Whizz Cubz, finally is born!!And its a dream come true for
Revti /Founder & Facilitator
and me (Arundhathi) -Founder / Facilitator and Counsellor
Its been in the conception stage for the past 16 months.
It all started with this thought in our minds.
My daughter Yashi was 9 years old and we as parents wanted to give her a strong foundation in values and morals which will cater to her positive growth. And since she is a very active and outdoors person (kinesthetic), it was very difficult to make her sit and learn anything from moral story books or from our epics. Hence Hari (my husband) and I thought it will be a good idea to gather the neighbourhood children on saturday afternoons for the story telling sessions where the children themselves will be the narrators and active participants.
I discussed this idea in the month of June, 05 with Revti who is a very good friend of mine and she supported the idea whole heartedly. We both started looking out for good story books, and also browsing the internet for good material for these informal, saturday afternoon sessions.
Our Journey and Discovery !
We discovered that stories that impart values and morals are only one part of personality development. We started going deeper and deeper to gain better understanding of the subject called personality development. We discovered that its an umbrella that encomapasses a great many life skills. The more we discovered, the more we realized that we needed a formal training in these areas......
We both came to the coclusion that we cannot deal with children casually and informally, if we are to do any justice to them!
To do so without proper skills training would have been disastrous!
Around the same time there was a news paper advertisement of Genie kids, Indiranagar, Bangalore, India which was imparting the necessary skill training we both are looking for. "TRAIN THE TRAINER' popularly know as TTT program.
We invested our heart, soul, time, money and energies in this program which taught us to design the childrens' programs/workshops scientifically based on Multiple Intelligences and productive habits of mind.
We even got the much needed hands on experience in dealing with 4 batches of 15 children each during the Christmas and the Summer vacations at Genie Kids. We could handle these many children with ease because of our training and exposure.!!
A session on leadership in progress at Genie kids conducted by us - An interpersonal activity which tells us about how we human beings are interdependent!The following picture was taken at the work shop conducted by us on Learning and Memory Skills. The number of children present in this workshop was 80+.
We learnt that much learning happens on behalf of the children in a fun filled atmosphere.
why only children?? The training programs conducted by Ratnesh Mathur, facilitator and director of Genie Kids were full of fun and very thought provoking. We adults in these sessions Personally experenced it.
So I can say with convition that
'FUN' is a prerequisite for learning! This is meaningful learning!
Another prerquisite for learning is to always put forth thought provoking questions to children and move away. Or when they ask questions, do not provide the answers straight away. The fact that they have asked you the question is proof enough they have started thinking about that particular subject. Let them do the thinking and learn the answers at their pace. In this way they will not only learn about what they want but will stumble upon much more information. We as adults can be part of the research team, but not the solution provider. A Child who is capable of forming relevant questions on any given subject has understood the subject well.
Much learning happens when they ask questions like why and why not. The former fosters analytical thinking and latter creativity - Simultaneous use of left and right brain leading to whole brain development.
This method of learning/teaching motivates the child and there is an eagerness to learn and a desire to excel.
We strongly believe in the saying - there is no learning deficiency, there is only teaching deficiency!
We at Whizz cubz are committed to creating a congenial environment where the child is respected, appreciated and given the space to unfold and bloom!!
L to R: Back row-Arundhathi (facilitator) Vedant and Revti (facilitator)
The oath of Whizz Cubz
Meditation time! Helps to calm them down and increased the concentration power.
Kinesthetic activity (body intelligence) in progress, the camera was no match for the speed of the children during the treasure hunt!
The feed back from children
