Tales of a Travelling Teacher: Part II

By Denise Lai, BA, BSocSc (Hons), MEd

Day 1
It has been almost a year since visiting Rajpur, and I am both excited and tired; excited with the prospect of seeing my friends, as well as the teachers and children of the Creative Learning Centre (CLC) again, but tired also with the long 8-hour road-trip from Delhi into Dehradun, the capital of Uttaranchal.

The distance is only approximately 280km as the crow flies, but we are caught in Delhi traffic for almost an hour, after which our car is forced to travel at a snail’s pace of 40km/h along most stretches, so as to avoid potholes and the occasional cow or herd of sheep. I suck in my breath ever so often whenever our driver whizzes in and out of two lanes to escape being stuck behind a lumbering lorry or tractor.

Day 2
We are staying a little further up the foothills this time round, and the natural landscape around us is exquisite. Sunsets and early morning hours are glorious, but Jeannie, Joyce and I get our first taste of cold bath-water to remind us that we are quite far away from home-comforts and luxuries.

We arrive at the playschool around the same time as the children do, and I unpack all of the treats that I have lugged from Singapore in two cardboard boxes for them. Bubbles is a sure-win, and the children start to jump up and down, then scamper and hide under the tables like excited bunnies, as we tease, talk, tickle and play enthusiastically with them.

My afternoons have been pre-booked with training sessions, and we are only able to have a quick sandwich each before teachers from other schools, and a parent or two, arrive for the workshops each day. I spend the first afternoon talking about lesson-planning, as well as how important it is to adhere to lesson objectives in the course of reaching short-term and long-term goals.

I also encourage some of the teachers present to think about the physical environment of their classroom(s) a little more. Although effort has gone into decorating the walls with pieces of the children’s art, there is an extensive patch of dampness – from the last monsoon - running down the length of two walls in a corner of the hall. The part-time Resource Teacher has also used small pieces of scotch-tape, higgledy-piggledy, for posters and other kinds of notices and charts on the walls, and these take the paint off as we try and create a "kitchen" and a "bathroom" for Pretend Play.

Day 3
I am tired out by the Teachers’ Day celebration the night before, but we continue to persevere in providing a rich and stimulating environment for the children in the playschool. The story for the week is an Aesop Fable, “The Lion and The Mouse,” and the teachers run through labelling games and activities, after the usual morning "assembly" of songs.

I insist on cleaning the school after the children have left for the day, and send for new mops, scrubs, brushes and detergents, after which we all begin to sweep, wipe, wash and dust with a vengeance. The effort to clean the school takes up our lunch-break over two days, but the outcomes are wonderful. At least now, I think with satisfaction, the children can crawl around on the floor on their hands and knees if necessary.

And before the afternoon is over, I also speak to the older children who come to the centre after school for Tuition. “Please ensure that you leave your shoes outside neatly, and please use the baby-toys with care,” I caution firmly. Later, one of the boys’ father laughs when he reports that I had scared them. "Aunty Denise from Singapore scolded us," had been his 9-year-old’s wide-eyed comment.

Day 4
It is our last day at the centre, and the local teachers have planned a number of interesting activities for gross-motor and fine-motor (self-help) experiences.

The children are shown how to shell peas, and Jeannie, Joyce and I assist to extend from this idea by showing the children how to "cook", then scoop, peas onto little toy-plates as well.

Afterwards, my friend, the school’s principal, adapts from the limited resources that are available, and creates an Obstacle Course that the children can work through, station-by-station. There is a “slide” (made out of two tables), a tumbling arena, and an outdoor “tunnel”. The children are able to run in and out of the various rooms of the house in an extensive circuit. I get tired just watching them!

Day 5
Our time in Rajpur has come to a close, and I spend the morning of our last day de-briefing one of the key members of the school’s Board on how the week went, and what elements of progress I had felt to be obvious since my last visit. Although problems continue with the wild monkeys, and with staffing and limited resources, I am still very hopeful and optimistic about the school’s success. I affirm the reason and purpose for why the playschool was established in the first place, then take my leave down the long and dusty road back to Delhi and Singapore. Not before giving my friends a big hug, of course, and making a personal commitment to seeing the CLC again in the near future….

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For more information on the Bright Starts Programme for ages 2-4yo, please visit our website at www.weecare.com.sg.