Eklavya Early Years

Art flourishes when there are no instructions.

Every adult when asked to draw a scenery makes the same 2 mountains, a river, a sun and a house. Our creativity was taken away from us the minute we were told the right way to make art.

So at Eklavya, in art class we aim to ignite a child’s creativity through nature. No instructions No right way, children are free to draw from their imagination and experience. Every drawing, every painting is so beautiful because it’s imperfect.

{art class, drawing class, painting, creative art work, nature inspired learning, primary school, Montessori, kindergarten, Waldorf, froedel, best practices in educa, school in north Bengaluru, school in Yelahanka}

Friedrich Froebel, a german educator introduced Circle Time. It’s a place of equality where all children and teachers sit in a circle and speak freely making each person feel secure.

Circle time at Eklavya includes storytelling, rhymes, and fingerplays. It’s a space where children think, ideate, reflect with each other. In circle time, we all listen intent fully and wait for our turn to speak strengthening a child’s interpersonal communication in a group setting.

{circle time, education, best practices in education, Kindergarten, Montessori, Waldorf, pedagogy, child development, learning through play, school in north Bangalore, school in Yelahanka}

If we want our children to be grounded, then there is no better place than nature.

Farming, nature walks, harvesting are different ways through which we help children connect back to the soil. And the change is visible.

These children are so empathetic. They care for the plants, insects and even leaves. The curiosity and sparkle in their eyes on discovering the beauty of nature never fades.

Hope they grow up to be responsible citizens of the nation who care for nature dearly.

{farming, nature inspired learning, nature love, grounded children, deep values, primary school, Montessori, Waldorf, kindergarten, nature walks, grow in nature}

Ken Robinson in his TED talk rightly pointed out the need for the education system to move from a mechanical model to an agricultural model.

At Eklavya, we believe every child is like a seed (Beej), the duty of school and home together is to create an environment around the child which allows him to flourish.

An environment that helps in discovering one’s natural talent and creativity through various activities and interventions.

Such children will grow up into a full fledged trees with strong foundation.

{child development, education system, revolution in education system, creativity, exploring a child’s natural talent, primary school, best practices in education, school in north Bangalore, school in Yelahanka, Montessori, Waldorf, kindergarten}

As adults, we understand it’s difficult to hold back and watch the child make mistakes, try a couple of times and complete a task taking their own sweet time.

But by doing it ourselves we are causing more hindrance in the child’s growth than we realise.

If you want your child to grow up independent, then you need to learn to be patient around them. Live a slow life with them where you are just mere spectators watching them figure their own way out.

{parenting tips, parent mistakes, child’s growth, independent children, pause around your child, let your child be, primary school, Montessori, kindergarten, Waldorf, child development}

A school including it’s infrastructure and building must wholly cater to the child. The windows of their height. The storage at their height. Open ground and corridors to run.

Every corner of the school makes the child feel like they belong here. This is what we attempted when designing Eklavya.

It’s so beautiful to see even new children getting accustomed to the surroundings within few minutes because the space feels like their very own.

{school, school architecture, nature inspired school, sense of belonging, primary school, Montessori, kindergarten, waldorf, best school practices, schools in north Bangalore, schools in Yelahanka}

School is never boring at Eklavya. Every day brings with it lots of curiosity and excitement.

Every activity, every experience is carefully planned to spark learning and growth. Our aim is to make Eklavya a space where children love to come back to as it is their second home.

{fun learning experience, holistic development, school is fun, activities, best school practices, primary school, Montessori, kindergarten, Waldorf, school memories, school in north Bangalore, school in yelahanka}

When a child spends 8 hours in school then another 2-4 hours at tuition, he/she really gets exhausted. They neither have the energy nor the time to enjoy as a child, play and spend time with friends and family.

At Eklavya, through our no tuition policy we as a school take full responsibility of the child’s learning and provide them with every support to cope up academically. We want our children to go back home and live their childhood completely without the pressure of tuitions.

{childhood, no tuitions, primary school, child development, learning at school, montessori kindergarten waldorf, schools in north Bangalore, schools in yelahanka}

Children learning farming isn’t a trend. It’s a correction. It’s to bring them back to their roots while learning important life lessons through nature.

It’s to help them understand delayed gratification when everything around them is so instant

It’s to help them learn how to nurture and work together to accomplish a task

It’s to understand the value of food and what it takes to grow it.

And most importantly it’s to place them in the lap of nature far away from screen-time.

This is just our attempt to keep the children at Eklavya rooted.

{farming, children farming, school with a farm, schools in north Bangalore, schools in Yelahanka, delayed gratification, holistic learning, nature inspired learning, montessori, waldorf, kindergarten, primary school}

Over the past few years, we always made it a point to visit various schools across the world to learn the best practices and bring them back to our school.

To allow the child to be and figure out things on their own is the biggest learning we have had as educators. It’s a prominent part of all our teacher training and parent workshops till date.

Around children it’s important adults to let them make mistakes. Let them question what went wrong. Let them think and resolve the issue. And most importantly extend a helping hand only when the child asks.

Being patient as adults is what discovery led child education is all about. You will really be able to see how independent children really are and how happy little self discoveries make them.

{montessori training, outdoor play, free play, independent child, schools, inspiration, primary school, montessori, Waldorf, froedel, reggio, schools in North Bangalore, patience with children}