Journalism of Courage
What better classroom can a child dream of than an open tree house? The Rishi Gurukulum Residency School situated in the Katarkhadak Village,near Hinjewadi IT Park,allows its students to choose which tree house they wish their teachers to take a class in. The school aims at going back to the roots of the Indian system of education – the original gurukul method.
At the Gurukulum,we encourage children to live their childhood freely, says Pranita Kaulaskar,academic head. The children are taught to use the right side of their brain which keeps their creativity alive and makes memorisation easy. The students revise a chapter in 20 seconds and the entire subject portion in 3-4 minutes, she adds. Students are not only taught their CBSE curriculum but also trained to discover the optimum potential of the human brain through the Rapid Comprehension and Review Technique (RCRT) programme. We scan through a book seven to eight times and then make a mental map of the chapters by organising all the data in point format, says Soumya Kaulaskar,a student of Std V. Children have a photographic memory. Once they see a picture or a diagram,they remember it well. This is why we focus on mind maps, explains Pranita.
The school follows a democratic way of decision-making which applies to the Sunday menu,an excursion venue or the classroom where they would like to be taught. The classrooms are tree houses,some of them multi-storeyed while others overlook a waterfall. The Hawa House is my favourite tree house as it has natural air conditioner! says Harshin Shah,a student of Std VII,as he refers to his love for the natural environment. The Himmat House is where we can see aeroplanes and jets take off; it is very exciting, he adds.
The school allows the children to enjoy their childhood,learn and observe nature in its natural form among the hills,waterfalls and greenery,away from the pollution and noise of the city. Our aim is to give our students a wholesome education and equip them with knowledge,ettiquettes,inner peace and kindness, says Manoj Lekhi,director of the Gurukulum. Our students are kept updated with the latest technologies but are taught and supervised to use them appropriately, he adds.
Apart from open-air treehouses,the students are taught their curriculum in a digital classroom set up by Teach Next,an e-learning solution customised for the Gurukulum by Next Education. The videos and interactive quizzes are fun and lessen the burden of memorising. We think we are having fun but we are actually learning our syllabus in the digital classroom, says Nisarga Tekawade,a student of Std VIII.
