At Ananya, a school for children with dyslexia, traditional games play a vital role in the growth and the well-being of the children. Apart from that , the training at the centre prepares them to join mainstream schools.
The school has found that children who play traditional games have reaped benefits. Swetha Krishna, secretary of Madras Dyslexia Association, said the experiment by Ananya has been fruitful. It uses the games to develop the pre-skills in children which in due course would help them in their learning abilities.
“Usually schools use only two senses – the eyes and the ears. Our children have problems with auditory and visual perception. So, we need to reach out to them, stimulate them using the other senses as well. In our experience of working with children we found that there are many games that are multi-sensory by nature,” she said.
The school applied the games and incorporated spelling and math problems to make students learn the subjects and improve their focus and concentration as well.
One of the traditional games that the school uses is Pallanguzhi (mancala) to develop children’s motor skills and interpersonal correspondence. “We integrated the game into our teaching by asking them to divide equally, the concept of reminder in division. We give them five seeds and use it to teach division,” said Harini Ramanujam, chief executive officer of Madras Dyslexia Association.
The school uses rope-skipping to improve the students’ wrist movement, which enables them to write better. A variation of pandi (hopscotch) where players test their ability to reach the finish line blind-folded is helpful in teaching skills that would enable them to get into their academics.
Sometimes the school would give each square the name of a planet, using it as a method to teach the students. “In child development we talk about seven senses - apart from the five senses we talk of the sense of balance and body position. Some children are hyperactive and cannot be made to sit still. As a supplement to occupation therapy we use these games,” Ms. Harini said.
Indigenous games have been helpful as busy parents leave the care of the children to their grandparents, who are familiar with the traditional games. The school allows children to play even during the class if they find that the child is fidgety, she said. It stores a couple of tops that students can spin a few times. They then return to class and are able to focus better, Ms. Harini added.
Since special children have a tough routine of school and then therapy with little room for play and relaxation, the school added traditional games “in order to tweak their pre-skills, which are vital for the academic development. We realised that they were naturally multi-modal and multi-sensory and usually cater to more than one skill. These games can be easily adapted to suit the strengths and the needs of each child,” said MDA president D. Chandrasekhar.
