Balwadis

We at Nishkam Trust believe in providing Montessori education to the less privileged children of the age group 2 - 6 years.

We have seen many people going to work at a factory, or as a labourer leaving their child at someplace until they get back from work. 0-6 years of age is when the brain develops rapidly, and we at Nishkam believe that with the infrastructure already provided by the Government, we could provide quality education by appointing our Montessori trained teacher to assist the Balwadi teachers and focus on imparting Montessori based learning to the children.

Through our Balwadis, we aim at building a strong foundation that makes the children confident and independent to join any school in their respective localities and move on to become the future voices of the country.

At our Balwadis, we maintain activity folders to monitor the progress of each child. When the children go for formal interview for admission in private schools, they fare better and the authorities have expressed their surprise and appreciation for the Balwadi education system.

The children have also acquired many good qualities including soft skills like talking politely, having more patience, sharing with others and also how to maintain things properly at home.

The details of the Balwadis adopted by us are given below:

Thousand Lights Balwadi

Thousand Lights

This branch was set up in October 2008
The parents of most of these children are daily wage laborers
Since these parents did not have any knowledge about Montessori education, we visited their places to create awareness about its importance
The parents of these children are extremely satisfied with their progress, and are now bringing their second born along, and also pitching the idea of Montessori education to their relatives, requesting them to send them over to our Balwadi!
Currently, we have about 580 children who have benefited from the Montessori method of education

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. Parveen, a parent of one of these children. She evinced her interest in this method of education, and enrolled in Nishkam Trust for Teachers’ Training. She was sponsored by us and trained under the Indian Montessori Training Centre and is presently employed as a teacher in this Balwadi.

Every adult that undergoes training with us have shown enthusiasm and dedication to this cause. They move on to empower many other families by fostering positive parent – teacher relationships, and finally evolve their community through this kind of empowerment!

Pattinapakkam Balwadi

Pattinapakkam

This branch was set up in October 2008.
The parents of most of the children are fishermen
Initially, there were about 40-50 children. After knowing the kind of education imparted here, they brought the children from the nearby balwadis also here
We then obtained proper permission to start at a branch in this locality. Initially, we faced space constraints here, but post approval, a room was constructed on the rear side of the Balwadi
As this Balwadi was located near the seashore, there were damages to the roof of this building due to the flooding impact of the Tsunami. Considering the safety of children, Management advised to shift them to a nearby centre till such time the building gets renovated
About 710 children who have benefitted from the Montessori method of education

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

Mandaveli Balwadi

Mandaveli

The Mandaveli branch was set up in January 2018
More children residing in the police campus have started coming here
After understanding the methodology of education imparted here, parents have shown more interest and bring the children here
However, there is not much space to accommodate all the 50 children who are coming in this balwadi. In this regard, we have sent a request to concerned authorities about this constraint
Currently, we have about 95 children who have benefitted from the Montessori method of education

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. S. Kavitha. She has been with Nishkam Trust since 2010. She was initially a part of the Pattinampakkam Balwadi, and later, she joined the Mandaveli branch. Kavitha has a very good rapport with all the children, and is capable of taking care of about 45 children without any assistant.

Harrington Road Balwadi

Harrington Road

This branch was one of the earliest balwadis that started functioning. It was set up in October 2008
Two sets of classrooms were set up at this Balwadi: One environment for the regular Balwadi and the other, a Kindergarten environment for the Chennai Corporation
The KG teachers got the requisite training through the Corporation and Montessori materials were provided to them
About 420 children have benefitted from the regular environment, and about 120 children have benefitted from the Kindergarten environment

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. D. Sheeba. She evinced her interest in this method of education, and enrolled in Nishkam Trust for Teachers’ Training. She was sponsored by us and trained under the Indian Montessori Training Centre and is presently employed as a teacher in this Balwadi. Around 420 children have studied under her. She is known for kind attitude with the children and their parents.

Velachery Balwadi

Velachery

This branch was set up in the year January 2010
Initially our team visited the houses in the locality, and imparted awareness about the kind of educational system imparted by us
Regular monthly parent-teacher meetings were held and it was emphasised therein the need to bring their children on time with proper dress
Currently, we have about 415 children who have benefitted from the Montessori method of education

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. C. Sumathi. She has working at this balwadi since 2010. About 415 children have studied under her. Right from the beginning, she has been very systematic and organized in ensuring that the environment and materials are maintained properly. With her persistence and positive parent-teacher interactions about the benefits of the Montessori method of education, many children have been enrolled in this Balwadi.

