Lock down Education and Sports Initiative Uttarakhand: Himmotthan

Accessibility of quality Sports in the time of lock down (Corona crisis) as a tool of Learning and Development using alternate education and sports methodologies is completely abandoned because of staying indoor for a longer duration. Children slowly becoming depressed and disoriented. To overcome these hindrances Himmotthan has setting up of in house sports (Physical Literacy Program) program, that makes children active, vibrant and incorporate sports as one of the key tools for building cognitive as well as sporting skills amongst them as well as their parents and the overall motivation for joy full learning.

Keeping all this in mind Himmotthan has started delivering Video Series on Physical Literacy with support from Aman Sharma and Neelam Babardesai (Sports Head- Tata Trusts). Himmotthan believes it is important that we engage children by the use of these physical activities. On one hand, this could help create avenues for driving the need for change in an endearing manner, while on the other, it could create and build a strong foundation for development by fostering the abundant natural talent in them.

Our efforts to harness innate skill through an organized framework of support structures can unleash the power of their talents as a weapon for psycho-social transformation in the time of corona. Working with these groups from an early stage is key to endear ourselves to these children and earn the trust and space needed to produce sustainable outcomes for them.

The overall approach Himmotthan has adopted is child-centered, where the instruction is planned based on the needs, interest, context and developmental stage of the children. The overall approach for the primary classes is activity based; encouraging children to learn by means of planned activities and discussions and do that in groups while maintaining social distancing while interacting with each other. Indoor available resources like small backyard grounds are being used to develop games as teaching learning materials. Focus on building meta-cognitive skills in children by having dialogues around what we are learning and why we are learning that. Similarly, making the children reflect upon their own learning process.

The curricular objectives for the early grades are properly organized based on the sporting skills that are expected to be developed based on the Long Term Athlete development model. The focus is on physical as well as mental development with respect to technical (nuances of athletics) development, the focus is to build a positive environment for sports that involves training, nutrition and discipline that encourages sports development, etc. Training approach and whole development approach are implemented together to support the development of sporting skills. Children are encouraged to run and make meaning in groups and individually. For ensuring natural development of body, the children are encouraged to practice multiple activities at home and make new horizons for themselves.

Manish K Jha