Home Learning Initiative

January 2012 update

We founded the Home Learning Initiative two years ago. We aim to engage children from deprived areas in a creative, complex and enjoyable learning experience, as part of a meaningful preparation for their lives. In low-income families, children often have limited time with adults for developmental interaction. Parents have to work long hours and household tasks require greater time as they do not have facilities like 24hour water supply, electrical appliances and personal vehicles. Home Learning is additional to school hours for children who live with the least, giving them a regular chance to experience the best learning.
Engrossed: with a love for reading Understanding: pollination of flowers Cooperation: distributing breakfast

Focused: learning Maths & Science

Presentation: on the Solar System

Inquiry: why glass is transparent

Six days a week, 16 children aged 4 to 15 years, arrive from 7:30am for 2-3 hours of learning additional to their school learning.
Sessions are structured around the cooperation of the group, individual learning needs and a shared expectation that we all will work hard to learn. Learning goals are clearly framed and specific feedback is given to guide progress. Small groups work with an adult to focus on Maths, Science or other subjects and will often present their learning back to the whole group. Daily, we have a group discussion with newspapers, magazines, queries and presentations. Children have freedom to converse and share information, ideas and views and ask and answer questions.

Seeing progress in their learning

We are clear with the learners that we have high expectations for them to manage their behaviour and learning. Each day they should work on something more difficult than before, and we look to see if their work is offering an increasing level of challenge as well as being understood. We try to see with the eyes of the student, to understand how each child is building their learning, and to evaluate the effectiveness of our teaching. As a group, we regularly review progress, which leads to agreements on changes. We all want the children to pass school examinations, improve their proficiency and competencies and be happy and excited about learning.

Health, hygiene and nutrition

The children have a daily snack of milk and oats with a nutrient supplement, and sometimes with fruit. We also provide basic first aid for cuts, grazes and antiseptic and insist on safe sanitation and hygiene habits. One child has learning difficulties and exhibits the behaviour associated with a genetic disorder to better support his learning we have consulted medical practitioners and education psychologists and we continue to develop a learning experience to match his needs. We work hard as a group to include every child and their differences, so that all can enjoy learning.

Developing the learning experience

The centre is linked with experts in Gujarat, India and other countries, and we continue innovating approaches and testing for what will work for children from disadvantaged families. There is ongoing experimentation with new methods and new solutions in response to feedback from our learners, and with their active participation. The approach is developed with experimentation and we are ready to recognise when we are wrong so that we are open to better alternatives that improve learning.

Challenges and needs of children of deprived backgrounds

The families lack formal education and confidence to support the childrens school learning. Low quality shelter, debts, and frequent illness can have a negative influence on learning. School achievement levels are low with a large percentage of children dropping out of school or failing the 8th standard examinations (taken when they are around 14 years of age). There is a problem in enrolling girls and keeping them engaged in learning: in July we only had 1 girl attending; with the childrens help in recruitment we now have 5 girls. These challenges mean innovation is required to create learning solutions specific for the groups needs.

How the learning initiative has developed

FEBRUARY 2010 AUGUST 2010
The centre began with 5 boys of the neighbourhood reading and drawing with us. The children brought their friends and over 30 children were attending irregularly. We provided books and materials and asked the children to self-teach. We gave little guidance or strategies for overcoming difficulties, and progress in learning was not clear. We experimented with approaches after learning how other non-mainstream learning

DECEMBER 2010 centres created amazing learning environments that were not based on textbooks,
discipline and a single approach for all children classed by age.

MARCH 2011 JULY 2011

We began regular visits to the families to update them of their childrens learning and to gain credibility and to secure regular attendance which was tracked daily and reported. We gained the regular support of expert advisors in Gujarat, India and the UK. With professional advice we structured the learning sessions with more types of learning activities to suit the needs of the different children.

JANUARY 2012
Our aim is to strengthen our approach so that it becomes a replicable solution for children, who are otherwise expected to fail, to prepare them to progress and succeed in life
Initially the children did not have the concentration or motivation to read for even five minutes, or write out their own story. They were comfortable with copying out of a book, even if they did not understand the meaning. These days they are excited to arrive early each day and immediately pick up a book, ask a question or take guidance for their learning. Maintaining discipline through fear prevents children learning. We have built cooperation through reviewing the impact of disruptive behaviour and making shared agreements after clarifying our goals. We played a number of cooperative games which emphasise the power of working together to achieve a goal, as opposed to fighting for only ones own interests. It is not easy to motivate children to complete work that is difficult when they are not interested in the outcome. We have engaged the children in work that has a meaning for them. Instead of copying out text, they enjoy writing and decorating letters that are sent to people they know. They write with interest and work together to improve their communication The children speak a local dialect of Gujarati which is significantly different to the formal language used in the school curriculum. This difference in speech limited their confidence in talking to others. After practise and role plays, they now have excellent communication skills and use diagrams and speech to confidently convey their learning to people they have met for the first time.

About the Learners

The core group of learners are based in Gandhinagar city, in central Gujarat, where the regular learning sessions are held. We have selected three other groups of vulnerable children to support, whom we visit regularly and provide with high quality learning materials, according to needs.
Our children moved with their families from villages to the city for employment and live in one-room staff quarters attached to a house or in huts without electricity and water connection. Their parents are mostly illiterate and have little formal education and are employed as cleaners, auto rickshaw drivers and shopkeepers. The centre accommodates around 7 abandoned babies, around 30 girls and a few women. The staff work to help with education, health and legal needs so that orphans are adopted and schooled and for women to be re-united with families. We have observed remarkably warm care from committed staff. A home for boys who are lost (often found on railway platforms or streets) and boys accused of crimes. Around 12 boys reside here with few facilities for comfort and development. The Staff are active in supporting the childrens education and volunteers come weekly to teach English and Computer skills. We support the learning of about 30 children aged up to 14 years from the Halpati community. This community have traditionally been agricultural labourers, they live in one room huts and face a problem of unemployment. None of the adults has formal education of more than 4 years and only one child has passed 8th standard exams.

GANDHINAGAR HOME LEARNING CENTRE VANSDA ORPHANAGE & HOME FOR GIRLS NAVSARI OBSERVATION HOME FOR BOYS KARADI VILLAGE CHILDREN

Funding and expenses

Funding has been kindly given by family, friends and others who have come to know about the initiative. Funds have been used to mainly purchase books and learning resources and stationery. We have received many books and learning resources from supporters as gifts. To initiate the programme we have volunteered our time and home so we have avoided rent and human resource costs. Itemised accounts have been completed and can be requested.

Future goals
Our aspiration is to develop our centre and create an active network which supports learning approaches that transform futures of disadvantaged children. We are formally registering the initiative and aim to establish more neighbourhood centres with other committed and caring adults, to create inspiring experiences for many more children.

To know more
If you are interested in knowing more about the initiative or if you want to share your ideas and support we would be very happy to hear from you. Please do email us: Krutika Patel: kruti10feb@yahoo.co.in Gautam Patel: gaukhnh@gmail.com Please click here to view an online album of images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gautamjpatel/sets/72157628305481943/