Gnyandeep 2009

Gnyandeep began in April 2006 and we can hardly believe that 4 years have gone by already! It has been a time of vast learning, lots of fun and openness to novel ideas about teaching and learning in preschools.

The 4th batch of 16 Gnyandeep trainees completed their course in November 2009. The course began with building skills in singing, story telling, writing and Art & Craft. This was followed by learning about how children develop in various areas - cognition, motor skills, language, play, behaviour and emotions. Teachers were also shown practical methods to make learning fun for all children in Math, English, Reading, Writing, Spelling, General Knowledge and Art & Craft. These teaching techniques are modern, research based strategies that have been successful in making learning easier and quicker. Teachers expanded their knowledge base with information about Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Specific Learning Difficulties, Hearing and Visual Impairments. They were educated about how to adapt and teach school curriculum to children with special needs as well as how to evaluate children with varied abilities.

The feedback from the Gnyandeep trainee teachers has been heartening. One of our teachers reported “I have started using phonics in my classroom and I have observed that my class has found it much easier to pick up the sounds as compared to my previous classes.”

The teachers benefited from the expertise of various resource persons. In the words of another trainee teacher “I felt that the Gnyandeep training program taught me a lot, as I was completely new to being a preschool teacher. It taught me everything about the development of a child and I even learned how to make my own writing books for my school. I feel that I have learned a lot and have met lovely people that gave me a lot of inspiration. I can't believe it is over.”