Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...
Strides Newsletter - August 2020 - Issue 172
Kaleidoscope Learning Centre
From Gita Bhalla's Desk
August has been a month of celebrations and the locked down situation has not been a deterrent to this. Here we present three celebration stories of the month.
Krishna Jayanthi
The entire fortnight before Krishna's birthday was spent in making accessories for the popular and beloved Lord Krishna. So peacock feathers, flutes, pots , were made by a whole class of children for improving their hand function. These were then used beautifully in either decorating the temples at home or adoring them selves as young Krishnas. Thank you dear parents for cooperating . This entire event was spearheaded by Usha Suresh , an innovative and full of ideas teacher. What was beautiful to note was every online session was accompanied by teachers singing sweet Krishna bhajans for the children and the parents guiding the hands that made all the beautiful accessories. Parents then took photographs of their children and shared it with the school .
Independence Day
The 73rd Independence Day was celebrated with an evening of patriotic songs , threaded around the theme of India, Indians, brotherhood, freedom. It was a multi language, multi cultural, multi centre based celebration which was a great unifying factor. All satellite centres of V -Excel were represented and parents and children joined in. The whole evening was beautifully put together by our teacher Nithya Venkatesh, and the sight of hundred windows with children parents and teachers all coming together in a uniform white and performing the gentle movements for the songs was spectacular. We discovered new voices in V -Excel and were very grateful to all those who participated in this event spearheaded by KLC.
Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesha arrived in KLC not only as a harbinger of something suspicious and good but also as the catalyst for many educationally relevant exercises that emerged from it. Each teacher took up the theme in her own way through stories, craft, painting ,drawing , decorating. The most outstanding effort was by Aditya of Senior school who under the video guidance of his teacher, made a Ganesha which was balanced in proportions, fine in the intricacies , and quite exact in the imitation of the teachers work. A sure celebration. But what followed was even better. We asked Adi to write out the procedure of making the Ganesha in five simple steps. And he did. In neat handwriting , step by step of how he constructed his creation. A great moment of pride and achievement.
V-Excel Educational Trust
COVID-19 Emergency Relief Appeal
Lend a hand to special children* in the current crisis.
Your funds will be used to provide counseling, therapies and home education programs.
Donate Now - V-EXCEL EDUCATIONAL TRUST (INDIA)
Donate Now - ACADEMIC CONCEPTS, INC. (USA)
All donations are tax-exempt under section 80G of the Income Tax Act.
* Children with autism, ADHD, and developmental disorders.
Free Counseling Support for Health Workers
V-Excel provides free counseling support for health workers.
Counseling services are available during COVID - 19 pandemic
By appointment only!
In light of the various issues surrounding COVID-19, V-Excel's counselling services are now available via calls on WhatsApp and Skype during this lockdown period, at a minimal cost.
Please SMS or WhatsApp on the following numbers for an appointment 98847 33004 and 9500014273 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m. / 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.) (between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. / 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
Choose "Academic Concepts, Inc" as your favorite charity on smile.amazon.com
If you shop at Amazon.com, you may already be aware of the online retail giant's feature that allows you to help a designated charity through your purchases. It's called AmazonSmile and it affords the shopper the opportunity to donate to a charity of his or her choice at no cost.
Register with smile.amazon.com and choose "Academic Concepts, Inc" as your favorite charity. This is our registered non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization in the USA. A small percentage of all your purchases will automatically go to sponsor our cause, at no additional cost to you.
Independence Day Celebrations
73rd Independence Day was celebrated at Sreyes, Adyar on 15-Aug-2020 maintaining social distancing. Flag Hoisted by Mr. Chinmay Ramanathan, VTU Trainee.
Free Online Screening Camp
Free online screening camp, tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for children with development disabilities aged 7 or under. For appointments, call 044-24956373/9884491986.
Happy Birthday V-Excel
A big thank you to every one who has walked this journey with us.
V-Excel Webinar Series
To help professionals, teachers and parents tide over the current COVID-19 crisis, V-Excel has initiated a series of webinars. One of the of these was called "Sensory Integration - Tactile System".
