HeadStart - English through Phonics

To provide a head start to upper-primary (STD IV and V) kids by teaching them to read and write English words using phonics. Also help them construct simple English sentences on their own.

The need for learning English - a global language - is strongly felt by rural and urban students who require to face the challenge of communicating in English. Often times, English becomes the missing ingredient in the employability of rural children.

English through Phonics is taught to children in Grade I to V at Vidyarambam Learning Centers in Villages and Vidyarambam Model School in Nagapattinam.And this curriculum is condensed (made grade appropriate) from our Easy Learning English (ELE) program that we deliver to Grade VI to IX students. The results speak for itself - Vidyarambam Rotary school students are learning English, a completely foreign language much better than the students learning English through traditional teaching methods in regular schools. Our test results at school and the students ability to read and write at their grade level gave us the necessary impetus to create HeadStart – a month long program that decodes English through Phonics for children of Grade IV and V to learn English and be able to read and write and take on Grade VI with a lot more confidence.

A 20 session program named HeadStart – English Decoded has been designed and will be delivered to STD IV and STD V students across the state which will focus on imparting skills to read English wordsusing innovative teaching methodologies and write simple sentences in English The HeadStart program will be taught over a period of a month by Vidyarambam trained tutors who will work with the children using specially designed books and resources. The teacher to student ratio will be
1 : 30. Classes will be held during school hours in the time designated by the schools for HeadStart.

Reach 100,000 4th and 5th standard children across TN in the current academic year (2014-2015).