Children from Slums in India Memorize English Counting!

Two days ago, Ek Koshish continued with its classes for children from slum areas in Delhi NCR! The classes went very well, as we noticed that the children, mostly, remembered how to count from one to five in English! Watch the video to see Badal, the youngest child, practicing his numbers! We are very happy to see that our work has had sticking power with even the youngest of the children, as they are still a bit too young to memorize and differentiate the symbols for "1," "2," etc. Vicky, the eldest of the boys, can now write the symbols for one, two, and three, from memory, always producing the correct symbol upon request! Badal is unable to write any of the numbers besides one, and he still struggles while holding the chalk for his chalkboard. Ajay is a bit stubborn, and when he has had enough of the work we give him, we have to find other ways to interest him in his studies: For example, we had all of the children count their numbers in English aloud, which encouraged Ajay to join in the group as well. With the younger children, we have to stick to a very slow pace, as they are not accustomed to reading or processing information from written symbols. Nancy's work is very inspiring for the Ek Koshish team to witness, as she has memorized counting, one through ten, along with the corresponding symbols, in just three short lessons. We also began teaching her some English vocabulary, along with the first four letters in the alphabet, which she practiced well on her first few attempts. Her progress, aptitude, and attitude have all been very promising. Mohini had some work to do for her family, so she was unable to come with the other new students. Also, we purchased more equipment for the children, including books to help the children practice stenciling their numbers and English and Hindi letters! Finally, at the end of the class, we treated the children to a classic Bugs Bunny episode, to which they roared with laughter! Sharing these pictures of the children enjoying the cartoon is our way of thanking you for reading our blog!