Footprints

Footprints
My Experience at
Anweshana
From the age of five, I have known
that regular schooling methods was
not for me. Obviously, I wasn’t
“aware” of it, but a part of me
knew it. And so did my parents. I
remember spending hours on math
homework in LKG and having to go
to the principal’s office every time I
removed my braids. And I then
joined Anweshana. Anweshana was
like being at home. I would go
Chrysanthemum class and pull a
chowki and start on my latest
fascination. We had Headquarters
for secret members meetings and
tall trees for best friends. And I
remember when these huge
classrooms got emptier with
parents pulling out their children
because they thought Anweshana
was idealistic and not practical in
the real world, which I never
understood. And to date I am
grateful to my parents for putting
here and for not taking me out.
Anweshana ignited a new way I
wanted to learn. I think it’s
completely pointless putting
children below the ages of 13 go
through tests and exams because
it’s not the years of exams that
give you the knowledge you need.
It’s the years of learning square
numbers on the peg board, of
actually feeling the material in your
hands, not just pencils. It sets a
solid foundation because your mind
is learning at its pace. I could
spend the entire day on one
material or a few minutes. It was
up to me. It got me where I am
today.
Adapting to different
environment
Moving out of Anweshana was hard
at the time. How do you find a
place that could match up to
picking gooseberries behind the
school during lunch to learning
about carnivorous plants in
Wayanad’s Botanical Gardens? But
it was the next phase. Everyone
talks about how tough the real
world is, that it’s a competitive
world and you need to be the best
to be anywhere worthy. It’s
unnecessary pressure on kids. And
I know that I could never work
under pressure.
Moving to a new school was not a
problem. It was an alternative
school but it was still different from
what I was used to. We didn’t have
materials anymore, the campus
was so much smaller, and there
were these new classes that I had
never heard of. But learning was
never an issue. I had the materials
from chrysanthemum class in the
back of my head, helping me with
long division and square numbers.
The years of practice was stuck in
my mind.
The first time I wrote an exam was
my tenth grade boards. And I think
one of the reasons I am where I
am right now is because I practice.
I spent years working on the same
materials, until I learnt everything
that I could from them. Even
today, I need to write my notes at
least three times because that way
I feel like it will stay in my head.
That’s what I did for my twelfth
boards. And it has worked
tremendously well for me.
-Yasha Chandradeep, Batch 2005
It is easier to build up a child than it is to repair an adult. - Dr Maria Montessori