WHY WE ARE SHARING THIS
Ask ten pre-school heads how they teach and you will hear ten answers: "We are a Montessori school." "We follow play way." "We use themes." "Parents want worksheets, so we give worksheets." The new national framework for ages 3 to 8 asks every school to teach through play, stories, music and movement. Yet most parents still judge a school by what comes home on paper. So we want to ask you a simple question - and share one idea that many schools find works. Play way is close to our heart: it is where Deepshikha Books began - our very first books were "From Patterns to Handwriting with Rhymes" and "Alphabet Rhymes".
HOW YOUR SCHOOL CAN USE IT
Read the idea below, try it in one Nursery or LKG section for two weeks, and then tell us what happened (see TELL US at the end). The best replies will be shared on this blog with your teacher's name and your school's name.
THE BIG IDEA
It does not have to be play OR paper. Play first, page second. When a child has first touched, moved, sung or built an idea, the worksheet that follows becomes easy - and the page becomes proof of the play, not a replacement for it.
WHY IT MATTERS
Montessori materials, play-way games and rhymes build understanding through the hands and the body. Worksheets give practice and something parents can see. Each on its own falls short: play with no page leaves parents worried, and a page with no play leaves children copying without understanding. Put together in the right order, they support each other.
TRY THIS - "PLAY, THEN PAGE" FOR TWO WEEKS
1Play (10 minutes): start every new idea with the hands. Standing lines? Children walk on a straight line of tape on the floor and make standing lines with sticks, straws or their fingers in sand.
2Rhyme (2 minutes): fix it with a short action rhyme - "Stand up tall, stand up straight, little line, don't be late!"
3Page (5 minutes): only now open the book or worksheet for the same pattern or letter. Children will recognise it at once.
4Talk (2 minutes): ask two children to show their page and say what they played before it.
5Home note (1 line): send the page home with one line in the diary - "Today we walked the line, sang the rhyme, then wrote it." Parents see the paper AND understand the play behind it.
WHAT YOU WILL SEE - AND BY WHEN
In two weeks most children start a page without asking "what to do?", finish it with fewer rubbings, and can tell you what the page is about. Parents stop asking "why so much play?" because the diary line explains it.
BRING PARENTS IN
Ask parents to play the same game at home for five minutes - walking a line on the floor tiles, drawing patterns in a plate of atta, clapping the rhyme - before any homework page.
YOU NEED
Tape or chalk for the floor, sticks or straws, a tray of sand or atta, one rhyme - and your usual book or worksheet.
TELL US - WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
1Does your school follow Montessori, play way, theme-based learning, worksheets - or a mix? What works best for your children?
2Have you found a good alternative that works better in Indian classrooms?
3What do your parents ask for most - and how do you answer them?
Reply on WhatsApp 95559 87368 or write to schools@deepshikhabooks.com. Or send a full post of your own through "Write for us" - it goes live with your teacher's and your school's name.
