Just finished the skeleton site for the Organisation for Early Literacy Promotion (ELP) . . an organisation founded by my mother to address the special educational needs of children coming from backgrounds where reading and writing is not prevalent at home. The division of the hindi alphabet into five stages makes it far easier to grasp. There is also an emphasis on sound symbol relationships, meanings and context. The child is taught 5 characters, then he makes words with them and poems with the words. Thus without having to rote learn the entire alphabet, the mystery that script conceals slowly starts to reveal itself and the joy of learning is established. A far cry from the standard curriculum, which is catered to a very different social setting. The program has been developing over the last five years, and studies already show decreases in the drop out rate at rural schools in Rajasthan. With the help of a teaching kit designed to facilitate the teacher to implement the methodology in the classroom ELP really breathes some fresh air into a system so rusted one almost feels scared to push!
Check out the page . . and do donate to mom if you have some spare cash . . :)
