Provide a Safe Haven for Indian Children

                                                                     QUARTERLY REPORT FROM  APRIL-JUNE 2018

April and May 2018 

This quarter is about happy endings and new beginnings. A number of children are ready to join formal school in June and new admissions are being received for the new start in June. The teachers and staff are also happy to get a short summer break. 

To finalise the new admissions in the crèches all the new applications are scrutinized to verify and ensure all the children are in the right age bracket; family income levels are cross checked to make sure all belong to underprivileged families and are truly deserving of the service. The parents are also interviewed and the crèche rules are explained to them.

New admissions are received through referrals from the present children and their families and outreach work done by the staff.

June 2018 

The strength of each crèche on an average is 35-40 children.

.The staff and children returned for the start of the new academic year on June 1^st 2018. For the first 15 days the children attend for half a day and go home after lunch. This gives them a chance to settle in and adjust to being away from their parents for the first time. The staff spend time engaging them in songs, rhymes and play activities to distract and pacify them.

Though the first 2 weeks is chaotic and the children do cry; the children do settle into a routine.

By mid June the full day schedule starts where the children come by 9 am; they engage in indoor activities till 11 am when they are taken out to play for a short while. After a nutritious lunch they have a nap and then resume activities till it is time to go home by 3.30. The children have a nutritious malt drink before going home.

Parents Teacher Meeting

 The parents and teachers meet every quarter- topics on health, hygiene, nutrition, progress of their children, challenges are shared and solutions discussed. 

During the last parent teacher meeting for the year-April 2018, the parents were given information about RTE (Right To Education Act). They were informed about the process and details of getting the RTE for their children. In an interactive session the parents shared the information they had gathered as well. 

The parents thanked the staff and management for the nurturing care , nutrition and stimulating environment that was provided for their children during the time they spent at the crèches. They expressed their happiness at how much the children had gained . They also thanked the staff for the guidance on health, nutrition, disciplining and other parenting tips 

The children from Ashraya’s crèches gain admission easily in regular schools and the staff at the crèches are happy when their efforts are appreciated.

Health: 

The nutritious mid day meal of lentils, pulses and vegetables and egg twice a week along with the ragi malt drink has benefited the children immensely, the weight, height and immunization is monitored regularly by the doctor who visits.   

Volunteers: 

Ashraya encourages volunteers to work with the children in the different crèches.

Monica , a regular volunteer uses her creative skills and teaches the children a wide variety of craft and art at the Indiranagar crèche. 

Volunteers from an organization called Bridgin have also been very supportive and active in volunteering at the crèches.

College students also intern for short periods of time. 

Thanksgiving : 

Every year we see our little caterpillars grow into beautiful butterflies. When we see them spread their wings and fly high it makes all the hard work and effort worthwhile. 

Ashraya’s crèches help the children to blossom and also allows the mothers to seek employment and improve the lifestyle of the families. 

We appreciate and thank all our donors for making the crèche project a safe haven for over 200 children each year.

                                                        Quarter  January  to March  2018

Fun and laughter ushered in 2018 

The children attending the  5 crèches run by Ashraya across the city of Bangalore ushered in the New Year with a party hosted by the NGO.

Around  212  children from the 5 crèches located in Banaswadi, Indiranagar, Siddapura, Avalahalli and Shivajinagar  gathered  at Ashraya’s head office dressed in the party clothes. They were accompanied by the respective teachers and helpers from each crèche. Ten volunteers who work with the children regularly also attended and helped the children in their performances and serving of lunch etc.

The crèche teachers had worked hard with the kids with numerous practices preparing a few items of song and dance. 

 The party was held on Saturday  6^th January 2018 and the festivities started at 11:00AM 

 Program: 

 The highlights of the party was the magic show and  Jumporee. Indiranagar crèche  children welcomed  all the children, staff and guests. The children from each crèche sang songs, did individual and group dance , a short skit, fashion show . A unique feature of this year’s program was that the children introduced themselves and the crèche they were from. Songs and dance were chosen from the cultural heritage  of Karnataka.

A sumptuous lunch was served to all the children with the help of the staff and volunteers.

 Sponsors:

 The New Year party this year was sponsored by-

•  Ms. Sudha from Jumporee organized jumping castle for all the children.; and also sponsored  the Magician’s Act and distributed chocolates to all the children and special bouquets to all the crèche teachers.
• Nithya  Lakshmi Reddy arranged the transport for Avalahalli crèche.
• Ms. Shanti Chacko and Ms. Dechu Banerjee sponsored the sumptuous lunch.

 New Year Gifts:- This year Ms.  Shobha Kumar – Ex- Board Member of Ashraya, Consultant  for the  crèches   and active   volunteer at  the Indiranagar creche, handed over the  New Year gifts to the respective teachers  which was later distributed to all the children once they reached their crèches.

