Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...

School resumed after the Christmas break, with a few more senior school students joining the brave daring lot, who were ready to take precautions and come to the school ready to work and engage with others outside home.

The students put forward what they preferred working with as vocational tasks and with all the suggestions and refining of the suggestions, it has been decided to have the students begin work for a summer bazaar to be held in April. The work includes some vocational work and some hand work like stitching and fabric based work.

Samples are now being produced and teachers are designing products and laying down the blueprint for students to contribute in various ways. Hand stitching, machine work, block printing, edging, quilting, are some of the skills that are being taught and trained.

Pongal was celebrated live in the foyer after almost an entire year and it was a joyous moment where teachers cooked and students joined in for the cultural celebrations of song and dance. After years, Vasanthi our Annalakshmi for KLC was not present and the other teachers took over to make the traditional Pongal. It was collectively relished by everyone in Sharada and life did seem like trudging back to normal.

Our trainees who go to the Sreyes farm program had a wonderful celebration amongst rustic charm, traditional wear and food and song and dance. Please enjoy the photos.

One of the most satisfying feeling of running a school is when alumini of the school even if it is students, teachers or volunteers who have left, return after short stints out of school. Swathi our ex teacher has been a regular visitor to our centre ever since she left four years ago for the Middle East. She spent a week with us during Pongal and seamlessly joined in with the vocational training program where ever she could. Similarly we have many of our German volunteers commenting, wishing, planning, whetting out ideas on the common messaging forum and it always fills our hearts with joy when they are still connected in such a big way to the school, children and teachers.

The annual Avapanam conference called Seeds of Social Renewal was held from 7-10 th of January and was attended by Gita, Shashi, Puja, Ajita, and Usha from V-Excel. It was an excellent conference which gave us a baseline to really found all our vocations more soundly and more holistically keeping in mind the two way transaction between a young adult and the community. A lot of our time in January has been spent in rethinking and reimagining the vocational centres of V-Excel and while it’s a work in progress we are really looking forward to some very useful and far reaching changes in the vocational structure and implementation at V -Excel.

In a very touching and heart fulfilling gesture the free hearts as Grade 7 calls themselves, invited their teacher Neha to Sharda on a Saturday and insisted on their parents making this unscheduled visit to school so that the students could celebrate their teachers birthday in their own special way. They spent an hour giving well-chosen presents and singing some songs which was a perfect heart present. For many of the students, it was a reunion of sorts as it was the first time that they were meeting each other after the pandemic.

It never ceases to amaze us at KLC when our students very often surpass their special needs to perhaps use all their heart forces in such unique simple but most meaningful manner. It's then that a huge role reversal takes place and a child does become the father of the man! In the sphere of being human they always are a step ahead.

Greetings from VRC/BLA/EI !

"Together we can make things happen!" this has been our tag line always. We have also proved it true in 2020. The pandemic might have thrown us out of our routine but we held together and brought back the same vigour and rhythm. Thanks to all the support of the organization, staff, parents and children. Wish you all a very happy and promising 2021.

The year has started with a promising note. Our students are attending classes regularly: and benefiting from both online and offline classes. We had a grand celebration for Pongal in Sharadha centre. The staff and students of Early Intervention (EI) and VRC joined hands to make Pongal a memorable event. The model of a bullock cart and children celebrating Pongal was the highlight of the show. Thanks to EI staff for making it. The students and teachers dressed in traditional Tamil Nadu costume added colour to the festival. A kolam competition, ramp walk and distribution of sweet Pongal were some of the highlights of the function. With a promising note we begin this year.

Last month we had started discussing about how games can be integrated in learning. As promised we give you a simple game which can give incredible results in learning a language.

Take a word example "BUTTER FLY"

The games that you can play here to improve language skills
1. Form as many words as you can with the letters in the given word.
2. Arrange the words you found in alphabetical order.
3. Put the words under the different parts of speech.
4. Find out if you can write a plural for the word.
5. Write rhyming words.
6. Write the meaning and opposites of the word.
7. Use the word to from a sentence.
8. Select ten words and use them in a story.
9. Draw a picture to depict the word.
10. Make a poster explain one of the words.
11. Make a gig saw puzzle or word maze.

So now what are you waiting for think up some novel ways to engage your children to learn new words and enjoy the essence of the language. Creativity has no boundaries. Keep going. Our team will keep posting more exciting games in forth coming issues. Dear patrons it has been a pleasure journeying with you all we hope to continue with our efforts in empowering our students as well as parents this year also.