Early literacy and early numeracy from a box, a sheet, and whatever is in the bin
A teacher who has a cardboard carton, an old bedsheet, and forty minutes can run any session in this book. That is the design constraint, and it is the point. Nothing here needs a SMART board or a kit you order online. The materials come from the rubbish heap, which is also where most of the maths and language hides: a paper-towel roll is a pair of binoculars, a telescope, a fishing rod, a microphone, a megaphone, depending on the story the child is inside.
These are fifty-seven pretend-play programmes for children roughly aged three to seven, the years when make-believe is at its loudest. They are localised for Indian classrooms, mostly in Hindi-English code-switching, because a child cannot pretend their way into a “snow day” they have never felt, but can pretend a train, a mela, a barber’s chair, a wedding, in their sleep.
How the year unfolds
Six phases, April to March
Tap a phase to see its season, its theme, and the programmes that sit there. Start near, end far.
Myself, my home, my family
My school, neighbourhood & helpers
Festival season & makers
Annual day, winter life & travel
Travel & the wider world
Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Who Am I?
- 2. The Weather Station (Mausam)
- 3. House
- 4. In the Kitchen
- 5. Chai Time
- 6. Birthday Party
- 7. Land of Nursery Rhymes (re-pitched, bilingual)
- 8. A Day at the Beach
- 9. Mango Orchard (re-pitched)
- 10. A Rainy Day (Monsoon)
- 11. At the Pond
- 12. On the Farm
- 13. In the Garden
- 14. Around Town
- 15. Firefighters
- 16. At the Doctor
- 17. At the Animal Hospital
- 18. In a Procession
- 19. Sharad Season (re-pitched)
- 20. The Gourd Patch (re-pitched)
- 21. The Potter’s Wheel (Kumhar)
- 22. Art Studio
- 23. Village Mela / Cattle Fair (re-pitched)
- 24. Recycling Centre
- 25. At the Post Office (Dak Ghar)
- 26. At the Bank
- 27. At the Salon (Nai / Parlour)
- 28. The Tailor’s Shop (Darzi)
- 29. A Cold Winter Day (re-pitched)
- 30. A Picnic
- 31. Going Camping
- 32. Construction Workers
- 33. At the Bakery
- 34. The Food Counter
- 35. Dance Studio
- 36. On Stage
- 37. At the Racetrack / Sports Day
- 38. A Wedding (Shaadi)
- 39. Basant Season (re-pitched)
- 40. At the Train Station
- 41. At the Airport
- 42. On a Boat Trip
- 43. In the Mountains
- 44. At the Park
- 45. At the Zoo
- 46. A Dog Show
- 47. Jungle Safari
- 48. Under the Sea
- 49. Outer Space
- 50. Pirates
- 51. In a Fantasy Land
- 52. A Dinosaur Dig
- 53. The Spooky Den (re-pitched, gentle)
- 54. A Mystery
- 55. Storybook Land (re-pitched, blended)
- 56. Where Am I?
- 57. A World of Pure Imagination
About the authors
Rewati Raman Vishewar
M.Ed. & MBA, pursuing a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Childhood. His ECCE research with the Square Panda Foundation was submitted to the Ministry of Women & Child Development; his Bihar ICDS curriculum review was accepted at Ambedkar University Delhi. Two decades across premium, company-owned and chain preschools.
Abhidha Seth
Gold-medal M.Sc. (Child Development) and Assistant Professor; former Head of the Delhi Government Preschool Project. Has worked with NCERT, Ambedkar University Delhi, CECED and MS University Baroda, and set up premium preschools across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai.
Work directly with Rewati Raman Vishewar
Most preschool curricula are
repackaged worksheets.
Yours does not have to be. Opening a preschool from scratch, fixing one that has stopped growing, or teaching your own child at home, the hard part is the same. Someone has to decide what gets taught, in what order, and why. I built The ZERO Curriculum, India’s first modular ECCE curriculum, after 23 years inside classrooms, teacher-training rooms, and policy fights. I sit with you and build the thing that actually works for your setup.
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- Homeschooling. A real scope and sequence for your child, not a pile of printouts off the internet.
Talk to me
Rewati Raman Vishewar
Education systems consultant · 23 years
WhatsApp 99106 80423Starts at ₹3,000 per hour.
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