Of course, it is true that when we bring the children into the classroom, the bare floor and the walls do not have the materials that the world outside so readily provides. It becomes necessary, therefore, to populate the classroom with materials that can provide some opportunities for exploration. But the original idea remains – the most effective materials are those that are familiar to the children from their environment, things that they can readily connect with their other experiences. That helps them make sense of whatever experiences they have in the classroom.

Lately, we have allowed ourselves to be captivated by TLM. The proposed Saksham anganwadis are an excellent example of this fascination, as are the frequent proposals to incorporate “technology” into the anganwadis and buy shiny plastic articles to serve as learning aids. All these initiatives have one thing in common – their lack of connection with anything most children have experienced since their birth. Far from being effective learning aids, they inhibit children’s wholesome development by making it difficult for them to integrate their new learning with their prior learning.

Rather, it might be helpful that the learning aids be divided into three categories.

The first, which should constitute by far the largest group of materials come from homes and the surroundings. Examples are old and torn sarees and dupattas, newspapers, empty cartons and jars, old and unusable tyres, clay, seeds, stones, small sticks, flowers, leaves etc. They can be used for playing, creating, storing, transforming and a hundred other ways that children do with far greater dexterity than adults can imagine. Most anganwadis might already use them in various ways but usually only as a poor cousin of the shiny plastic. To elevate them to the level of the preferred mode of learning is a change of outlook. The second, which probably involves a modification of the procurement procedures, is a set of material that should be bought only locally with the local officers authorised to make the purchases. These are things that are relatively easily available in local markets. Examples are buttons, beads, crayons, laces, ropes, wooden blocks, newsprint, plastic tubs and the like. Their procurement from the local markets strengthens the connection that the anganwadi system has with the community, ensures that the child is already familiar with the things from her home and street and speeds up the procurement so that the materials can be used when they are necessary.

 

The third group, which should ordinarily be very small is where the product is so uniform that substantial economies of scale and more timely delivery of materials can be ensured by centralising it at the state level. Examples are primarily materials that must be printed, such as

picture books, story books and some other printed material.

Attention also needs to be given to the storage and display of learning materials. Too often, good and imaginative learning materials are unavailable in the anganwadi because there is nowhere to store them. When storage is available, often it is in the form of tall, closed cupboards, which effectively put them outside the reach, even sight, of children. Children learn a great deal even looking at materials, labels and arrangements, apart, of course, from playing with them, manipulating them and using them in unintended ways. Children often also learn to be mindful of maintaining order and restoring playthings to their normal place of storage, if it is accessible. None of this is possible if the storage and display is not at their level.

Finally, but most importantly it is necessary that we banish the term Teaching and Learning Materials (TLM) from the lexicon of the foundational stage. It is a term borrowed from what is appropriate for much older children. At this stage, the materials must be, and must be seen as, play materials, regardless of what we think the children learn from using them. It is only when we acknowledge that, at this stage, play is education, play leads to learning and play promotes healing that we will provide ourselves the space to engage with children as they should be engaged with. Renaming TLM as Play Materials, appropriately rendered into every local language and dialect, is a step in that direction.