Category: Blogs

Community Jaatre… imagine a group of families coming together to explore various aspects of open learning on a sunny and cloudy Sunday morning. Reflection is an integral part of our open learning journey, so we decided to understand it more. All ages participated to understand REFLECTION. WHY Reflection We began with a game – find…

We all get hurt, but very few know what to do for first aid.Many of us have fear of snakes/ scorpion/ bee but do we know what first aid to give in case of snake bite?One child told me “I don’t cook, because it will burn …”do we know what to do in case of…

A little forest, just few metres away from the campus, forest walk with Muniraj Anna to explore unknown … he has spent his entire childhood playing hide and seek in this forest. Through the thorns Through the rocks Some trees Some plants Some we knew Some we discovered And through this known and unknown We…

She likes Bhajans There is spark in her eyes when she talks about Bhajan She gets engrossed when she listen to Bhajans She sings alongShe likes religionShe likes to read about Religion, about Gurus and Gods When she came to Aarohi – She was apprehensive to talk about her interest, as she thought “Religion and…

8 young adults from various countries, part of Kanthari, an international institute for social leadership, Trivandrum wanting to make a difference, visiting Aarohi to explore open learning. Each one shared their stories to inspire us (especially this week during independence day, we have been talking about “are we free from cast, religion…). We read in…

The idea is simple – Different ages – Different skills and the joy islearningfrom each other – from different ages. Many morelearningspaces created by each other Many more teachersMany more ways oflearning LearningMela- An attempt to bringlearningand teaching in each one of us, breaking the boundaries of age.Where nobody needs to be beautiful, yet everybody…

Mixed media with Kanchan started with a need to make something using junk. She asked us to collect few random things and compose…old pencils, metal emblem, dried seed, pista shells, glass pieces…we used old newspaper to give texture in the background. Added colors and we saw the magic when our frames came alive!

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhanced the freedom of others – Nelson Mandela” A reason to celebrate freedom with independence day.. but are we really free? Are we not slaves of – Fear of unknown, Resistance to try new…

We were travelling, during the trip One stranger squeezed one child’s hand while passing byFew people on bike came and asked questions to a group of kidsKids traveling in an auto and the action of the driver felt unsafe Some of these incidences left kids feeling “unsafe, scared and worried”. Most of them ‘did not…

Often asked “how does one know what one is interested in?” Exposure to resources is one of the key aspect of open learning – resources can be physical, tools, people or even places. Many times just the exposure and usage in various works helps a learner to connect with self. Many discoveries happens through resources…

We got Trampoline in gift Some of us were involved in buying and installing Some of us also read the usual manual and explained the usage And still the Trampoline got torned in some places (the stitches came out)- it was too soon for this deterioration. It was the time to INSPECT and UNDERSTAND what…

How do we expand our choices? By sharing our choices with others in the community! Book sharing, all of us (irrespective of the age) shared about book/s in closing circle on Friday to enjoy the world of books. Bean world, a Graphic novel, like for it’s funnyness and wierdness.Furniture design book to share about cool…

Travelling teaches so many lessons, difficult to even think while sitting in the comfort of our homes. The trip toBadamiwas nodifferent for us. A group of 25 (7 to 50 yrs old) people, needed to board train in two minutes…we did it. It’s not about that two minutes but the opportunity of a huge preparation…

Imagine when you get up in the morning you see a map on your mirror – a map of habits of mind. You randomly choose one of those, say perseverance. Now whatever happens during the day, in your you focus on perseverance. You voice your thoughts aloud, “I wish I was more perseverant with the…

How do facilitators grow? learningfrom various people and experiences. Each Wednesday sharing circle for us to grow by reading related to parenting, growing or just adding value. Each week one of us bring any topic and conduit a training circle for allthe facilitators(kids invited too!) This Wednesday,Ishani, fromUdaipurvisitingAarohiwith family shared about “Parent Cafe – The…

I used to be very paranoid about anyone falling sick in the family – a simple fever or cold was a like a medical emergency for me (I don’t know about the sick person). May be because sickness for me meant slowing down my work and those headaches (specially cold and fever). But Ratnesh around…

We have no concept of holidays at Aarohi – we live and learn all the days of the year! Our places changes – campus, home, travel etc. Each term break brings an opportunity to reflect – detailed discussion with each family and this add value to the whole Aarohi community, and the whole process gives…

Writing is often associated with “correct” grammar and good handwriting…and often kids think/feel that they are not good in either of them, hence not writing. Ever wondered what goes wrong in appreciating beauty of writing? Celebrating WRITING at Aarohi…writing expressions, writing notices, writing journal, taking notes…just write.

There are two aspects of any outdoor trip for us at Aarohi. One is the learning and other is living. One is understanding about the places we are visiting, other is understanding what all we need to pack. One is about the travel, other is about knowing the train number and timings One is about…

Rock climbing sounds exciting. Knowing and understanding our tools before we go for rock climbing is essential to begin our journey! Yes, this is what we did today with Kowshik (our guide and me tired for this rock climbing trip). What is Harness? Why do we need? How to use? How many loops? What is…

Jobs at Aarohi – another opportunity to explore, experiment and experience. The jobs have different flavour – just because they are “jobs” they comes with a a tag of “commitment”. The notice on job created various responses “what is this job, what all do I have to do, will I get paid and so on”.…

TEAM VOICE –A space and opportunity to understand the working of various teams and take decisions collectively. This week the teams shared teams facing various issues and needed community’sunderstandingand participation.Kitchen team announced“Understand the waste and put in appropriate dustbin”. Suggestion to them”make a list of waste for each dustbins for better understanding”. We have eight…

HELPMATES-a system where we take help of community to resolve our social issues. We all agree that we all have some or other habit / actions / behaviour which can be annoying to others or even frustrating and stressful. Helpmates brings one of the opportunity to express to the community. Two kids complainant for each…

Kids see beauty in Embroidery and they want to learnKids see beauty in football and they want to do moreKids see beauty in cooking and they want to learn cookingKids see beauty in painting and they want to learn paintingKids see beauty in hoolahoop and they want to learn rolling it all around themKids see…

Helpmate on Fridays is like community coming together to grow emotionally! This typically starts with an event which troubled someone or an action which someone is feeling unsafe. And This typically ends up with an insight, a tool or explaining thinking beyond obvious. And most insights comes from children! Last two days, two incidents where…

Emotions – Thoughts – Doubts – Future – Confusions – Career Choices – Media – a space for teens of Aarohi to share/ think/ and talk in a safe and healthy environment. Growing needs, changes in body – mind – feelings, curiosity, social influence, anxiety of future, relationships, self images, uncertainty of future…does one needs…

Two kids fighting…we let this happens Few kids not able to work together…we let this continue One child is not accepted…we let this continue ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ fight over ‘silly’ things…we let that happen jealousy, revenge, putting down, friendship, support, acceptance, rejections…all are part of the environment. There is nothing to CHANGE! There is only…

.Where does wind comes from? What difference it would have made if all the fingers are of different size? Why eraser rub the pencil? Why trees goes up? Why we can’t listen from nose? What is scientific thinking? – Is it wondering…keep thinking..not one thought but continue to think… thinking which does not stop with…

Poetry coming alive at Campus – Just one person and few books on display, few prompts, few poems, some words, some experiences (stimulus like wind) and we create our own poetry as we live our life!

Kanchan, she is precise with art and craft, she is creative, she has style, she composes, she creates, she get siersed in craft, she has been doing since her childhood, she has “an eye” for Craft, she is our inspiration for craft Online sessions with her to explore various techniques of crafts are no less…