The second edition of our series of seminars titled ‘Celebrating Dr S. Anandalakshmy – Conversations on Education’, was held on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at the Bala Mandir Cultural Centre. The topic of this year ‘Relating to the Young Learner Through Songs, Skits and Stories (3 Ss)’ focussed on young learners and how to enhance their experiences through the 3 Ss.
The highlight of the programme was the official release of the “Parenting for the Early Years – 3-6 years” booklet. The booklet, which is a sequel to the “Birth – 3 years”, provides a comprehensive guide to child development from three to six years, featuring simple activities for holistic growth. Adapted from the Hincks-Dellcrest Learning Through Play Calendars, both these books are invaluable resources for parents and caregivers across diverse settings, enriched with culturally relevant illustrations and messages tailored to the Indian context. Notably, over one million copies of the Tamil version of the Birth to 3 years booklet have been distributed by the state government to 55,000 Anganwadi Centres across Tamil Nadu.
The three women who played a pivotal role in the creation of these two books – Dr. Indu Balagopal, Ms. Lakshmi Gopal and Ms. Swathantra Sakthivel, were acknowledged.
Dr S. Anandalakshmy was a remarkable person who held fast to a core of justice and humanness which radiated into her chosen area of work, education; with a focus on children, teachers, educational institutions and the system of education.
Relating to the Young Learner Through Songs, Skits and Stories (3 Ss)
This year, three resource persons who were close associates of Dr Anandalakshmy and experts in their respective fields, presented their talks on different aspects of education for children.
Ms Sumitra M. Gautama, Principal, Palar Centre for Learning and Pathashaala, KFI shared her expertise by exploring theoretically and through enactment with a few students and teachers of her school, some learning contexts and the nature and characteristics of empathetic response. Her topic, Enacting Empathy stressed on the positive and negative teaching and its impact.
Ms N. Latha, Director of Govt Examinations, School Education Department, Govt of TN (former Director of SCERT) shared her expertise using the sections based on Foundational Literacy (Ennum Ezhuththum), through skit and video presentations. Her topic Melody & Movement, emphasised the advantages of teaching through songs.
Dr V. R. Devika, Founder, The Aseema Trust, Chennai shared her expertise through storytelling as a teaching tool that relates to wisdom of society, teaching skills by example, explaining the mysteries of the universe in a colourful way to amuse and entertain and offer solutions to problems. Her topic Spin a Yarn highlighted teaching through stories, dance and actions.
The programme was well-attended by teachers of various schools from different parts of the city, who participated enthusiastically in the interactive sessions.
