Category: Blogs

After the success and settlement of the outreach program with children on every Saturday, I decided to begin something with the youth. We contacted the next door neighbor – government polytechnic college, with support of the principal of the collage we were able to communicate with the young people of the surrounding areas about our…

Once we began having rural children come regular to the campus on Saturday, thirsty to learn and do. We realized that doing conducted activities, where we as facilitators are driving the whole session is not really creating a different environment from school.So we began the concept of Learning Stations. Using different resources, we created learning…

This June I began working on the Outreach program at Aarohi and has been an roller coaster since. After having four children come on our first Saturday, we decided to do a little more advertising to get more children to come for our outreach program. Little did we know that in our enthusiasm to advertise…

I would encourage people to look around them in their community and find an organization that is doing something that they believe in, even if that organization has only five people, or ten people, or twenty people, or a hundred people. And to look at history and understand that when change takes place it takes…

After a break of two years, we decided to once again begin Karral @ Aarohi Aarohi O-campus is a rich campus with lots of resources and facilities, creating lots of possibilities and opportunities for learning. In the wish to make these resources available for the neighboring people we are beginning some outreach programs. I decided…

Why Read books – a view point from a child’s point of view – all thoughts written by a 13yr old child. “ The most important thing we’ve learned, So far as children are concerned, Is never, NEVER, NEVER let Them near your television set -Or better still, just don’t install The idiotic thing at…

One question often asked “Why a child who is doing campus care at the campus is not doing at home or the child who plans and does self learning at the campus, do not do much during break week at home”. Some are seeking “how to inculcate certain thoughts / habits / practices / values…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…