Children ages 6-12
The third principle “From the near to the far, from that which is to that which shall be “
TLC works through pedagogical projects and learning activities where all children take part. These projects include engaging in service for TLC, the wider community, and for the environment. They involve real opportunities for responsible actions and choices to create a better world for people and planet. They are designed to meet the critical needs and characteristics of the child at this stage of development: it is the age of reason, acquisition of culture, widened scope of social experience, wilderness/nature immersion, interest in the extra ordinary, imagination, importance of social relationships, concept of justice, and exploration of moral values.
Pedagogical Projects in TLC
The Pedagogical Projects have developed over the years since TLC started, to create transdisciplinary, explorative and real-life learning opportunities for the children. For an education that develops all the parts of the being, children are expected to take part in all the pedagogical projects. How they choose to use each project for their learning and growth can be different for each child.
TLC magazine: “A literary cup of tea”
A Literary cup of tea is the magazine created by the children. Children choose if they want to be editors or content creators, or both. The content creators can contribute with stories, research articles, book/film reviews, poetry, photography, drawings, puzzles or other. The editors are responsible for layout, supporting content writers to improve their texts, as well as following a timeline, budgeting, printing and distribution. One magazine is printed at the end of each te
Philosophy
In teaching philosophy to children, we want to promote a
reflective approach to certain texts in order to launch a properly philosophical
effort, of which we judge the children to be capable. The conversations that follow
the reading are thus guided through questions and according to specific needs.
This work is based on a research on the conditions that allow children of different
ages to enter the field of philosophizing.
- The Mother wrote in 1972 a list of 12 Virtues: Sincerity, Humility, Gratitude,
Perseverance, Aspiration, Receptivity, Progress, Courage, Kindness, Generosity,
Equality, Peace. Each of these twelve concepts has its own evolution in the
moral theory’s history and each of them is part of the history of philosophical
ideas and ethical theories. - In order for the children to be able to grasp these concepts in a singular way, we
are studying them as philosophical notions. The goal of it will be to let each child
appropriate each of those qualities in a new and personal way, enriched by a
work of contextualisation and critical reflection. - « 3+1 » programme : each value is explored in its social and individual
dimensions during tree sessions. Then the forth session is held at the petal room
of the « Matrimandir » corresponding to the quality which has been studied. This
session allows the children to let the concepts to infuse and the mind to calm in
a bath of silence. - We start from the “local”, the resources of Auroville, the petals of the
Matrimandir, to reflect in a more “global” way and return at the end of this
journey to where we started from, but rich in our exploration and reflection.
TLC trips
Traveling to different places in India is a core project in TLC. Stepping out of our comfort zones and learning to TWYG (take what we get) where we go. The trips are an opportunity for parents to learn to trust in other adults to care for their children, and to give their children wings of independence. Strong connections are built between children, and between children and facilitators, these bonds remain after the trips. Trips help to build perseverance, endurance, compassion, collaboration and care through real-life experiences. Nature, wilderness and waterbodies are often a part of TLC trips, as well as the simplicity of camping and travel with public transport.
Seed to plate
Seed to plate is a project through which children connect to the food they eat and where it comes from. Visiting farms, growing their own kitchen gardens, harvesting, cooking, composting, watering, mulching. By being a part of this circular flow, children learn to appreciate what grows locally and seasonally and are careful not to waste the food. They can be a part of creating the menu, preparing the food, working in the garden, cleaning their dishes, serving and much more.
Baking English
Baking English is a project using baking as a doorway to work with English language.
Dew Drop Inn
The Dew Drop Inn is the TLC community kitchen cafe/restaurant. It is a Pedagogical Project serving both the Seed to Plate and Baking English projects. People from the wider community of Auroville can come to be served drinks, cakes, cookies and food in this vibrant cafe, run by children and adults in the spirit of the unity in diversity of the Madhatter’s Tea Party (Alice in Wonderland), children can work with planning menus, advertising, serving, and creating the cafe environment.
