Vasavi Poddar, a Class III student at Modern High School, had fun creating shadow animals with her hands

Kanav Agarwal, a student of Foundation Class at South City, was thrilled to learn how to make a pizza

Nishita Agarwal, a Class II student at Modern High School, looks forward to workshops to make new friends

Baking

Vasavi, Kanav, Nishita and their friends have been keeping busy at activity sessions hosted by young moms eager to give their sons and daughters the best beyond classrooms.

Rina Agarwal and Smita Agarwal wanted to make lessons more interactive and interesting for their children and started drawing up worksheets on everything from history to maths. Soon, mothers of their kids’ friends were asking for the worksheets too.

“We launched a website and uploaded them. We kept track of the number of people downloading the worksheets and soon realised this was commercially viable,” said Rina, a software engineer.

CAMPING

Courses to camps

Learning Impulse was born in October 2012, and by December Rina and Smita were doing much more than just making worksheets. They hosted a five-day camp at City Centre to tell children the story behind Christmas. “It was a big hit and we were swamped with requests for a rerun. So we had two five-day camps back to back,” recalls Smita, a homemaker and mother of a five-year-old and a three-year-old.

There has been no looking back for the two with camps and parties for every festival on the calendar. For Republic Day last year, children made friends with leaders of the freedom movement, on Holi they dressed up as Radha and Krishna and picked up a few dandiya steps, while for New Year boys and girls aged 15 months to 15 years rocked the dance floor with their moms. “Both me and my son enjoy these programmes. The atmosphere is healthy,” said Ankur Sonkar, mother of Advait, who studies in Lower Nursery at La Martiniere for Boys.

Aleena Khan, a Nursery student at Calcutta International School, loves the story- telling sessions the most. “We get to hear interesting stories and then enact them.”

KNOW YOUR LEADERS

If camps and workshops have been big draws, the worksheets — aimed at helping children aged two to eight develop skills, confidence and concentration through stories, drama and communication — too continue to be in demand. Parents can subscribe to Learning Impulse worksheets at the click of a mouse. “We courier worksheets for those who cannot make it to our class,” Rina said. The fee for a set of worksheets for a month ranges from Rs 100 to Rs 350.

Mommies and more

Rina and Smita are not alone. Six years ago, 25 mothers of girls from Modern High School for Girls (MHS) got together to form Little Explorers and with time more mothers joined. “We wanted our children to mingle with each other and have fun while learning. If we send our children to extra-curricular classes, there is no assurance they would learn or enjoy learning, but we take utmost care so that our children learn the most,” said Tripti Jalan, who has been with the group from the start.

Pizza-making

The journey for Little Explorers began with get-togethers but soon the mothers were exploring their own talents. “We used to take our children to restaurants and Time Zone. But we started running out of venues and spending too much. So in April 2010, we hosted our first workshop,” Tripti said.

The group has had sessions on yoga, dramatics, road safety and time management among other things. Every month, four mothers take charge and connect with the rest over Facebook and WhatsApp to plan events. “We are a big group now, so there is a lot of planning involved. Internet has made reaching out easier,” said Manisha Sureka, mother of Class III student Srreshtha.

Little Explorers has also invited professionals like Amar and Sabyasachi Sen who taught children the tricks of hand-shadowgraphy, chef Alims for a non-fire cooking class, theatre director Ramanjit Kaur for a drama workshop and psychologist Salony Priya to tell them the difference between good touch and bad touch.

“They were all eight-year-old girls, their mothers felt they should be aware of these things. It is a positive trend,” said Salony, the director of Umeed. “Parents are more aware these days and eager to do things for their kids. They are educated and try to go beyond the efforts of the school.”

The 30-odd mothers also take their kids, all students of Class III, on excursions to museums, the zoo, Indian Botanic Garden and more such places. A tram ride and a heritage walk were conducted to acquaint the young ones with their city and its history.

Arya Pugalia, a Class III student at Modern High School, even wrote a poem after taking part in a heritage walk. “I got to know about the heritage buildings when I went for the walk,” she said.

SHADOWGRAPHY

Good word

Schools and principals seem to welcome the idea. “Devi Kar saw our activities and was impressed. Hence, the group has found mention on the Modern High School website,” said Priyanka Agarwal, a member of Little Explorers as well as Shining Star, a group of mothers of students at South City International School, where her son Kanav studies.

Devi Kar, the director of Modern High School, feels these groups make kids do things they wouldn’t do on their own. “Kids mostly end up at malls or food courts. But these groups take them to museums and art galleries. That is a wonderful thing. But what concerns me is do these kids only mix with children from their own school? Does that restrict their social circle? Also, are they allowed to do things on their own or is the mother involved at every step?”

While admitting that every endeavour has its pros and cons, Kar said: “I am sure as long as not everything is programmed the child gains a lot from the activities. They have a balanced approach. They explore and find new things that truly help the child develop... I attended one session with a mom group and realised the children were pretty happy.”

John Bagul, the principal of South City, too appreciated the effort. “Parents are important stake-holders. That they are taking time out of their busy schedules to be with their kids is inspiring. I believe it is important to have an outside-the-classroom experience for a child to grow. Learning cannot take place only within the four walls of the school. So, I strongly encourage these groups as long as the child is not over-exhausted balancing the activities of these groups along with their regular academic curriculum,” he said.

Mingle and bond

Shreeya Ganeriwala, a chartered accountant and member of Fun Factory (a group of mothers with daughters in Lower Nursery at La Martiniere for Girls) and Girlies and Lollies (a mixed group of mothers and kids from various city schools), feels attending activity sessions with other kids has helped her daughter Ishaanvi open up. “Initially my daughter interacted only with kids from her section in school. But at Fun Factory, she gets to meet more children of her age.”

Smita Agarwal, homemaker and mother of Nishita in Class II, MHS, agreed. “Most of us are from nuclear families and such groups give a child the opportunity to grow up with other kids. A lot of sharing and caring takes place. They learn new things in a fun way,” said Smita of Moms and Dolls, a group of MHS mummies floated in August 2012. “Once we didn’t have any activity for two months and Nishita kept asking me why we were not doing anything!”

Priyanka, a homemaker, thanks the group for “bringing me closer to my son”. “Recently at a workshop, I realised he knows Bollywood songs and can sing too,” gushed mother of Kanav Agarwal.

If the mothers enjoy bonding with their children, they also make sure they have some “me time”. “We get to know more women with similar experiences. Moms too need some time of their own to bond with each other. Once in a while we go out for lunch without the kids,” Shreeya said.

Sports

Ideas unlimited

Camps to cookery classes… there’s something for everyone. Rashi Ganeriwala, a member of Fun Factory and Girlies and Lollies, is also co-founder of Chip and Dale, an activity centre for kids that helps mom groups host sessions of every kind. “These are mostly first-time mothers. They want much more than just the classroom environment for their kids. They try to channelise their kids’ energy.... We have craft-making classes, storytelling and during festivals they come in ethnic wear and learn more about their culture. It helps them have an expansive social group and peer activities help the child pick up things easily,” said Rashi, a mother of a Lower Nursery student at LMG, Manya.

Chip and Dale co-founder Garima Chhawchharia said there is no dearth of ideas. “Since it is a group, there is an abundance of ideas. The moms come up with very creative activities,” said Garima.

“The cook-out session we just had was great. I am also looking forward to the Holi party,” said Ishaanvi, a student of Lower Nursery at LMG.

“Unleash the genius in each child and the love and passion of these super moms… that has been our motto,” sums up Smita of Learning Impulse with a smile.

Next up — including the dads. “Why should they be left behind?” quipped Shreeya.