  We encouraged and motivated the children to speak in front of the crowd. The teachers put a lot of effort in ensuring the children give their best performance. The children did a fantastic job and entertained everyone with their cute performances. Overall it was a great show.

 The volunteers  were appreciated and felicitated for their commitment and interest in working with  the  children and for helping the teachers and the children as and when required.  

A special thanks to all our crèche children for beginning the year with great energy and excitement. 

Tara Women’s Centre New Year Party Celebration 

  The New Year Party for the Tara Women’s Centre crèche was held on 11-1-2018

  The children of the crèche welcomed everybody and also said a prayer song. This was followed by a fancy dress where the children showcased famous personalities both historical and spiritual . After the fancy dress the children performed a folk dance and group dance.

The children were treated to snacks and juice. 

The parents of the children attending this crèche were also invited to cheer the children. 

It was a joyful start to the New Year.

                                                    Quarter October to December 2017

The last three months has been a time for festivals and enjoyment. The Dussera and Diwali festivals in October and Christmas/ New year in December give ample opportunity for the children to wear new clothes, enjoy fireworks and light numerous lamps to decorate their homes.

The New Year party to be  hosted for the children of all the crèches is creating excitement in all the crèches. The children, under the guidance of the staff are busy practicing for the variety entertainment program  which will have songs and  group dance. 

 Activity 

During the  first few months the crèches  focus on more play activity, oral work, rhymes and indoor games.

Subsequently the learning is introduced – letters of the alphabet, numbers, colors, parts of the body, days of the week etc. First they are taught orally and recognition of pictures on  charts  and flash cards is encouraged.

The children get introduced to fine motor co ordination  and grasping an fine object by using chalk and slate board to scribble, draw and write.  

Subsequently   the children are  writing  in note books; the children are proficient in play activity – drawing and  coloring, building activity with legos and  building blocks, counting activity etc. The children are also able to read, write and recognize the leers of the alphabet and nos. They are able to recognize colors, parts of the body, pet animals,  farm animals, shapes  etc. frits and vegetables

The older children are proficient in writing 2 – 3 letter words. 

 Two important events are celebrated in the month of October and November – 2^nd October- Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and November 14^th -Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday which is also celebrated as Children ‘s Day in India . The teachers explain to the children, in very simple language, the significance of these two days. Children’s Day also reiterates Nehru’s love and vision for the children on India  -all the children  should get opportunities for  education .  The celebrations included fun games and distribution of sweets. 

 Fun Activities

  During this quarter the teachers  focused  on numbers and shapes and using activity based  ways to teach the children; for eg. Paper cups and pebbles were used, the children had to count and put in the no of pebbles that were written at the bottom of each cup.  Similarly different shapes were taught by making the children colour paper cuttings of different shapes, which were then made into a craft item like clown etc. The childreand the teachers   enjoyed the activities.

New rhymes  with actions were also taught to the children.

Sports Day

 A group of volunteers from Bridgin organized a sports event for the children of  Indiranagar crèche- the games were running race, frog race, balancing ball on paper and running event, puzzle race. 

The children enjoyed themselves and they all received small gifts sponsored by Bridgin.

 Nutrition and Health:

All the children continue to get a healthy mid day meal with egg twice a week. They all drink a nutritious ragi millet malt every day before going home. Their weights are monitored and the doctor visits regularly and monitors the health of the children along with the staff.

                                              Report  for the Quarter July 2017 to September 2017

By July the new admissions have all settled into a routine and are used to being away from home. The regular schedule of activities include rhymes, use of flash cards to teach them recognition and names of various living and non living things, play activity  and  craft .  During this month more group activities are done to give everyone a chance to bond and settle in. 

 In August the group of children are divided into two groups; the trained teacher spends time with the older children (3 ½  and above)  and the younger children are managed by assistant teacher. 

 The older children are taught alphabets, numerical, short words parts of the body, days of the week etc and are introduced to writing initially on the slate with a chalk piece.  The children are given slate and chalk piece -initially the children only scribble and draw. 

Holding a chalk and writing on the slate is the most crucial part of developing motor skills in children.  With regular practice the children are able to write letters of the alphabet and numbers etc.

September the children are more able to grasp the chalk and write with a better hand, and begin to write more frequently.

They also engage in coloring activity with crayons and colour pencils; other fun activities like finger painting etc are also introduced.

The younger children work with play material- lego, building blocks, coloring and other activities. 

Workshop Activity: 

Every year a workshop is conducted to enable the crèche teachers to gain new skills and ideas. This also helps them get exposure to new creative ideas and motivates them to make teaching fun, interesting and educative for the children.

