In August, Let Start Art sessions were conducted on the topic ‘Where There is a Way, There is a Will' (concerning disabled persons). The theme was chosen with the perspective of developing social intellect among the students.

The feeling of love and devotion towards one’s country develops from a very young age. India is a diverse country and attracts millions for its alluring history, marvelous structure, vibrant culture and happy people. The beauty of India lies in the shared values, rich heritage, and unity that binds the nation together.

Through our Let’s Start Art sessions we have noticed that personal encounters of students with plants and animals or our environment, in general, are usually associated with positive emotions and connotations.

The second set of Let's Start Art sessions was conducted on the theme "Plants and Animals are our friends"

It was a great experience, not only for the students but also for our art instructors who learned about the students' vacation experiences and what they enjoyed the most. The sessions with grades 4 and 5 were livelier, as each student had an interesting story to tell, not only on paper but also as a confident speaker in class.

We, as conventional readers, would find it impossible to read or write in a way that does not match the rules of a specific language. But young children start developing literacy skills right from the moment people start talking to them and playing with them. As a result, children start babbling before they speak, and scribbling- drawing before they write. Letting children express what they feel through drawing and writing in their own free way would allow them to form narratives and get them started with writing. In this month of Let's Start Art sessions, we added emergent literacy practices to make the class more engaging and help children gain confidence as well as interest in literacy education.

The concept of education in our country is limited to the mark sheets of the students. Children who take interest in drawing, singing or any othe...

Before children learn to read and write, they learn to draw. Those tiny little scribbles on the walls, slate, or paper, all of these move children towards learning the skill of writing. Drawing, in this sense, is a significant part of the process of acquiring literacy. Let's Start Art sessions at government primary schools are the space for children, where they have the opportunity to express emotionally significant experiences while connecting and relating to the content that they are learning at school. 

“Shouldn’t you just teach the students who are actually good at drawing, rest of them won’t get it.”

Sound familiar? The concept of education in our country is limited to the mark sheets of the students. Children who take interest in drawing, singing or any other form of arts are generally asked to focus on the studies, stop distracting themselves with the extracurriculars and concentrate on the ‘subjects that matter’. These challenges have so far disabled the arts from serving their actual purposes.

What makes you happy?

We asked the students this simple question based on an English rhyme from their syllabus book "A Happy Child" and got amusing answers in the form of drawings. Children told us that they are happiest about the tiny little things in their lives despite all the adversities that they face.