Introduction of Illume

We now know that early childhood is the most important phase of our life. Brain activity is at its peak and what we assimilate till age 6, significantly impacts our adult outlook and inclinations.
India is witnessing a change from joint family and single income households to nuclear families and working moms. As the traditional network of family elders and extended peer group disappear, parents need alternatives for their children. In addition, research over the last century in Europe and the US has improved our understanding of how children develop. It is here that pre-schools play an important role by providing a diverse peer group, a rich & stimulating environment and an expert care-giver.
What happens in a pre-school depends, to a large extent, on its guiding philosophy & approach of child development. Professionally run pre-schools are based on the teachings of one of the many Early Childhood philosophers and educators. The most prominent among them is Maria Montessori. But there are others who had an equal, if not bigger, impact. These were Jean Piaget, Friedrich Froebel, Rudolph Steiner, David Kolb and Howard Gardner. World over, there are pre-schools and schools based on the teachings of Montessori, Froebel and Steiner. In addition, there is the eponymous model from the Italian village of Reggio Emilia.
Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development influences most education approaches. He believed that a child constructs his / her understanding of reality through experimentation, assimilation and categorization. By repeating his / her actions in various settings, s/he is able to achieve new knowledge and insight. Piaget thus emphasized the importance of recapitulation.
Froebel schools believe that child learns best through play. The child is presented with a series of well thought through equipment (called Froebel gifts) and activities (group games and songs), that call forth his / her abilities, stimulate his / her mental activity and produce inner organization.
Steiner pre-schools (called Waldorf) emphasize learning through practical activities. Extensive time is given for free play in a natural, home-like environment that provides examples of productive work. Emphasis is given on nurturing the child’s imagination and providing experiences that gets him / her in harmony with nature.
Montessori pre-schools are based on child directed learning. Teachers are meant to be passive observers who present new activities when the child has either mastered the previous one or got bored of it. They use Montessori materials, each having a specific and well defined purpose. Montessori classrooms provide an atmosphere that is attractive and comfortable for children to explore at their own pace.
Reggio Emilia is a more democratic form of pre-school education, where the child is given a lot of freedom to choose what s/he wants to learn. Also, the whole community participates in the development of the child with parents playing an integral role. The role of adults (teachers and parents) is to indirectly activate the meaning-making competencies of children.
Most of the above are more than a century old – Froebel was born in 1782, Steiner in 1861 and Montessori in 1870. Even Reggio schools came up after World War II to help Italian children cope with the aftermath of war. Since then, we have learnt a lot more on how children learn and express. In the 1970’s, David Kolb postulated that people have different preferences for learning. Based on this, he defined four basic type of learners. In 1983, Howard Gardner proposed that children use at least seven relatively autonomous intellectual capacities - each with its own distinctive mode of thinking - to approach problems and create products. This is popularly called Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
So the situation today demands a contemporary approach that retains the best of the classical practices of Froebel, Steiner, Montessori and Reggio but presents them in a manner that is consistent with Kolb and Gardner’s theories. That’s because while some children will learn well through a Montessori approach, others might benefit from Froebel’s methods. A flexible approach is required that lets children choose based on their learning preference. Illume, a unique pre-school approach does exactly that.
Inspired by Gardner and Kolb, Illume believes that early childhood is the time when a child discovers his / her learning style and the intelligence(s) s/he is strong at. To facilitate this, s/he should be given diverse opportunities and a flexible environment. In Illume, multiple pathways are provided for a particular learning outcome– each child is free to take the path s/he prefers. Equipments and activities are borrowed from the best practices of Montessori, Froebel, Steiner and Reggio. Songs and movements are collected from diverse resources to create a rich, multi-cultural setting. Based on Piaget’s belief in recapitulation, a pre-determined pattern reinforces the concepts learnt.
Illume is a result of experience gained from more than 100,000 children all over India. Feedback and inputs from over 10,000 preschool parents, 2000 early childhood educators and scores of teacher trainers across India went into developing Illume. Observations revealed that while pre-schools engaged the attention of majority of children, some were left behind and others lost interest due to boredom. Parents shared that they wanted more individual attention and an accommodation for their child’s unique preferences. They also wanted an approach that was contemporary and global to meet the needs of today’s child. Teachers felt the need for increased interactivity in the classroom and more holistic concept development. Teacher trainers felt that any approach is as good as its delivery and hence wanted tools to equip the teacher to take care of each child’s unique learning style. Based on these learnings, the Illume team developed an approach that was holistic in design and flexible and adaptive for the child.
Illume offers the child the freedom to choose her way of learning and facilitates reinforcement and recall. This creates a unique learning approach that incorporates the best of the time-tested practices and latest research in the field of child development– a truly potent combination to boost early childhood education. Illume believes in the infinite potential that lies within each child and facilitates the realisation of that potential.