"When you undertake a single step forward in the knowledge of spiritual realities, take at the same time three steps forward in
the development of your character toward the good.”
Rudolf Steiner
V-Excel News
It was fun and frolic at the V-Excel Carnival organized on 12th April 2008. Busy hands of our children from the Vocational Training Unit had
produced lovely products including bookmarks, notepads, greeting cards, gift envelopes. Guests at the Carnival were amazed to see their work and
appreciated the efforts of students and their teachers. Children from the special school had also created gift accessories and paintings which were all
sold out! Our Remedial Unit had set up interesting games for the children and adults, with attractive prizes on the offer, while the food stalls added
their flavour to the event. Children came in with their friends and family members and thoroughly enjoyed the carnival.
If names could spell magic, Dr. Lakshmi Prasanna and Michael Kokinos would hold the wand. Our special educators eagerly welcomed the unique in-service
program on Anthroposophy by them this month, beating the summer heat and the holiday mood. It was an intense workshop beautifully blending one’s
personal awareness and growth, with the organization’s vision and mission. It was exciting to see how each one came up with a similar dream -
keeping the child’s needs and freedom at the center. The group energy was very high and motivation was at its peak. A wonderful synergistic working
structure emerged from this workshop that puts the child first; various relevant services and therapies follow. The workshop was held from April
16th to 22nd, 2008. While planning is now well underway, we are all looking forward to putting our learnings in practice while working with the
children in the new academic year.
Academy of Teacher Excellence
April, being the last month of the academic year, was highly demanding for the trainee teachers. All the faculty members were focused
on completing the curriculum and ensuring that the students were equipped with necessary information and strategies for working with the children.
The final practical examination was held on April 10th and 11th. The students were examined under four practical papers namely -
Individualized Program Plan
Group Teaching
Therapeutics-A : Communication Therapy and Occupational Therapy
Therapeutics-B : Behavioral Modification and Social Skills Development.
It is mandatory for the trainees to submit individual records under each of the four practical heads. Both internal and external examiners reviewed
the work of the students.
A farewell was organized for the trainee teachers on the last day of the academic year. Each one of them cited a memorable incident and also shared some
other experiences during their training period. It was really heartening to see the new special educators eager to work in the field.
Kaleidoscope Learning Center (KLC) News
There was an air of calm in KLC despite the time of the year being a term end. This was because teachers and students are going to continue
in the same groups for the time that it necessitates a change. Reviews were conducted for reading and math and reports prepared. An end-of-term
joint meeting was held on 11th April where commitment towards the ongoing program was renewed by the parents. Reports were handed over with detailed
child-specific discussions.
This year we have given the parents a list of holiday activities for their children. The philosophy behind these activities and the proper method for
each was explained to them at the term end meeting.
School closed on 11th to meet again on 12th April at the V-Excel Carnival which was significant to KLC for two reasons. Paintings done by our
children were a huge sell out and people clamored for more. It was also a wonderful context for our children to socialize, integrate, enjoy, learn and
participate in the fun filled carnival. Other products made by our children included block printed gift wraps, gift tags, notepads, letter writing paper
and bookmarks.
V-Excel Remedial Center (VRC) News
The workshop with Lakshmi and Michael brought us all together at V-Excel like never before. Not only did we all experience individual growth, but
also as a team working towards making the lives of children better.
Children who are in regular schools, and come to us only for periodic remedial training, have witnessed mixed school results – some have done very
well, some have been promoted to next grade, some have been detained, and some, unfortunately, have been asked to look for other options. Our observation
is that children who have received understanding and support from their schools have shown a lot of promise while those deprived in their schools on this
count need a relatively longer time to make progress. While we try our best through remediation, we earnestly hope that school teachers realize their immense
impact on the child, become aware of the child’s genuine problems and accept each child fully.
Aashik has scored 60% in the annual examinations! This was made possible because he had a scribe who wrote out the answers that Aashik gave orally. He
is a child with major difficulty in reading and writing. This clearly indicated to us that the child had understood the concepts, understood the questions
and had the skill to formulate the answer. All he needed was a compensation for his limitations in a manner that tested his knowledge but not his lags.
Counseling & Assessment Unit
The academic year ended with a memorable workshop. Lakshmi and Michael opened new doors to understanding of ‘education for special children’ from
a totally different perspective. Hardly anybody in V-Excel would have remained untouched by the spirit and air created by them!
Planning for the new year began with renewed enthusiasm and vigour, thanks to the workshop. Counseling department, which was in a gestation period
last year, will now be taken forward to the world outside V-Excel too. Our experience with Play Therapy and Group Therapy has been excellent and pioneering
in the field of counseling. We wish to take it to the community with our next year projects. In all, it has been a year of exciting discoveries and
achievements. We look forward to starting up the forthcoming academic year with new dreams and aspirations!
Contact Info :: India:
V-Excel Educational Trust
#1 Norton 2nd Street
Mandaveli Chennai 600 028
Tel: 91 - 44 - 24620243
91 - 44 – 24956373 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.
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Anthroposophy is a human oriented spiritual philosophy that reflects and speaks to the basic deep spiritual questions of humanity, to our basic
artistic needs, to the need to relate to the world out of a scientific attitude of mind, and to the need to develop a relation to the world in
complete freedom and based on completely individual judgments and decisions.
There are four basic aspects and levels of anthroposophy:
1. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy, mainly developed by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
It is born out of a philosophy of freedom, living at the core of anthroposophy.
2. It is a path of knowledge or spiritual research, developed on the basis of European idealistic philosophy, rooted in the philosophies of Aristotle,
Plato, and Thomas Aquinas. It is primarily defined by its method of research, and secondly by the possible knowledge or experiences this leads to.
3. Anthroposophy also is an impulse to nurture the life of the soul in the individual and in human society, meaning among other things to nurture the
respect for and interest in other people on a purely human basis independently of their origin and views.
4. While rooted in a philosophy of freedom, developed as a method of spiritual research and an impulse to nurture a purely human interest in other people,
it also has possible practical implications and as such lives as applied or practical anthroposophy in various "daughter movements" of anthroposophy.
Courtesy: Waldorf Answers
