By Gunacuda dasi
Meet Makhancora (Nursery) class at Sri Mayapur International School Makhanchora class has devotee children from all over the world aged 3 and 4 years old. It is taught by Nailya mataji, a trained teacher from Russia, along with a local teaching assistant, Mukti mataji and broadly follows the Early Years Foundation Stage programme of England and Wales, with a special emphasis on spiritual development.
Nailya mataji writes: ‘It is a unique place for your child to start their education. We combine both spiritual and general education. Everyday we start with kirtan. The child who is a leader that day leads the kirtan and the others join in. We have workshop time when we do some handicrafts.
We use various materials – so the students are never bored. Everyday we go outside to the playground. The children love it! Sometimes we listen to Krishna pastimes , sometimes we try to act out pastimes of the Lord by ourselves. We use a lot of group activities, so the children can improve their abilities to communicate with each other, to share things and to be friendly with others. Our class participates in temple festivals such as Janmastami, Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja and Gaura Purnima. The children love to show their talents on the stage.’