory building (Practice, Practice, and Practice)
- Exposure and activities-that include both of the above-for Skill(s) Development
- Experiencing that the world is a safe place to live happily (Peace and Happiness)
- Exposure and experiences for building a concept and character in a child (UNESCO Motto of education: Attaining a whole being)
| Four Pillars of Education | |
| Know | Do |
| Live Together | Be |
And second,
Diversity children (Vividers) are going to PLAY with their peer group and teachers, no matter what. Every subject must get the expression of the child’s language, i.e., PLAY. Every child must feel included in this PLAY. Every child must find life in this PLAY.
And the parents are going to PLAY with us in our online classes for the AY 2021-22.
Diversity The Playschool propagates PLAY, PLAY, AND PLAY because it cares for children and understands the purpose of education.
