Playschools: Tiny tots calling the shots

They're the new 'emperors' on the block. Barely out of their nappies and cradles, kids in the age group of two to four now have playschools reworking their teaching methods and in some cases, their entire approach to suit the needs of today's power-kiddos.

A for Apple, which charges a whopping Rs45,000 for their playgroup and nursery, has introduced a software called Waterford for their three-year old students. "This software enables children to revise the Maths, Science and English concepts that they learn in school", says principal Shruti Garg.

Garg says that they do not allow children to play with conventionally available clay. "Even though it is called non-toxic, most of the play-dough available in the market leaves coloured stains on children's hands, and hence we've discontinued it. Instead, we prepare our own fresh dough everyday with edible material and permitted food colours", she says, adding that they've also imported soft playing blocks specially from Mumbai, and now focus on puzzles in place of soft toys.

Eurokids, on their part, have come up with a system called Kindersmusik, where children match music to various body parts, and move in tandem with the music. This is in addition to their own in-house set of CDs, where they enact most common nursery rhymes. "The point here is, children have sung these rhymes for ages now, without really knowing what they mean. We try to actually enact parts, so that children know what they're singing", says Chhaya Shroff, franchisee of Eurokids in Manekbaug.

The Kidzee chain of playschools have evolved and implemented a teaching method called 'Ilume'. "We understand that every child needs a different kind of approach to help them reach his or her pinnacle. Our new methodology gives them the space needed to blossom in their own unique ways, keeping their individuality intact", says Sonal Patel at Kidzee's SG Highway outlet.

And while these schools are working at developing technologies and methods, The TreeHouse is trying to bring back lost values. "We have ensured our children carry tiffin boxes from home and share their food in school. This is absolutely essential as the sharing habit has practically disappeared today. Also, our annual functions do not have dress designers from outside. We encourage the mothers to dress up the kids themselves,”  says cluster head Molly Pathak.