Professionals from within V-Excel have agreed to offer several such webinars on a variety of topics. Please visit our webinar page on the website for more details.
Facebook e-Tarang
Live e-Tarang concerts was streamed on Friday, 7th August between 7.00 p.m. - 8.00 p.m. with a concert by Maanasi Art Academy (Disciples of Smt. Gayathri Sasidharan) where the theme was 'Sing and Dance on Lord Krishna'.
We followed this up on Friday, 14th August with a concert by Dhivya Sathiamurthy, Playback Singer.
We followed this up on Friday, 21st August with a concert by Deepthi Ravichandran, Classical Dancer, where the theme was 'Heyrambha'
We followed this up on Friday, 28th August with a concert by Shenbagaraj, Playback Singer, and Abhinaya Shenbagaraj, Carnatic Vocalist, where the theme was 'S. P. Balasubramanian'
Please visit our facebook page /freehearts for concert updates.
Music-for-a-cause
"As one person, I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person". Music-for-a-cause has been a big agent all my adult life. I have therefore chosen these extraordinary times, to engage the music inside me with one cause that has always been close to my heart - service towards individuals, especially children, with special needs. Please lend me a helping hand, please spread this message, please donate as much as you can, as much as you want. In thanks, I promise to sing my heart out!
V-Excel Remedial Center
From Lekshmi Ramesh's Desk
Remedial Unit and Bridges Learning Academy
We are sure that all of you are healthy and happy!
August brings in many festivals, this month we celebrated Independence Day via google meet. It was a different experience for all of us.
Celebrations!
On 14th of August evening 4.30pm the staff and students gathered to celebrate the Indian Independence Day in the safety of their homes. It began with a prayer followed by a speech by our student Neha Reddy of Secondary NIOS class. Eshwar Mahesh entertained all of us playing the Mirdangam. A few students had drawn the national flag and they proudly showed to their friends. Shriniketh Sashikanth conducted a quiz program on facts related to India. The children participated enthusiastically and enjoyed the whole proceedings. The only thing missing was the snacks that we used to enjoy together on this day if it had been at the centre. Last year the children had performed a group dance and song. They also made a tri coloured salad with vegetables. The happiness continued in spite of the program being virtual. The program ended with vote of thanks by one of the teachers.
We the team at VRC felt it would be useful for parents if we included some tips on parenting, teaching skills, managing children at home, etc. as a first effort we want to share with you our ideas on life skills development in children. Please lookout for more topics in the following months!
Life skills are very important for children as it helps them to become more confident to face the challenges in daily life. Life skills have to be inculcated from a very young age. So don’t wait for the right time, begin the lessons early and make it a routine. Some skills that can be inculcated are as follows:
Learning to be responsible:
• Cleaning up the toys after playing.
• Clean up the plates and tumblers after eating.
• Put used clothes in the appropriate place. Helping in laundry. (drying, folding of clothes etc.)
• Helping to clean up the house.
• Taking care of personal things.
• Being accountable for the jobs assigned to them.
Time management:
• Understand that everyone has a right over their time.
• Learning to be punctual.
• Following routines.
• Managing time to make work more easy and useful.
Psycho social development:
• Learn to develop a strong sense of self and others.
• Respect self and others.
• Taking care of physical and emotional health.
• Having a positive attitude.
• Learning boundaries, personal space.
• Appreciating self and others.
• Accepting mistakes.
• Living in a group.
• Resilience building.
• Self control.
• Assertiveness.
We are sure that these headers will be useful to help you come up with novel ideas to help your child learn to take care of himself from a young age. Understand your children, listen to them, and ascertain that you are always there to support them. This will help them to spread their wings and explore the world with caution and happiness.
We look forward to all your support as you are the ones who keep us going during these tough times.
See you all next month with one more interesting topic.
Vocational Training Unit
From Usha Rajagopal's Desk
The month continued with the Lockdown, virtual celebrations of Independence Day and teachers started working full day maintaining 50% SOP followed by MHA along with new admission of trainees both virtual and at the center.
Online classes went as schedule with full attendance. This month the functional academics session by Uma, Radha was on internal organs, their functions and uses. This week they started with brain and their activities. Few videos were shown and made as interactive sessions for non-verbal trainees.
