I received this book from Arvind Gupta accompanied with this note - 

"Today I stumbled upon a wonderful book on PEACE STORIES by a very famous author Martin Auer - he is a very distinguished author - winner of the Hans Christian Anderson and other awards. He has put them on his website for free individual downloads. His story THE BLUE BOY is already out in 25 languages. Here is a really kind man who for world peace has done such a selfless job. read more

A very Happy Teachers' Day to all of us here!

I'd like to share with all you wonderful teachers this wonderful book I received from Arvind Gupta recently. Eklavya will be publishing this book in English and Hindi soon.

Until then, enjoy this pdf version of this lovely story with wonderful pictures by Dr. Supurna Sinha.

[Dr. Supurna Sinha is a Theoretical Physicst at the Raman Research Institute, Bangalore. Her father was the famous anthropologist Prof Surajit Sinha and Vice Chancellor of Vishwa Bharti. Her mother Dr. read more

John Dewey is acknowledged to be the pre-eminent educational theorist of the twentieth century. He authored several books that are considered required reading for anyone aspiring to be in the field of education, especially as a teacher.

2 of his classics have now been translated in Hindi - Experience and Education, and The School and the Child. read more

Today's Deccan Herald carries a beautiful story by Arvind Gupta titled "We Have to Call It School" about Ny Lilleskole in Denmark which inspired Peggy Hughes' film which is now on Google Video (see related link), and also inspired the likes of John Holt to write at length about this unusual "school".

Arvind Gupta was generous enough to email me the story. read more

This book written by Charles McCann (Naturalist and Curator of the Bombay Natural History Society Museum in the 1920s and 1930s) has been digitized courtesy  Mr. Arvind Gupta.

An excellent resource and treasure trove for all interested in the subject.

The next time you are planning an out-of-town excursion school with your students, do consider a trip to this amazing hands-on exploratory space for young children where they experience "science" through the joy of making things. This center, housed within IUCAA (Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astro-Physics) in Pune, is where Arvind Gupta and others delight children on a regular basis, with hand-made toys from everyday things that bring the principles of Science and Maths alive. read more

I was a happy recipient of a DVD full of some wonderful material for teachers, recently sent to me by Mr. Arvind Gupta. It included some films that all teachers much have the opportunity to see, including one on Gijubhai Badheka (I have already uploaded the book Divaswapna here), and one on John Holt's school titled "We have to call it school".

In response to the Share-a-thon announcement, Mr. read more

[I had promised to put this amazing book up for all teachers to read (when I was reminded of it during the discussion of school admissions policies)]

This is the inspiring story written by Japanese television personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (Totto Chan) about her childhood at Tomoe Gakuen, an extraordinary alternative elementary school.

"The book begins with Totto-chan's mother coming to know of her daughter's expulsion from public school. read more

I noticed that there was a link to the "toys from trash" section of Arvind Gupta's website somewhere in the resource section here.

I came across this tangram alphabet activity on his website that seems quite interesting and fun. I am adding it as an attachment to this post. Note that it is quite easy to make a set of tangram pieces out of some hard cardboard if you don't have a plastic or wooden set.

I had the privilege of watching Mr. Arvind Gupta in action at Mallya Aditi International School, Bangalore, where he has been invited to share his ideas on "tinkering" and toy-making with everyday stuff with the children of Std. 06 for about a week. The children are enjoying their time with him immensely. That they are beginning to see science in action in toys made from everyday stuff, is of course, an icing on the proverbial cake.

I have uploaded a couple of the videos on youtube.com. read more