The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 has identified The World Around Us (TWAU) as a core curricular area at the Preparatory Stage of School Education for Classes 3-5. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the NCF-SE 2023 emphasise the need for integrating a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to learning in this subject area. Thus, the nature of this subject area has been recommended as integrated and interdisciplinary Both the above policy documents advocate experiential learning, exploration and discovery as an essential component of the Preparatory Stage curriculum.
Based on the above policy perspective, a textbook titled Our Wondrous World for Class 3 has been designed and developed. Our Wondrous World, as the title suggests, evokes curiosity and promotes experiential learning, exploration, investigation, discovery, and critical thinking through hands-on activities and open-ended inquiries. This subject integrates science, social sciences and environmental education. The book emphasises real life experiences to deepen understanding and foster problem solving and critical thinking skills as children explore their surroundings with joy and curiosity. The design of the chapters for each unit provides opportunities for the young minds to think independently, reflect on their observations and answer open-ended questions. This provides opportunities to children to do away with rote memorisation and encourages children to actively engage with their surroundings, fostering a sense of curiosity and inquiry. This approach follows a progression from known to unknown, local to global, simple to complex, concrete to abstract and familiar to unfamiliar in the development of concepts and skills.
This textbook has three broad components. The first component is the selection of content and skills for expected learning. The second component is the presentation of content in a manner that is interactive for children. It assists teachers in transacting concepts and skills. The presentation of the text includes various age-appropriate pedagogical approaches such as play-based, theme-based, toy-based and inquiry-based to make the transactional processes child-centric and enjoyable.
The Foundational Stage in school education, as envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, serves as the cornerstone for the holistic development of children It enables them not only to imbibe the invaluable samskaras rooted in our country's ethos and constitutional framework, but also to acquire basic literacy and numeracy. This foundation equips them to transition seamlessly into the more challenging Preparatory Stage.
The Preparatory Stage acts as a bridge between the Foundational and the Middle stages, spanning three years from Class 3 to Class 5. The education provided during this stage builds upon the pedagogical approaches of the Foundational Stage. While the play-way and discovery, plus the activity-based learning methods continue, children are also introduced to textbooks and formal classroom settings. This introduction aims not to overwhelm but to establish a foundation across curricular areas, promoting holistic learning and self-exploration through reading, writing, speaking, drawing. singing, and playing. This comprehensive approach encompasses physical education, art education, environmental education, languages, mathematics, basic science, and social sciences. This comprehensive approach ensures children are well-prepared both at the cognitive-sensitive and physical-pranic (emotional) levels to effortlessly transition to the Middle Stage.
Adhering to the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE), brought out, as a follow-up to the NEP 2020, a new subject area called The World Around Us' at the Preparatory Stage. This subject aims to provide environmental education through an experiential learning approach, connecting children's experiences with the basic concepts of different subject areas which they will study at the Middle Stage.
Our Wondrous World, the textbook for The World Around Us, has been designed to help children connect their day-to-day learning about their world to the basic concepts of various subject areas-science, social sciences and environmental education. It aims to enhance their sensitivity towards their environment, develop skills to work with the community, and foster a positive attitude towards various professions.
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