Trainees enjoying the music and movement class by trainer Rishi. He prepared them with patriotic songs to be sung on the independence day.
Charu and Usha attended the Unit Heads meeting. Discussion of conducting virtual Independence day celebration followed with Puja’s art therapy for all.
Preparation for Independence Day was planned and our trainee Mr. Chinmay was selected to be the Chief Guest to hoist the flag.
Divya, new trainee from Trichy joined online class and she was very enthusiastic in connecting in making new friends. She was very friendly and was able to follow the instructions by the teachers.
On the Independence Day staff, students and well wishers across all branches/unit of V-Excel logged in to Zoom at 7.45 am to participate in the virtual Independence Day celebration at Sreyes. Mr. Chinmay, Trainee from Vocational Training Unit, hoisted the flag at 8.00 am. It was proud moment for us to have him hoist the flag. Except for VTU and ESVI Sarada team, all other unit heads, teachers, staff, parents watched the celebrations via Zoom. Thanks to Ramesh who coordinated 65 members. Both virtual team and the team present at the venue sang “Vande Mataram”, “We shall over come song” and “National Anthem”. Mr. Aravind Trainee from YES sang Shanthi Nilave vendum. A puja (organised by ESVI Sarada Foundation) for the welfare of the globe started in the early hours of the day. The vedic pandits who were part of the puja recited Shanthi Mantra at the end of the celebration.
Received orders for paper bags and Kasi Yatra set. Teachers prepared this after their online classes.
VTU is happy to sign an MoU with SNEH – Product Hub, marketing division for institution creating products with special needs. List of trainees selected for this project has been shared to them. The list of products to be marketed has been shared to them which will be posted in their website and catalogue. The trainees will be paid a stipend for the orders received.
V-Excel and Vivikta team had virtual meeting and discussed about partnering on their job orders to be done by our trainees of KLC, YES and VTU. Different job like packaging their items, label printing and pasting, designing a gift box were discussed.
Charu and Usha attended the virtual meeting with SNEH – Product Hub and Supraja Foundation. Anuradha Mahesh presented the updates and present status of the hub and seven institutions joined the meeting along with VTU and YES representing V-Excel.
Paper bags order and Kasi Yatra set were ready for delivery.
Teachers and staff attended meeting with Mr. Milind Sonawane. It was very useful to learn new ways of looking at enhancing communication and social skills for young adults with special needs.
Charu and Usha attended the Unit Heads meeting and discussed about planning of Teacher’s Day celebration to be held next month.
Charu coordinated with Rotary Club of Chennai Royals and ECR who called for nomination of teachers from V-Excel. From VTU, Shanthi Nehtru our senior trainer was nominated.
Shanthi Nehru was selected for the award by Rotary Club of Chennai Royals. There will be a virtual event on Sunday, Sept 6, 2020. They will courier the award and citation to her address. It was a happy news on the last day of the month.
Youth Empowerment Services
From Rama Nagarajan's Desk
August 2020 was slightly encouraging in the given situation as we could continue with few of our activities resumed at the centre. As a unit we could make sure that most of the functions of YES happen without interruption. The schedule for the whole month was planned well ahead for better execution so that all the trainees are completely engaged constructively.
Key highlights of the month August 2020
• Continuation of incorporating core Vocational skills along with Social, Life and communication skills training through our regular online sessions and introduction of pretend play and role play method.
• Training and assessment through online sessions on computer skills
• Continuation of online sessions on therapy and vocational academics
• Group counselling sessions for trainees
• Implementation of CAPS template for all the trainee
• Started one on one session for a couple of trainees who are not able to attend regular online sessions
• Continuation of laundry services and resumption of screen-printing job for Kocoatrait
• Celebrations – Independence Day and Krishna Jayanthi
• Participation in virtual meetings on different projects namely SNEH and Viviktha
• Participation in the teacher mentorship program conducted by Mr. Milind Sonawane
Online sessions on vocational skills, social skills, communication skills and life skills.