The cafe has a cupboard with board games, books and comics.
The Dew Drop Inn also hosts adult learning activities such as parenting workshops, an educational library, and screenings of educational films.
The Great Stories
For children to grasp their own place in history is essential to understand evolution, and to become active participants in that evolution. History has not one story, but infinite stories, infinite realities, together forming what represents the real, and which is ever-changing. By exploring history children learn about the world they live in, and how they can become agents consciously forming their future.
To work with this we explore the great stories of big history: The story of the Universe, the story of Life, and the story of Humankind. Interdisciplinary projects merge history, physics, chemistry, geography, social studies, climate change, environmental sciences, technology, languages, culture and much more.
Free Nature Exploration
Free Natural Exploration nurtures children’s natural growth and development, and gives them harmony, peace, connection, care and curiosity. Children love to be in nature, uninterrupted, to observe, explore, and create. As a part of the children’s program they have time to spend in nature, in Evergreen forest, Fertile forest, or Pitchandikulam forest.
Artistic expression
Auroville offers a rich variety of artistic activities that the children integrate into their program. The children chose what activities they want to explore.
Examples are: Art, upcycling, pottery, and mandala.
Music
There are many different music activities offered in Auroville. The children chose what they want to learn.
Theatre
Each year TLC children take part in play productions organized by Miraculous productions with and by Johnny from Fertile. Being a part of a big play production offers endless opportunities to learn, explore new skills, push oneself beyond what one thought one could do, overcome stage fright, accept each person’s capacity, and see how each individual contributes to a part of the whole. Children step out of their comfort zones, and with the support of the production team, expand beyond their previous abilities.
Maths lab
Mathematics is explored through hands-on materials, working from a concrete experience toward an abstract understanding. Montessori and other materials are used for children to discover maths through their own exploration. Mathematics is addressed as a language of the universe, through which we can observe and understand, analyze and communicate.
World Game
- The origins of the World Game goes far back…and is practised all over the world as ‘Sandplay’ therapy.
- The sand is like a tress hold, inviting unknown worlds to the surface. With the objects/figurines a world is created again and again in manifold ways. It is a non verbal way of expressing and has a spontaneous healing effect.
-The World Game helps the player to work out unconscious conflict points or invites to express his/her deeper dreams: the dreams of beauty, the dreams of impossible things, the dreams of a luminous world. To nourish our dreams which come from that silent space in oneself is very important in our times of transition filled with mechanistic, technological, rational and dramatic world views. Now is the time to shift into an unitive way of apprehending the world, life.
-The world Game is an invitation to be oneself, to individualise and trust ‘That’ something which is always going on and which guides us. - Auroville aspires for Human Unity. We like to emphasise to offer the world game in a place which we like to call a soul space, which is filled with vibrations of Presence, of connections to something vast, bright and silent. A simple beauty with order and naturalness.
-Life is the teacher, the school to develop that unitive consciousness, to reconnect with everything around and inside in a way that one know it is ‘alive’, vibrant.
Individual nourishment
At different times in their lives, children need extra individual nourishment. What each child needs can be different. Auroville offers many such opportunities for children, and TLC integrates these into the schedules of the children based on their needs.
Examples of individual nourishment activities: H2H (horse to human). World Game, Mandala, Music Therapy, Art Therapy, Watsu, Massage, and Mattram are some examples.
Horse to Human
This special therapeutic approach encourages children and adults to approach horses in a most healing way – overcoming autistic, behavioural and other limiting patterns in a nonverbal way. This might include caring for the horse, noticing the nonverbal clues, relating to a horse as a friend, and receiving feedback in a non-judgemental way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFvd1p7F6lE
Mattram
Mattram, which is the Tamil word for change, has been the go-to-place for people from all walks of life living in and around Auroville to experience a safe & welcoming space for sharing all matters from the head-to-heart. https://auroville.org/page/mattram
TLC Auroville 