The Learning support classes build and strengthen the reading, writing and arithmetic skills of children of age 6 and above. The classes target both out-of-school children and in-school children who are unable to undertake age and grade specific reading, writing and arithmetic. We run three types of learning support classes, both in the communities and in the schools:

Shishuvachan: This program is run for children in the 4-6 year age group who are attending other balwadis and anganwadis. It seeks to build their language and numeric skills to equip them to enter school.  It is a five month program and runs from November to March every year.

Learn to Read (L2R) Classes: This is a 8 week program targeted at children who are unable to read simple texts fluently or do basic arithmetic confidently.

L2R is an accelerated learning technique targeted at teaching children how to read and do basic arithmetic in 4- 8 weeks. The technique does not follow the traditional sequential method of learning. Instead, four types of class activities (“say something; do something; read something and write something”) are integrated together, to make learning rapid. The technique is based on the principle that when children are engaged in a variety of activities which have implicit interconnections, they make the interconnections and these snowball into a larger skill.

At the beginning of the program, the children are assessed on their reading and arithmetic levels and grouped on the basis of their levels of knowledge. All activities are then built from that level onwards.  Once the level of the child is determined, the simple L2R technique is used with each child to help improve his/her reading and arithmetic levels.

Results conducted before and after the interventions reveal that this accelerated technique is capable of increasing the learning levels of children in less than 8 weeks. Those who do not know even letters of the alphabet begin reading sentences haltingly and those who can read words only with difficulty but cannot read sentences fluently graduate to good reading.   

Read to Learn (R2L): This is an extension of the Learning to Read class. The out-of-school children are enrolled in these classes as a priority. Once the child has built his/her basic reading skills, they are taught on how to read with comprehension and express what they have learnt.  The Reading to Learn classes may have two phases. The first phase, R2L1, strengthens reading, comprehension of school and/or other texts, and writing on ones own. The next phase R2L2, attempts to ensure that the children complete the basic curricular framework for Grade III as prescribed by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT). Those children who complete the L2R and R2L classes are mainstreamed into schools.