EMPOWERING THROUGH EDUCATION

Research across several educational communities upholds that children learn most in the development years of 0-5. However, learning in these crucial years is a remote luxury to most children in low-income communities. If school readiness is a crucial beginning to formal learning, then we believe that all must have it, irrespective of their economic standing.

 

The Udaan Kindergarten provides pre-school learning to children from low-income communities, equipping them with a strong educational foundation to take on the rigour of formal schooling with confidence. Classes of happy children experience the joy of learning under the gentle care of trained teachers in a safe, loving and vibrant environment.

 

Kindergarten is the year of basics. Thus, the curriculum focuses on the essentials of all: languages, numerical literacy, development of fine and gross motor skills, awareness of self and environment, social skills and respecting of routine and discipline. The teaching methodology adopted to achieve the learning objectives is a combination of drill and reinforcement learning which facilitates memorizing and acquiring of habitual skills of writing and reciting and a play-way approach which allows for learning through doing, exploring and discovering.

 

Teacher observations, student talk, classwork and orals help teacher assess the progress of the student on a continuous basis. Formal assessments are conducted twice in an academic year in a child-friendly manner. A thorough record of observations of each child enables teachers to give constructive feedback to the parents and suggest reasonable tasks to support the child’s learning at home.

 

At the end of the Kindergarten year, our children are ready, both on an academic and social level, to enter Grade 1 of a formal school.

 

An Insight

 

At 9.30 am toddlers between the age of 4 and 6 step out of their homes, sometimes with their parent, sometimes alone, and sprint into the colourful and vibrant space of the Udaan Kindergarten located in a construction workers’ basti in Powai, Hiranandani. After a greeting to the teacher and a short prayer followed by a healthy snack, the children are ready for the day. Giggling, laughing, crying, and sulking, the little ones get lost in the world of flashcards, worksheets, games, puzzles, playdough, crayons and toys and all too soon it is time to go home. When their teachers bid them goodbye, they walk home with a smile on their face taking back home the joy of a safe and happy childhood - one of the most significant objectives for Udaan.

"After completing his Kindergarten at Udaan my son settled well in the first grade of school. Udaan ensures that a child learns well but they also ensure that the child is happy and healthy. Now my daughter attends the Udaan Kindergarten and I am happy to see my little one settled and happy".

 

Poonam Dingya

Mother of Udaan student