A Typical Day [in 2005]
At
Thulir the day starts at 9.30 am. First it is time for Sreyarth and
Siddharth, our two boys. We sit with them and help them to decide what
to do and which books / text to read and what exercises to do. Though
they are able to do self-study in most subjects, they like us to sit
with them and take them through the lessons, especially in languages.
We sit with them till 11.30 a.m, though they continue their studies
till 1 pm.Sreyarth today wants to create his own land called "Tron". "Can he start writing about the place the people what they do how they speak etc.?" Yes", he says and goes off to start this project. It keeps him occupied for almost 2 hours, much of it spent in thinking about what the place should be like and what could happen here. "Tron will have its own language 'Tronish' ", he declares. He remembers reading about ancient hieroglyphics and also of the days Siddharth and he exchanged secret messages in code. Maybe Tronish can have its own script!!...this excites him very much and he goes on to develop new alphabet symbols.
Siddharth
and Sreyarth are being home schooled. So the 9.30 am to 11.30 am is the
time they have as time set aside with teachers [us]. They usually carry
on doing their own studying/ reading till 1 pm. Afternoons they are on
their own and most of this time they spend reading general fiction/
non-fiction that they happen to fancy at the given time. They also have
restricted computer time in the afternoons [1 hour a day, which is the
maximum our solar PV system at home can support]. Occasionally
Siddharth gets to spend extra time at the Thulir computers doing
specific tasks like designing the Thulir web pages/ or fixing software
problems in the computers.In February and March 2005, Mohan and Senthil who were preparing for class 10 exams would also come at 9:30 am and start studying by themselves. We would have to sit in the beginning and help them plan what they are going to study that day. We usually spend till 11.30 a.m and again from 2p.m to 3p.m with them. They then study by themselves and keep calling us when in difficulty.
At 11.30, the trainees arrive at Thulir and it is time for their training sessions to start. The first task is to clean and dust the place and then we start language/ math classes for them. After a 45-minute class they are given exercises to do and also the previous day's exercises are corrected. Mornings are also time for doing a bit of Admin work for all of us -accounts, going to THI office to download mail [if the phones are working!], entering stocks, arranging of books etc.
Today
we continue with our reading of a story 'the wedding clothes'. A story
about a gentle giant who searches for a new set of clothes to wear for
the royal wedding, and finally finds it by using a circus tent for
shirt, fishing boats for shoes, bamboo baskets for hat etc. Everybody
enjoys the story and we decide to see if we can together do a simple
translation of the first chapter into Tamil, so that Thulir children
may also enjoy the story!1.30 pm is the lunch break till 2.10 pm. Till 2.30 pm it is newspaper reading time. In the afternoons we take turns to take classes for the trainees along with Mohan Senthil and Balu. These sessions are in reading/ writing skills and in learning to use the learning and teaching materials we have at Thulir. Afternoons are also time for us to catch up with our own reading/ writing and prepare ourselves for the evening sessions with the children.
Newspaper reading gives plenty of new topics each day to explore the wider world beyond our sight. The topical issues obviously catch our attention apart from beautiful images from outer space that gets published in The Hindu from time to time. The Tsunami generated several classes on earthquakes, continental drift, waves and oceans etc. The Euro cup football last year was perfect for looking up various countries of the European continent on the atlas.
Barathi comes at 1.30 pm afternoon. Barathi is 6 years old and has dropped out of the Govt. school to be schooled by his parents and by us. He is a regular at Thulir and is a keen learner.
Today Barathi is thrilled at being able to read "Veedu mattria sundeligal" book by himself. This book, translated from the original Japanese and illustrated beautifully [NBT publication] is a favourite among the Thulir children. Topping it he reads the Starting English 1 which is the English textbook most children read. Having finished the reading he goes on to playing with the soma cubes puzzles.
Balu,
a class 9 dropout has collected leaves from the forest and is creating
a Herbarium. Balu has been coming to Thulir regularly the whole of his
summer holidays and has been quietly observing all our sessions with
the trainees. He finally came to us and pleaded to us that he be
allowed to come to Thulir and stop going to school. He said that he
couldn't bear his teachers forever calling him a failure and a fool.
This was worse than their beatings, he said. His reading / writing
skills are very poor and consequently his self-esteem is very low. He
desperately wants to prove he can learn, as he has been labelled a
"failure" who "can't learn". He is such a battered soul that a textbook
makes him go blank with this voice level dropping, words choking at his
throat and his face expressing sorrowful humiliation. We felt that the
first step is to restore his self-confidence. We were sure he must be
good at something and after chatting with him realised his depth of
knowledge of the forest and the flora to be found there. So he is on to
creating a herbarium and he comes every day with new leaves and says "
akka this is the 'aana' leaf. Its fruits can be eaten; this is the
'asa' leaf; the creeper is used as rope '".3:30 pm to 4:00 pm is gardening time. Each person has his/ her own patch where he can plant a sapling and look after it. There is much enthusiasm and a mix of budding flowering plants, fruit trees saplings, hedges etc surrounds Thulir.
After 4:00 pm the bulk of the Thulir Children come in batches. First to arrive are the Malaithangi children. They come straight from the Govt. school at Kottapatti. They usually stay till 6 pm before going home.
Next
to arrive are the Sittilingi children who, after attending the
Sittilingi Govt. School, go home and then come to Thulir at about 5 pm.
They are followed at 5.45 pm by the Sittilingi children who go to a
private school in Kottapatti and the last to arrive are the senior boys
who attend the Kottapatti Govt school and come back in the Govt bus
that is very erratic. These children stay on till 7.30 pm."Anna, we watched on the TV, houses broken by the Tsunami!!", says Poornima excitedly. "Look, there are pictures of the Tsunami in today's Dinamalar", says another excited voice. A small group gathers and a class starts on how Tsunamis occur and where is Indonesia on the Atlas.
"Akka please read us the Sundeli kadai ", one of the smaller boys asks shyly. A small group gathers and they move to the Small Thulir building so that they don't disturb the other group." Wait, a minute, let me take out the paints and the brushes for the girls who want to paint today. We need to make some cards for Carolyn aunty to take back to England!"
Outside, Sathya and a few other older girls are sitting by themselves and revising their schoolwork. They have a test tomorrow and want to study by themselves for it.
Meanwhile the boys are pumping air into the football and want to have a go at it, before it gets dark.One or two girls head straight to the English section, take out the workbooks written by Shankar and start working on them undisturbed by the noise around! Two girls are loudly reading from the popular English ' Mira ' book - proud at the sound of their English pronunciation! They keep asking us doubts now and then!
Anu finishes with the story and calls out to say that she is starting the English conversation class. The regulars for this class gather around her in the grass outside Thulir [it is pleasant weather outside as the sun goes down].
All this while small groups use familiar materials confidently by themselves to "play" in small groups. They use cards with picture pairs and English words to play memory. Some play with the various math domino games. When they have a doubt or a dispute as to who is right, they call for assistance.
As it gets dark and children start heading back home, someone points at the sky and says" look that star is moving!". Once it is clarified that it probably is an artificial satellite, others discover more such moving lights. A little later everyone takes turns to peer at the moon through the binoculars.