Today, I want to share stories that I am enjoying with my grandson Ishaan. When we were following the Enki approach (based on Waldorf and other approaches), we had a comprehensive collection of stories for each grade. As Beth Sutton, Founder of Enki Education explains on the Enki website:
All academics are introduced throught the arts. Children are first immersed in the living quality of what they study. Through storytelling, visual arts, movement, music, manipulatives, activities, and projects this alternative education soaks in the qualities and living textures of what they are studying. Then, on this rich base of connection to life, they bring what they have absorbed to mastery through intellectual exploration, discussion, exercises, practice, and concrete application.
Given my experience as a home educator, I immediately connected to the Theater Arts for Holistic Development (TAHD) approach developed by Dr. Ambika Kameshar (Founder and Director of RASA). I had already experienced teaching with an approach that led with visual and performing arts as the delivery approach.
Importance of Curriculum
When we started using the Enki approach, we purchased the Enki guides. There was a comprehensive guide for movement activities as well as a storytelling guide. Such curricula and guides are invaluable because they are created with an understanding of a child's developmental needs at different stages and tested with many children. A curriculum also means knowledge and skills are introduced and developed in a systematic way.
Discovering the RMCL Children's Curriculum
When Ananth started with RASA, I was excited by the possibility of an approach and curriculum based on Indian theater arts as the foundation for learning. Then, we started spending more time in Bengaluru and Ananth started learning from Sri Ujwal Jagadeesh of the Ramana Maharshi Center for Learning (RMCL) in October 2022. In December, we launched a 100-Days of TAHD Lab for parents in collaboration with RASA. One of the most important moments for us was when he demonstrated as a student with Ujwal on a few videos. We had made an invaluable discovery - the RMCL children's curriculum of movement activities and stories for children.
Initially, Ananth was not very excited about these activities. Suddenly, it struck him that he could do these activities with his nephew. So he started asking Ujwal to teach him more such movement activities. Many of the stories he was learning in his dance curriculum can also be used with children.
Choosing and Narrating Stories
Being immersed in the movement and storytelling process with Ujwal and Ananth has made it easy for me to choose the right stories and narrate them to my grandson. Ishaan is 2.5 years old but these stories can be used with older children. ND children often have challenges with language processing, working memory etc. Memorizing and narrating such stories has also benefited Ananth.
I am sharing a list of stories that Ishaan and I enjoy daily at bedtime. We also enjoy these stories during the day and Ananth joins us too! I have also included one movement activity (fruit song). The bee story starts with a girl trying to get mangos from a tree. Hence, we pair it with the fruit song. I will share more about each video in future blog posts.
The Squirrel Story
2. The Bee Story
3. Fruit Song
4. Nondi Monkey Stories
4. The White Peacock Story
Oh WoW I loved the Bee story, since Mango season is here, we will narrate this story for few days.