Damini Kindergarten
We are thrilled to announce: 15 young street children will start in June 2023 as our first kindergarten batch at our new special needs kindergarten in cooperation with Asha Deep School. They will be provided a safe space to play, to eat, to learn. To be children. To be loved and to be autonomous.
The Concept
Our concept revolves around our mission to create a safe space for a street child to thrive. We derive our educational philosophy from many different educationalists, e.g. Maria Montessori, Paolo Freie, or John Hattie.
The Food
The limited diet of our street kids is not enough to sustain them. We offer them a breakfast, a fruit snack, lunch and an afternoon snack to provide them with the vitamins, minerals and proteins that their diet is usually missing.
The Classroom
We want the children to be able to follow their interests. Thus, the kids will have lots of free play and work time with materials that are either (a) open-ended, like blocks, or (b) designed to teach an isolated skill, like colour sorting objects.
The Timetable
We believe that children below the age of 5 do not need to learn how to write. They need to learn to love to listen to stories, to draw, to use their fingers and bodies to discover and strengthen them. Hence, our very different timetable.
The Educators
Our core team consists of two educators, former students of ours, and a designated grandmother who is a long-term colleague of ours. Our team of teachers is also a team of learners - we will train them on the job, too.
The Building
Connie Rao (Asha Deep School) is providing classrooms to us as well as giving administrative support. Our kids will be able to visit a beautiful school in a rural setting away from the violent streets they have to call home.
