Balwadis review meeting

Last month, the Mumbai Smiles projects staff and the balwadi teachers met in the office for a review meeting. The point of this meeting was to take stock of the 25 new balwadis and how they're functioning, discuss the teachers' experiences and address any issues.

First, the teachers talked about the training workshop they had undergone (read about it here) and how it has helped them. One of the teachers said that she now understood the games better and also learned how to make daily, weekly and monthly action plans so as to maximise the time the kids spend in the balwadis.

Then the teachers shared their feedback and experiences in the balwadis over the past few months:

Rekha Vakode from the Chandannagar balwadi said that the kids had started coming to the balwadi regularly. There was an improvement in their appearance, they were cleaner. The parents were happy because the kids had all started interacting more.

Chandrakala Suryavanshi (Sangharshnagar balwadi) gave the example of one boy who never talked before he joined the balwadi. He has now learnt the alphabet and various songs and his parents are very happy with his progress.
She also said that even when some of the parents go on vacation, they make sure to leave their chldren with neighbours so that they don't miss out on lessons.

Padma Jaiswal (Marol balwadi) said that the kids and their families are learning good habits like washing their hands, wearing clean clothes, cutting their nails, being punctual, carrying a water bottle to the balwadi, etc.

Another teacher, Sujatha Kale, said that meeting the parents to discuss their kids was proving difficult, and so she suggested that the discussin should take place when the parents come to pick up the kids from the balwadi.

Following the teachers' feedback, the Mumbai Smiles projects team also had some suggestions:

• Kids being impressionable, the teachers should always make sure there is no confusion in their teaching

• The balwadis in each locality should pool in their resources and ideas

• The teachers should treat their students like their own children

• While the teaching is currently in Marathi and Hindi, English could be introduced down the line, in which case the teachers will also be trained

As you can tell, this kind of review meeting is important to make sure the projects are on track and that the kids ultimately have the benefit of quality learning.