Juhu school teaches classroom lessons with shopping tips

For the past three days, Shrey Kotian, 4, has been talking to his mother about the different sections in a department store.

For the past three days, Shrey Kotian, 4, has been talking to his mother about the different sections in a department store.

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Shrey, a junior KG student of Utpal Shanghvi School in Juhu knows what a cashier does in a store and has learned how to read a bill and make a payment after buying a product.

Last week, Shrey and his 49 classmates visited a department store in Juhu with their teacher. They learned how to buy goods and how to identify vegetables.

The store visit is part of the school's shopping module, an innovative method to teach children communication, healthy living and independent thinking.

"Children demand so many things from parents. So, learning through shopping is a fun way to teach class lessons," said Archana Saraf, the school's pre-primary supervisor.

"As children are involved in real and imaginary shopping, they will learn to communicate in at least one language. They also know that in order to shop they need to know numbers and currency. Thus the students will learn to communicate effectively," states a circular put up on the school's website explaining the rationale of the module. "The students will also get the feel of a new environment and a local area, when they will go and visit it. While the children will sort and classify the shopping they would also learn to sharpen their logical skills," it added.

Shrey's mother, Monica, said that her son is benefiting from the module. "He has developed an ability to grasp things faster by visiting a market and has become more articulate. He can also identify currency note of different denominations," she said.

The module has been only for the school's International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) branch. It comes under the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) designed by the IGCSE, where children learn through innovative ways. The module may be extended to junior KG students in the school's SSC section depending on its success in the IGCSE section.

"These innovative lessons make children fast learners and they respond well rather than mere classroom learning," said Abhadharam Pal, the principal.