Hi there! Let’s begin with a well-known concept- adaptation. The ability for all living things to adjust and respond to the change in the environment or circumstances. We human beings are no exception. Why not try to do the same in the education as well? BMIS always welcomes change and believes firmly in it.
On that note, shifting into this crazy ‘new normal’ was a challenge, no doubt! So, bearing in mind the physical and mental well-being of our children, we came up with a way for them to keep in touch with fun-filled learning as ever.
As a result, we devised a method to keep our kids engaged for minimum 2 to 3 hours a day, where they focus solely on academics. Unfortunately, we realized that the time was insufficient to complete the curriculum of the year for our primary classes. Hence, as a product of multiple trials and lengthy discussions with the Management, our reframed curriculum framework came into fruition, considering the needs of our kids.
Owing to the long gap between the last year and the new year, children needed a lot of reinforcement initially. So, we teachers- determined to engage them the best possible way we could through this online medium while letting them interact with their fellow classmates- aided them to brush up the basic concepts in all subjects.
As we have the online classes in batches (each batch not more than 11-12 kids), it is convenient for us teachers to concentrate more on every child and work on to meet their individual learning needs.
Based on the learning requirements and the number of online classes, we were able to narrow down our objectives. We are striving hard towards achieving the short-listed objectives for all. Our main focus lies on the major subjects: English, Math and Environmental Science.
When it comes to English, READING tons of e-books or any form of books will be the BEST way! Listening and speaking is also boosted through recorded read-aloud formats by teachers. Even the other languages- Tamil, Hindi or French
classes that happen once a week are carried out in a similar fashion with some focus in the writing aspect too.
In Math the prime focus is to make our kids play with numbers. Next priority is given to measurements, then Geometry and finally handling data. Problem solving will be taken care along with each strand.
And for Environmental Science, we derived a scheme where we deal with 2 themes per term, the same as we would follow during our physical classes by handpicking the basic objectives which our kids should surely know for each theme. Wherever possible we incorporate the scientific inquiry skills.
With weekly one online class for Global Studies, here too the learning is tapered accordingly.
Optimistic and enthused, we are hoping for the best and positive outcomes as we are sailing through this new forum of teaching!
Padma Lakshmi