Chintadripet Balwadi

Chintadripet

This branch was set up in August 2010
The parents of children studying here are mostly street vendors selling fruits, vegetables etc.
For their livelihood, these parents usually leave early morning from their home and return by mid day. Hence we hired assistants to go to their residences, pick-up the children and reach the balwadis in an auto
One of the challenges that we faced in this Balwadi was that, whenever we asked parents to come for a meeting to share the progress of their children, they would express their inability and instead ask us to brief them in their premises
However, we were able to bring about an awareness to them, and now, we are proud to claim that the parents themselves drop their children at the Balwadis and they are regular at meetings as well
Currently, we have about 340 children who have benefitted from the Montessori method of education

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. B. Subbulakshmi. She has been in this Balwadi since 2016. Taking into account the circumstances and the environments from where the children are coming from, she teacher in a more kind, considerate and conducive manner. She finds immense happiness while working with the children.

Avadi Balwadi

Avadi

This Balwadi was set up in September 2012
Ms. Bharathi, who learned the Montessori system of education through Nishkam Trust, made a request to commence this kind of education in this locality, as it was not prevalent there
Since this area does not come under the jurisdiction of Chennai Corporation and comes under Thiruvallur district, we had to obtain approval from the concerned authorities at Thiruvallur after explaining to them about the system of education
After seeing the kind of effective educational learning provided to the children, the authorities are now requesting us to impart the Montessori method of education to many other Balwadis in the district
Currently, we have about 310 children who have benefitted from the Montessori method of education

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. K.Sumathi. She has been in this Balwadi since 2015. Initially, when this branch was in bad shape, Sumathi made an appeal to the concerned authorities to contruct a new building in a new place. She personally supervised the construction of the new building, and later was instrumental in helping shifting the materials and other requisites into the building, along with the children. Since many children knew only Telugu, she has started learning the language to make them comfortable.

New Washermanpet Balwadi

New Washermanpet

This Balwadi was set up in August 2011
The materials were procured by the members of the Maithri Trust
After seeing the effective functioning of Balwadis run by us, the Balwadi authorities requested us to commence in North Chennai also for the benefit of children residing there
The parents of most of these children are fishermen. Despite coming from a less privileged sector, the children always come to school on time and in proper, clean clothes
After working with materials at school, the children of this Balwadi have always been passionate about their learning and try to apply it at the home front
Currently, we have about 340 children who have benefited from the Montessori method of education.

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. B. Kalaiselvi. She has been with Nishkam Trust since 2015. Despite coming from a district (Anupampatti) that is far from where she is work, she finds immense happiness while working with the children.

Anna Arch Balwadi

Anna Arch

This Balwadi was set up in January 2014
The materials were procured by Mr.Arihant, a member of a reputed organisation
The parents of the children are daily wage labourers
On observing that the children are very self disciplined, and work very calmly and neatly, the teachers of Chennai Sherwood Hall have also started working towards imparting education through the Montessori method
Currently, we have about 310 children who have benefited from the Montessori method of education.

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. Sivagami. She is very organized and systematic and gives utmost importance with respect to maintenance of the environments and materials. She is very kind with the children, and shares a very good rapport with them.

Thiruvanmiyur Balwadi

Thiruvanmiyur

This Balwadi was set up in October 2011
The parents of the children are daily wage labourers and hence are mostly unable to attend Parent teacher meetings. Nowadays, both parents attend meetings and are very eager to learn about the progress of their child, and are interested in understanding the children’s development
Currently, we have about 360 children who have benefitted from the Montessori method of education.

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. V. Pappi, who worked as an Assistant at Nishkam and also enrolled her child in this branch. She evinced interest in learning the Montessori education system and was sponsored by us to get proper training at the Indian Montessori Training Centre. She is presently serving as a Teacher in this balwadi.

Mylapore Balwadi

Mylapore

This Balwadi was set up in January 2011
Ms. Anandhi, a resident of Mylapore, knowing the benefits of the Montessori system, made a request to commence this kind of education in this locality
Materials were primarily available for children of age group 1 to 1.5 years. But now, with increasing number of children for the age groups, we are expanding
Initially, there were only about 15 – 20 children. Now, there are about 30 children benefitting from the Montessori Method of education.

The Team:

This Balwadi team consists of:

One teacher appointed by the Government
One helper
One Montessori adult trained under Nishkam Trust

The adult trained under Nishkam Trust is Ms. G. Thilagavathy. Initially, she looked after other Balwadis, and later moved onto the Pattinampakkam Balwadi in 2018. She later shifted to the Mylapore branch in 2019. She has been instrumental in helping with the training of young teachers for Bala Mandir. Thilagavathy teaches music to students in a very beautiful and graceful manner.