How would it be, if we were taught about how to learn, instead of what to learn? How would it be if we had infinite choices ,possibilities, and freedom of choosing what we want to learn instead of learning what others thought we ought to learn? Learning, I have realized, should be fun as well as interesting. It should bridge the gap between what children don’t know and what they are willing to learn, instead of what we know and what we want them to learn.
After- school program at Touching Lives is focusing on doing just the same. We permit our children to decide what they want to learn, to further explore. It runs on a Workshop-Based Module where we let various GUIDES to come in and conduct workshops for our children.
Here is the detailed overview of the After-School Program:
How it works?
There are different themes throughout the year, for which we have different people coming in. These are the people who can make children aware of these themes, people who can further invoke the interest in them.
Who are these People?
They are the ones willing to come and take workshops for our children based on their expertise. We merge their expertise with our themes for the purpose of clarity. They come to make the children aware about the different options in life so that a child can select his/her own path. They are here to help them to be Independent Learners. We call them GUIDES for enlightening the lives of our children.
What are the themes we have?
We have different themes which we run throughout the year. These themes are designed in a way that will empower every child to get in touch with the emotional, spiritual and the practical aspect of themselves and the universe they live in. The themes for this year are –
1) AABRA KA DABRA
2) EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN
3) ENGLISH
4) OPEN WORLD CAFE
5) MATHS AND LOGIC
6) SPORTS
7) ARTS AND IMAGINATION
8) CHANGE MAKERS
9) RESEARCH
10) TECHNOLOGY
11) PLANTING SEEDS
Value Education
Apart from sharing knowledge of facts and fiction, we are also determined to share the knowledge of Values to our children. We undertake value education for children to learn about various values and the importance of them in daily lives. Children also get a chance to practice these values in their own life.
Here are some of the values which we share with our children?
-Courage
-Harmony
-Kindness
-Honesty
-Love and Compassion
-Gratitude
-Joy of Giving.
Discovering the Light within
We want every child to discover the light within them. The light which will help them to heal themselves and others and that is why we introduced them to the spiritual world, to the world of light, to the world of energy. It is to make them independent in all the areas of their lives and spread the rays of their light on themselves, as well as their families and friends. It is basically to teach them about the power of the universe, the power of forgiveness, the power of peace. Some of the techniques and healing they learn, which are a part of their activities:
– Basic Meditations to higher forms of Meditation (using audios and videos or guided meditation)
– Access Consciousness- Access Bars:– Founder- Gary Douglas (www.accessconsciousness.com) (Our children are Certified Access Bars Practitioners)
– Access Consciousness- Foundation and Level
– Water Therapy (By Masaro Emoto)
– Reiki – Dr. Usui (Our children are Certified Reiki Practitioners)
Apart from these, our children also know :
- Ho’oponopono – Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness
- Emotional Freedom Technique (Developed by Gary Craig)
- Emotional Empowerment Technique
- Affirmation and Recreation of Life
- Angel Card Reading
- Angel Meditation and Therapy
- Chakras and Kundalini
- Mandalas
- And many more therapeutic interventions and healing.
Thus, the After-School Program helps a child to be reflective. It gives a chance to a child to reflect about his own life, his behavior, his thought processes. It helps a child to unleash various aspects of his self, and go within to be the change he wants to see in and around them.