Today I met with Bharti, an area coordinator for Pratham outside Khar station east in Mumbai. She walked me to a local school, where we observed the Read Mumbai Program. The class was adorable and consists of 17 students in 4th standard(9 year olds). I caught some of it on video. I was bummed out when I found out photo and video is not allowed in government schools. It was very difficult to take photos. Anyhow, the kids learn through a very unique program curriculum. It is taught for one hour each day for 4 months. Everything is monitored, such as the progress, attendance, dropout rates, class visitors (like myself), etc. The teaching approach sounds Montessori to me. (Incredibly accelerated ways to learn the alphabet, basic mnemonics, languages skills and more.) The second class I went to used group activities (games) to help students who don't understand. The class had 3 / 4 / 5 standard students. The class was divided into two groups: 1)Letter Level Group 2)Zero Level Group. The groups are tested in 4 levels: Story, Paragraph, Word Letter. The Read Mumbai program runs for 3 hours each day: 1.5 hours for language ; 1.5 hours for math. The kids were attentive. There was a downside for the kids that understand the material. They have to wait for the teacher to repeat the info and break it down for children who don't understand. This Read Mumbai class had a lot of publications, including stories like the wolf and crocodile, boy who whispered wolf, geography, science, etc.

Following that class, we jumped into an auto rickshaw and went down a few streets, dodging numerous other rickshaws, trucks, etc. We turned down a gully and there we were, at this large dark stone structure, they called a school. Some girls were playing catch with a ball in the school yard. We walked up some stairs, where I got my first glimpse at a balwadi! Balwadis are preschools that Pratham sets up to aid in building fine motor skills and language skills prior to entering primary school. The kids were 3 to 6 years old. They had so many different teaching materials, ranging from flash cards, to story books, to shapes, colors, and even the English alphabet. This was amazing stuff. I was very proud to see all of the materials present in such an old worn out building. Although the atmosphere was dark and gloomy, the kids were loud and bright and excited. I never crossed a frown in all of the schools I have visited yet. What a beautiful outlook on life for such a poor group of children. I am appalled. The 6 year olds develop language through songs/storytelling. They acquire physical development, ex. walking in a straight line. In the balwadi, Pratham is teaching the alphabet to 4 year olds in both Hindi and English!

Next, we visited the Little Darling School, where I learned more about the Scholarship program... which is where the government awards scholarship's to kids who score above 90 % and make the merit list on performance testing every spring. This scholarship class was 4th standard. Boys were on one side and girls were on the other. Each day they review for 45 minutes. Bharti explained that Pratham teachers are trained by Pratham area coordinators.

What a wonderful and fulfilling day!