August 2020, our 5th consecutive month on conducting our online sessions, we were able to incorporate not only core vocational skills but also to include various teaching methods in the process. While trying to bring various skills together, we slowly started off with roleplay method and pretend play method to be included in the training. This way we could have our trainees participate in a very lively way.
Following is the list of online sessions held in the month of August 2020. These sessions are held thrice a week.
|
Date |
Topics |
Summary of the session |
|
03-Aug-20 |
Vocational basics - Arts & Crafts |
Creative skills, Fine motor skills, vocational skills – This session focussed on the basics of the Arts and Crafts vocation namely cutting, pasting, how to use glue, folding and different types of folds, making a crease on a paper and simple knot
|
|
05-Aug-20 |
Grooming (2 groups) |
Life skills, Personal hygiene, personal grooming, social skills – We had 2 different group sessions for boys and girls separately. This session focussed on how to get ready, formal dressing and personal hygiene practices. |
|
07-Aug-20 |
Social skills |
Social skills, communication skills, observation and listening skills, counting and coordination skills – This session focussed on finger counting, addition and subtraction using fingers. This session they also had an opportunity for all the trainees to have a discussion on different topics given to them at random. |
|
10-Aug-20 |
Vocational basics - Laundry |
Vocational skills, life skills, ADLs – Session on basics of laundry covered the topics namely sorting clothes for washing, washing process, rinsing, drying and ironing also. Both industrial ironing and domestic ironing were discussed. |
|
12-Aug-20 |
Music - Krishna Jayanthi |
Creative skills, social skills, communication skills, music, listening and observation skills and therapeutic – Stories from Mythology were shared and the moral of the stories were discussed. The values were taught through these stories. Trainees also learnt a couple of devotional songs |
|
14-Aug-20 |
Arts and Crafts |
Vocational skills, creative skills, fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination skills – This session trainees learnt the braiding technique and how to make use of that to make a tea coaster out of jute thread |
|
17-Aug-20 |
Life skills - II |
Life skills, personal grooming, personal hygiene, social skills – This session was a follow up session on Life skills and the topics covered were recap on personal hygiene and grooming , how to wear shoes and tie the shoe lace, different types of knots |
|
19-Aug-20 |
Notebook making - II |
Vocational skills, observation and listening skills, creative skills – This session was a demo session on how to make a buttonhole stitch binding type notebook. Trainees observed the demo and noted the steps. |
|
21-Aug-20 |
Play part - I |
Life skills, social and communication skills, creative skills, observation and listening skills – This session had parts. The first part focussed story telling, narration and pretend play. The second part was on making an easy model with home made dough |
|
24-Aug-20 |
Kitchen activities |
Vocational skills, life skills, culinary skills, observation skills – This session covered a part of our kitchen activities, that is fireless cooking. The topics covered were how to make 3 types chutney as part of breakfast menu. |
|
26-Aug-20 |
Laugh out loud |
Creative skills, Communication skills, listening skills, emotions and memory recall – All the trainees were asked to narrate an interesting incident from their lives which is also humorous. Each trainee shared their own stories and a few even tried comedy dialogues from movies. |
|
28-Aug-20 |
Let's go shopping |
Creative skills, Communication skills, Social skills, vocational academics, life skills, listening skills – This session was a follow up to their vocational academics training. Each trainee were given a task for which they were asked to list out the set of items needed and when the costs were given they were asked to find the total bill amount |
|
31-Aug-20 |
Fun time |
Alertness, listening skills, observation, social skills – This session was a fun session where all the trainees were continuously on the move. They were given hints about a thing or object and they were supposed to find it and bring it to the camera. |
Training and assessment through online sessions on computer skills
In our computer skills training sessions, for the month of August, we continued with the 10 -finger typing method for all the 4 groups of trainees. 4 lessons or sets were covered this month. These 4 sets included all the 3 rows of alphabets on a computer keyboard. Trainees were taught on how to type using both the hands and without lifting their hands from the keyboard. These lessons also covered the right finger to be used for each alphabet. Trainees were encouraged and given time for adequate practice. End of the month an assessment was done to evaluate their level of understanding and application of the technique along with their basic knowledge on computers. Based on the assessments and observation trainees were regrouped and allotted a different schedule for the coming month. A comprehensive goal sheet was also prepared.
