Art of Learning

DIY Report Cards – Designing the reflection experience This is Part 2 in a series of blogs on DIY Report Cards.  We have decided to experiment with students preparing their own reflection journey, through DIY Report Cards, in video format. We are …

Farmworkers vs robots: Will tomorrow fruit pickers be made of steel and tech? Can a robot pick a strawberry better, faster, and cheaper than a seasonal farmworker?

Meet the robot conquering old French hearts When Zora arrived at a nursing facility an hour outside Paris, a strange thing began happening: many patients developed an emotional attachment.

Double thumbs up for that!

McDonald's Happy Meal toys replaced by Roald Dahl books in New Zealand The fast food giants will hand out 800,000 free books as part of the initiative

Welcome step! Hope that this will bring about much needed depth to exploring and learning.

CBSE Textbooks to Get Thinner: NCERT to Reduce Syllabus by 10-15% from 2019 Delhi- NCERT has reduced the curriculum by 15% starting academic year 2019-20, said HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. It plans to make education holistic.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46312655
Beautiful, elegant and minimalistic. Inspirational design of learning spaces.

Forest school in Brazil wins best building A "humble" timber complex for disadvantaged children wins this year's Riba best new building award.

Lately, we have been silent on the blog front as we untangled curricular confusion and cobwebs helping four schools under the same management spring clean their primary school curriculum. Over the academic term/year, school curricula tends to get cluttered with redundant and developmentally inappropriate content that our well-trained, well-intentioned teachers are too busy to w**d out because of their rushed schedules. [ 1,036 more word ]
http://artoflearning.in/2012/08/16/teach-children-or-curriculum/

Teach children or curriculum? Lately, we have been silent on the blog front as we untangled curricular confusion and cobwebs helping four schools under the same management spring clean their primary school curriculum. Over the …

I have been meaning to write for some time. But my excuse for procrastination is a trespassing mind seeking clarity. In my first webinar I went on a learning trail with Marc, Shannon, Gaurav and what they brought to the table got me thinking real hard. Since it was my first experience of a webinar and that too facilitating the discussion with very learned panelists, I had an unconscious script in my head. [ 551 more words ]
http://artoflearning.in/2011/09/12/play-for-the-sake-of-play/

Play for the sake of play I have been meaning to write for some time. But my excuse for procrastination is a trespassing mind seeking clarity. In my first webinar I went on a learning trail with Marc, Shannon, Gaurav and wh…

A fortnight ago I had the opportunity of interacting with and addressing teachers from across India at a seminar hosted by a leading international chain of preschools. As a teacher and a mother, I treat preschool teachers with a lot of admiration and envy. My deep regard for preschool teachers stems from the crucial role that they play in bridging the child’s transition from home to school as well as set the tone for his/her learning in formal, structured environs of a school. [ 431 more words ]
http://artoflearning.in/2011/05/28/teaching-preschoolers/

Teaching preschoolers A fortnight ago I had the opportunity of interacting with and addressing teachers from across India at a seminar hosted by a leading international chain of preschools. As a teacher and a mother, I…

I have always struggled with the supremacy of sciences in the hierarchy of subjects in school curriculum, particularly the obeisance we accord them in Indian education setup. This struggle was brought to the forefront, this past month, by two triggers: the 2011 Lenovo Global Student Science & Technology Outlook that was forwarded by an acquaintance, who is an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, advising the federal government on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs in the US. [ 1,422 more word ]
http://artoflearning.in/2012/01/05/semblance-of-scientific-superiority/

SEMBLANCE OF SCIENTIFIC SUPERIORITY I have always struggled with the supremacy of sciences in the hierarchy of subjects in school curriculum, particularly the obeisance we accord them in Indian education setup. This struggle was brou…

"Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain but there in the sand pile at Sunday school. These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. [ 214 more words ]
http://artoflearning.in/2012/06/11/all-i-really-need-to-know-i-learned-in-kindergarten/

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten “Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain but there in the sand …

Many years ago Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist and avid observer of children's play, wrote that at play a child "behaves above his daily behavior ... as though he were a head taller than himself." Lev Vygotsky’s observations on play juxtaposed with Hungarian psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s (founder and co-director of the Quality of Life Research Center, USA) research on… [ 451 more words ]
http://artoflearning.in/2011/10/19/the-interrupted-child/

The Interrupted Child Many years ago Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist and avid observer of children’s play, wrote that at play a child “behaves above his daily behavior … as though he were a head t…

Designing curriculum and instruction is like farming - it is cyclic. As in farming you plan, sow, nurture, harvest and use the evolved understanding and tools to start the next cycle of plan, sow....It is critical to let the land fallow between end of Cycle 1 and beginning of Cycle 2. Toxic and quick-grow tricks are to be strictly avoided for a healthy, organic crop. [ 589 more words ]
http://artoflearning.in/2014/05/09/curriculum-design-is-like-farming/

Curriculum Design is Like Farming Designing curriculum and instruction is like farming – it is cyclic. As in farming you plan, sow, nurture, harvest and use the evolved understanding and tools to start the next cycle of plan,…