A Building Blocks Success Story

Our aim at Building Blocks is not to teach only the basics; we want our students to excel, and to know that they can achieve whatever they desire if they work hard at school and focus on their dreams

This four-year old has everyone believing that he can alter his own destiny!

An article about a Building Blocks student, contributed by 

Sharanya Hariharan an online journalist based in Bangalore

A narrow lane with more sheds than it can hold.

Women, children and dogs clustered in and around each house.

The lane filled with vessels to be washed had someone bathing, someone cooking while another ironed clothes.

Music from a nearby shop, the rattling noises of domestic activities and people talking: - there was much life bustling along this lane.

Who would have thought that this lane hosted a bunch of first generation learners who would choose to study amidst such distractions?

A mother, Ponnamma, was speaking about her son, Bheema Shankar, and his learning at Building Blocks Preschool.

Student Bheema Shankar

Ponnamma stepped out of her humble shack to express her joy in enabling her son to study. She said, "I don't know what subjects he learns, nor can I help him study. But seeing his notebooks makes me proud!" 

Both being uneducated, she and her husband, Aiyyappa, decided to have their only son enrolled with Bluebells, one of the  BuildingBlocks preschools. 

In less than a year of being in school, four year-old Bheema Shankar had shown much interest towards learning in general. Although Ponnamma spends her waking hours around her son, she can barely help him with his homework. She understands that he learns many subjects in school, but she recognises only English, Kannada and Maths. Yet, when Bheema shows his notebook to her, she knows he is doing well and takes pride in his merit marks.

At home, he is the first to rise and step out ready for school. He insists on being punctual; and is sometimes known to check a teacher who may walk in late, a couple of minutes after the bell! Little Bheema is spotted questioning about every event, or any object placed before him. He is often caught trying to frame sentences in English or seen teaching his friends to count. "Bheema is attentive and brilliant. He is quick to grasp new concepts and is always eager to learn." said Asheena, School Manager at Bluebells. For being just about four years old, he is immensely self-motivated and is noted for being helpful with his classmates.

In a conversation with Bheema in his playtime, he indicated that I see his notebook, left behind at school. On reaching his school, I sought help to find Bheema's notebooks. The book he indicated had it all. Page after page, were ticks, appreciation stars and full marks given out to neatly spelt three-letter English words, or Kannada alphabet, one or two-digit numbers, or parts of plants and animals, or days and months in a year. From all the drawings to his midterm results, this notebook demonstrated Bheema's potential to achieve academically. Bheema Shankar stands as one of the top students in class, scoring 100% results across all subjects in all his tests and exams so far. Bheema Shankar's innate quality to learn and excel is promising; he seems to be on the path to a bright future.

Ponnamma and her son Bheema

 When asked about aspirations for him from the family, Ponnamma replied, "All we want is to educate him, for we are no one to make career decisions for him. We are sure Bheema will grow up to be ambitious and make us proud."

This article first appeared the online publication Young Spark: ( http://youngspark.in/#/)