Edelweiss was colorful this month, with the celebration of Holi festival and also because of the visitors that came in! The students had a great time at the Edelweiss. March is the 10^th month of the school year, 1 month remaining.

Attendance and Nutrition

No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled: 95
Average attendance: 79
Attendance in %: 86%
Total breakfasts served: 1,657
Total lunches served:1,575
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 238
Total number of meals served this month: 3,470
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 65,206

Learning Focus:

English:

The K5 kids are reviewing their Tricky words, Sounds, Formation, Blending and Dictation in their Jolly Phonics class. In Genki English class, the children were taught “Where do you live?”, “Where are you from?” etc. The kids also enjoyed learning music through Brillkids Little Musician.

Math:

The kids had fun learning Math through ‘Big and Little Animals’. The K5 kids learned 1-20 on Flash cards. They learned counting numbers from 1-100. They were taught writing numbers from 1-50. The kids also learned counting numbers by 2’s, 10’s and ‘teens’. Addition, Subtraction, Before and After numbers and counting numbers with names has also been taught to the kids.

Science:

The kids learned about insects, their life-cycle and where they live.

Physical Education:

The kids learned fundamental body movements like Walking, Running etc.

Character Development:

The character development card for the kids in this month was ‘Being Respectful’.

The kids also had lots of activities which were very enlightening for them, a few activities were; Building Vocabulary, Name sort, Leaf sort, Noises – inside and outside, Shapes, Stackable -snackables, etc.

After School Program:

A meeting was held to discuss the starting of a parallel program at Edelweiss along with the regular schooling for the children. This program would be called the ‘After School Program’. The concept was initiated on the basis that all the graduated children from Edelweiss, came back to our School for extra coaching of their academics, especially the English language.

Of the 17 children, 7 of them who graduated from Edelweiss last year were attending Kannada medium school (NS Palya Government School, Green Pasture, Pattel). 9 children go to an English medium school (New Modern English School). And there was one student not attending any school. This was a concern. So, the management, Troy Swanson and James Ambat have been working to launch this pilot program.

The After School Program has a set curriculum that the teachers and the children will need to follow. This program is headed by Christina (Principal – Edelweiss), Mary (Teacher – Edelweiss) and Selvi (Curriculum Supervisor – Building Blocks). This program will also be looking at providing one nutritious meal to the students, free of charge, daily.

This program is for two hours starting 4.30pm to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. The teacher in charge is Mary. 17 students from the first grade will be attending this program for now. This is a two month trial program for these students.

The students do their daily lessons from their day School, review concepts learned at Edelweiss last year and focus on enhancing English skills.

To assess the need for such an After School Program a meeting was held between Mothers of the Graduated Students and various Building Blocks Teachers, Kathryn K., Building Blocks Founder James Ambat and AlphaBet Club Founder Troy Swanson.  At this meeting Mothers shared insight into areas in which they believed their children would benefit from coming back to school.  They also shared many difficulties that the children experienced in other schools and in maintaining the level of English.

Nutrition:

Visitors:

March 12^th–

Mr. Andrew and Ms. Mary Richmond came to Edelweiss with Mr. Sunil Kumar (Communication Manager for Building Blocks). They had come to visit the children and had a pleasant experience with them.

March 24^th–

Mr. Lokesh S., from the Netherlands visited Edelweiss and he was also taken on a slum visit by Mr. Troy. Mr. Lokesh S. was very humbled with the work that happens at our School and the impact it was having on children’s lives, living in the GD Mara slum.

March 30^th–

Mr. Vishnu Amble visited Edelweiss for the second time since it opened and was thrilled to be a part of the School. He also visited the slum with Mr. Troy, and was amazed at the progress and level of quality that the school has achieved since it’s opening in 2010.  He also proudly noted that upon opening the school was established for only 45 students, and today currently has 110 enrolled.

Educational Visitor:

Mr. Josef Bogerfuerst visited Edelweiss dressed like a professor and taught the kids how to be ‘Respectful’. Children enjoyed the stories and acts performed by him.

Mr. Jonathan shared his knowledge of English with the Edelweiss staff. He also trained them on the correct usage of the English language, which was highly effective.

Celebration at Edelweiss:

March 22^nd – Water Day:

Water Day was celebrated at Edelweiss, keeping in mind the importance of water, its usage and conservation. The children enacted a play and learned of the importance of clean water.

March 27th – Holi:

Holi – the festival of colors – is undoubtedly the most fun-filled and boisterous of Hindu festivals. It’s an occasion that brings in unadulterated joy and mirth, fun and play, music and dance, and, of course, lots of bright colors!

To see all of the photos of Edelweiss Students, Teachers and Friends celebrating Holi go to:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151322492167397.1073741828.58936262396&type=1

The children had fun playing with the colors, smearing them on each others’ faces, to make the fun double, Mr. Troy and a few of his friends, Devjani G., Friederike F. and Mayur B. joined the Holi celebration at Edelweiss.

We were pleased to have another visitor, Nimita B, who is a journalist for the ‘Indian Express’ – Indulge section. She did a write-up – ‘The Social Project’ on the AlphaBet Club and its founder Mr. Troy Swanson, Building Blocks and the opening of the new school, Freesia near the Chinnappa Garden slum.