Our Children achieve:
Our BLA students U. Sudheeshwaran and V. Pradip Kumar won the First and Second Prize respectively in the "Art Contest" held
by SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL on the theme "Visions of Peace".
The mega project of creating an Online Directory of all relevant services for the disability sector, in conjunction with
Satyam Alambana Foundation, has commenced with great zest. We are thankful to Satyam for being our partner in this ambitious
venture. Please do let us know if any of you know of such services which we can add to our directory.
V-Excel Alumni Association, Samvardhan (home-coming to your 'Gurukul') was launched on 23rd July 2005. We had a
good, enthusiastic participation by our ex-students-teachers. One of the Alumni members, Shubhangini, took the initiative in
organizing the event with the help of the present batch of ATE students and Dr. Anita Ramani - one of our first faculty members
spoke of her fond memories and experiences.
Academy of Teacher Excellence News
The ATE course this year started in full swing with a total strength of 24 students from diverse backgrounds. We welcome all our
to-be Special Educators aboard and congratulate them for choosing this intense field.
We have now begun guest lectures for the benefit of ATE students. This academic year's Guest Lecture series began with the
inspiring talk of Swami Bodhmayananda of Sri Ramakrishna Mission Order on "The Pursuit of Excellence".
Mrs. Uma Shanker, Director of Montessori Training Center, Chennai, was the second of the speakers. She gave a very interesting
lecture on Child development as understood in the Maria Montessori Method. This session was very informative for the students.
The first 'DISHA' meeting for the year 2005-06 was held on 23rd July. The speaker for the inaugural session was Dr. Nimmi
Idicheriya John, a very well-known Nutritionist in Chennai. She gave the parents very valuable suggestions and advice. Packed
with information on diet for optimum performance of children with special needs, the parents found it very useful. These children
often have very pronounced tastes and Dr. Nimmi clarified a lot of doubts parents had regarding adequate nutrition.
Kaleidoscope Learning Center (KLC) News
IEP meetings: Teachers have been engaged with compiling observations and planning goals for each student of their class.
The IEP meetings were held in the 3rd week of July with parents, class teacher and therapists sitting together and discussing
the goals outlined for the forthcoming year.
A pre-vocational parents meeting was held on 26th July. Parents were addressed by Dr. Vasudha Prakash who reiterated the philosophy
of making children self-reliant and independent young adults.
We are delighted to have the popular classical musician Prof. Ramamurthy Rao who makes school corridors vibrate with his
devotional songs, shlokas, and bhajans. The children and teachers join in and this singing and listening happens on all Wednesdays
between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m.
We are happy to announce the commencement of "The Montessori Therapy Unit" at our centre and 10 students of KLC are attending
the program.
V-Excel Remedial Center (VRC) News
Our success lies in making children as independent as possible of our intervention. July was an exciting month for us at VRC
as most of our children have settled well at their respective schools. Also, this month, two of our children with learning
problems have moved on from us, having learnt the strategies to deal with their difficulties.
The VRC team got together again to work out a strategic plan to deliver effective instructions to our children. We discussed
the specific goals and approaches to enable on-target teaching and working with children who are within the Autism Spectrum.
Having a deeper understanding of the child and its condition is mandatory to be an effective remedial teacher; all of them
agreed to work on this aspect.
VRC will be starting a group class room model at our Mandaveli Center from August '05. The objective of this is to enable a
smooth transition to the school environment and to provide the children a social setting in which to realize their individual
potential.
Bridges Learning Academy
This month has been extremely busy for us. It began with hectic preparations for IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) Meeting.
The meeting with the parents went off very well, thanks to the constructive interaction between them and the faculty.
On the 23rd of July, Sashaank, Sugeeshwaran, Girish and Jaikrishna participated in an Interschool oratorical contest held by
SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL. In the midst of an audience of 100 people, including students and teachers from various special schools,
the children spoke confidently on their chosen topics. This exposure has helped them immensely boost their self-confidence.
The primary children of BLA were taken on a field visit to 'Farm Fresh' fruits and vegetable shop to teach them to identify different
fruits and vegetables. It was really commendable that the children could name vegetables like cabbage, beetroot, and different
colored capsicum. Exotic vegetables like broccoli, iceberg lettuce, and fruits like kiwi fruits, black grapes, a variety of
mangoes, and Australian apples were shown to them.
This field visit also helped the children learn and appreciate the differentiation in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.
Our teachers wanted to enhance their teaching skills, using art as a medium. We organized an Art Workshop, by Anne Panghat,
which was quite insightful for creatively teaching children with learning disabilities. The teachers participated with a lot of
interest and are looking forward to incorporate these strategies in their daily lessons.
Other News
Mr. P. Mohan Raj of Diamond Engineering Company, Sholinganallur, Chennai donated five bicycles for the use of Special Educators of
V-Excel Outreach Program, conducted with Government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan project. These are beautiful bicycles which would
be very useful for the teachers who have to otherwise travel long distances by bus everyday to teach the special children. We are
very thankful to him for his kind gesture.
Our KLC teacher, Mrs. Neela Chandramouli attended a one-day workshop on 'Media and Disability', organized as part of the Ability Fest
of the Ability Foundation. Her feedback highlighted the responsible role media needs to play while projecting disability. The one-minute
films exhibited the thoughtfulness of their creators in handling such a sensitive subject.
Contact Info :: India:
V-Excel Educational Trust
#1 Norton 2nd Street
Mandaveli Chennai 600 028
Tel: 91 - 44 - 2494 2255
91 - 44 – 2495 6373 E-mail us or visit us at www.v-excel.org
Contact Info :: USA:
Academic Concepts, Inc.
1403 Merrywood Drive
Edison, NJ 08817
Tel: (732) 572-3748
Tax ID: 22-3632715 E-mail us
Volunteer Info:
Volunteers are an integral part of our success. Our most pressing needs are in the areas of occupational and speech therapies, and
as teacher aides. We also require assistance in library management.
If you have any of these and are interested in volunteering at V-Excel, please contact us.
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia is the dysfunction in the reception, comprehension, or production of quantitative and spatial information.
It is a collection of symptoms of learning disability involving the most basic aspect of arithmetical skills. On the surface,
these relate to basic concepts such as: telling the time, calculating prices and handling change, and measuring and estimating
things such as temperature and speed. Dyscalculia is an individual's difficulty in conceptualizing numbers, number relationships,
outcomes of numerical operations and estimation - what to expect as an outcome of an operation. It can be quantitative, which is
a difficulty in counting and calculating; or qualitative, which is a difficulty in the conceptualizing of mathematics processes
and spatial sense; or mixed, which is the inability to integrate quantity and space.
The Autism Awareness Ribbon
The puzzle pattern of this ribbon reflects the mystery and complexity of autism. The different
colors and shapes represent the diversity of people and familiies living wuth this disorder.
The brightness of the ribbon signals hope - hope through research and increasing awareness
in people like you.