Continuation of online sessions on therapy and Vocational academics
OT/PT session
OT/PT sessions for this month focussed on coordination, body flexibility, focus and concentration and postures. There were many activities which were simple yet effective, done during these therapy sessions. Each session had an allotted time for briefing, practice and recap. Materials needed for each session were intimated to the parents and they were kept ready.
Vocational academics
In the vocational academic’s sessions, after the length and measurement, money concept was started for all the groups. After the first session that focussed on general awareness on money handling and different types currencies used, the training went on how to count using fingers. This was followed by simple addition using fingers and adding up the costs of more than one object. Trainees were also taught to find out the rate of an object and tender cash in different denominations and combinations. Every week these sessions had theory, practical and revisions done. This way the concept was repeated in many ways for better understanding.
Group counselling sessions for trainees
In the month August 2020 we had 4 group counselling sessions for the trainees. Trainees were put in 4 different group and each group had not more than 6 trainees. These were interactive sessions. Our counsellor through a very simple story spoke about values and morals to be followed in our lives. Each trainee was given a chance to share their viewpoints and observation. They were also suggested with ideas to keep themselves engaged, calm and stress-free.
Implementation of CAPS template for all the trainees.
After the successful implementation of CAPS for one trainee per vocation, we had CAPS template implemented for all the trainees of YES. This template, to start with, has a timeline between 9 am and 5pm. This template includes all the details of their online sessions, break time, work time and reinforcements. This also includes all the suggestions on household chores that a particular trainee can be involved. This template will be shared with the parents to be followed.
Started one on one session for a couple of trainees who are not able to attend regular online sessions.
For those trainees who are not able to attend the regular online sessions for different reasons, one on one session started this month. These sessions are thrice a week and the topics covered vary based on the need and requirement of that particular trainee. Home assignments are given and follow-ups are happening regularly.
Continuation of laundry services and resumption of screen-printing job for Kocoatrait
Our laundry which resumed in July has been successfully going and continued in the month of August also. Now as the things are limping back to normal, the revenue and work on our laundry services are slightly improving.
In addition to the laundry services the screen printing has also resumed at YES. After a one on one meeting with the client, order of printing chocolate wrappers for Kocoatrait has started and work is in the process.
Celebrations – Independence Day and Krishna Jayanthi
YES unit celebrated two very important events virtually. For Krishna Jayanthi, all the trainees were dressed up in blue colour code and listened to stories and interesting anecdotes about Lord Krishna. They also sang devotional songs on Lord Krishna.
Independence Day was celebrated on a virtual platform along with the other vocational unit, VTU. The flag was hoisted at their premise and songs were practiced and sung together. YES trainee Arvind beautifully rendered the song ‘Santhi nilava vendum…’ which was much appreciated.
Participation in virtual meetings on different projects namely SNEH and Viviktha
YES team participated in the review meeting of the product hub SNEH with the sponsor partner Supraja foundation. On 30 August 2020 soft launch of their website was also attended by the representatives of YES.
On 25 August 2020 YES unit participated in the project discussion with the founder of the brand Viviktha Ms. Ramya. Various options of employing our young adults in this project were discussed.
Participation in the teacher mentorship program conducted by Mr. Milind Sonawane
All the trainers of YES participated in the Teacher mentorship program conducted by Mr. Milind Sonawane, a very noted speech therapist from Ireland on 25 August 2020. This online program was very useful as Mr. Milind many useful tips and guidances on developing social skills and communication skills in young adults. There was a questions and answer time where Mr. Milind clarified many of the trainers doubts.
Periodical staff meetings
Staff meetings were held every Saturday to discuss on the trainees progress and the challenges of the parents if any. This gave all the trainers an opportunity to share their viewpoints and to plan for the following week.
With the month September 2020 beginning with lots of relaxation and hope, as a unit we are also trying limp back to normal functioning of the centre at a phased manner. We hope and wish that things will get much better in the coming days and that trainees can start coming to the centre.