 The teachers implement the ideas given in the workshop along with their day to day activities.  Following are some of the new ideas explored at the workshop.

1.  The older children counting the number of children in the class .
2. Sand writing-The children are  taught to write on sand, touch, trace and fine motor co-ordination.
3. Paper cutting-  into different shapes and  sizes (from big to small )  and made to  arrange them from big to small. Each child is  given the task.
4. Shapes  cut are also used to make a hanging and each child is given one .     
5. To make the National Flag the children glued three different colors of wool-  saffron, green, white  and blue in the centre. This was done in the month of August  to celebrate August 15^th  India’s  Independence Day.
6. The children experienced touch, feel and  smell of fruits and vegetables- and then ate them.
7. Circle, triangle, rectangle, star and square shapes were cut from paper and the children were made to stick it and make a picture of a truck, bird, clown, kite, house and fish.
8. The children were made to do hand printing with paint, the children were taught to feel the liquid colour and also to learn the colours.
9. Sorting - Using red and blue colour theme the teacher used two cups colored in red and blue and stones colored red and blue were mixed and given. The children had to put each colored stone in the correct  cup
10. Counting numbers through drawing.
11. making a Name Badge for each child.

 Parents Teacher Meeting: 

This quarter during the Parents Teacher Meeting we explained to the parents the importance of hygiene and good habits and that it was important to continue these at home as well

1. Eggs.  ensuring to wash hands before eating food, washing hand after using the toilet, picking up the things and keeping it back to where it belongs.
2.  Sending the children on time to the crèche and similarly picking them up on time and if in case delayed to inform the teacher.
3.  Minimize absenteeism as this disrupts the child’s routine
4.  To communicate with the children daily and practice the school activities at home as well.
5. To make sure the children come dressed neatly and that their nails, hair etc are clean and free of dirt etc. 

  Health:     

The children across all crèches have reported sick this quarter due to a sudden change in weather and incessant rain. The doctor has examined them and prescribed medicine and we are happy to report that all the children have recovered.

 Volunteers: 

 Ashraya’s crèches have had volunteers from different backgrounds- corporate employees, college students.    Around 10 volunteers are active this quarter- they engage the children in music and dance, teach them simple games, read stories to the children  and assist the teacher in any way that  is needed.

                                           Global Giving Report  Quarter April-June 2017

April and May 2017 

In April the children at the crèches are preparing to leave, either to join formal school or for the holidays.

The teachers spend the time interacting with the parents, guiding them with admission process to the formal schools, preparing the children for the interview/admission tests etc. 

 During this month applications for new admissions are received in all the crèches.

The admissions are scrutinized to check age of the children and  identify income levels  to  ensure that the children  belong to below poverty families. Parents are interviewed and informed about the rules etc; and the admissions are finalized.  A photo of the child and all relevant information of the parents is noted. 

The regular attendance dips as the older siblings get their summer holidays and many families go to visit grandparents etc.

 In the month of May the crèches were closed for 2 weeks summer break.

June 2017

  The crèches reopened for the new academic year on June 1^st 2017.

All the crèches reported admissions of 35-40 children. As the children were just starting play school and leaving their parents for the first time the first week is chaotic with all of them crying and restless. Teachers distract them with toys, games, song and dance. Also the crèches work for half day for the first two weeks after re opening-the children are sent home after lunch.

 By mid June full day schedule starts where the children have learning, rhymes, story telling , both indoor and outdoor games, lunch, nap and activity time . The day starts at 9 am and finishes by 4 pm.  

Parents Teacher Meeting 

At the last parent teacher meeting for the year the parents thanked the staff and management for providing good care, nutrition and a stimulating environment for their children. They expressed their happiness at how well their children had blossomed after coming to the crèche. They also thanked the staff for the counseling and guidance on health and nutrition, disciplining and other parenting tips.

 The efforts of the teachers are rewarded when the children get admission in regular schools effortlessly.

 The parents were also given information  about RTE (Right To Education) . They are informed   about the process and   details of getting the RTE for their children. The parents also shared   information they had got. It was an interactive session.

These parents in turn refer other families and children to the crèches. 

 Health:

  The nourishing mid day meal and   ragi malt  has benefited  the children immensely, weight ,height and immunization is monitored regularly  by the doctor who visits.      

 In the month of April the doctor suggested that  Vitamin A tablets be given  to all the children in Banasawadi crèche. Ashraya purchased the tablets and the teachers have been instructed by the doctor to give the medicines regularly for a month.  

 Volunteers:  

A regular volunteer, Monica used her creative skills and taught the children a wide variety of craft and art at the Indiranagar crèche.

 The crèches are a “safe haven” for these children as their mothers are assured they are in a safe , stimulating place and they can pursue a job which will bring in additional income to the family.