Kavitha Subramani, Teacher, Vidyaniketan Early Years, Bengaluru.
Kavitha Subramani is a kindergarten teacher at Vidyaniketan Early years, Bengaluru. She has five years of experience interacting and teaching the little ones. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce along with Nursery Teachers Training. Kavitha is a level 1 certified Kuchipudi dancer. She is an active, creative, artistic, multilingual teacher. Kavitha loves reading books, narrating stories and pencil sketching.
“Amazing teachers are easy to love and hard to forget” – Anonymous
As I read the quote, I could not stop being nostalgic. We still remember teachers who had an impact on us during our school days, don’t you agree with me?
The faces of my little ones who were with me in the past few years are passing in front of my eyes. People say “Oh, you are a kindergarten teacher…you only teach ABC’s and 123’s, they come, they eat and go back home. Your work is easy. You can play with the little ones.” I have heard this most times when I say I am a Kindergarten teacher. Some even say, ‘anybody can teach these…what’s so difficult in it?’ People who say these do not realise what more is required before teaching the little ones the ABC’s or the 123’s.
The little souls are for the first time entering a whole new world. The world they have never seen or been there before. A world full of strangers. A world away from the hugs of their father, kisses from their mother and love of their grandparents. We, as teachers, must bring them into our world by first entering their world. Does that sound easy?
I still remember how the first day of school starts with my first timers. One comes with great confidence, one is shy, one is scared, one is curious and most of them are crying. The room is filled with fifteen such little kids. I, being a stranger to them, is going around talking to each one of them and trying to make them feel comfortable, trying to gain their attention, confidence and trust.
There is one baby holding on to my dress, one on my lap crying endlessly, not ready to separate. There are few kids who are overwhelmed. As I sing a song slowly, one by one join me and follow my dance steps. Now, slowly appears the crescent moon on their faces. The shy face, the scared face, the sad face changing into bright faces with twinkling eyes. Yes, I did it with no less effort. I am sweating, I am tired, I have no time to take sip of water with my little kids around me. Yes, I did it…I brought smiles on their face on their first day. Now they are ready to share what they can do with the toys given to them and what songs they know. Now, I have the audience who are suggesting the songs they love to sing and dance along. This is my achievement on my first day…on their first day. They say bye to me with tight hugs. What more is needed than this one, on OUR first day? It was indeed a heartwarming experience for me!
As the days go by the bond becomes stronger. We learn, we become creative, we enjoy teaching and learning. We eat together, we play together, we listen to each other and we share our thoughts with each other. We surprise and inspire each other. Each day becomes more memorable, each day turns out to have more hidden treasures. I get to know them more with every lesson we complete or an activity we complete. I get to hear their viewpoints, their opinions and I am just dumbfounded. The recap sessions are the happiest period of the day as I get to hear from them what their teacher taught them. Hearing all this, I stand tall with my head high and say I did it! I did It! We did it!
The concern they show when I return to school after a day off due to my sickness. The love they show after the weekends. The happiness on their faces when they see me waiting for them in our classroom is mesmerising. The tight hug says it all. When it is time to bid goodbye as the year ends, the sadness on their face and the silence, the emotion can be felt by me. Few of my little ones try to hold back their tears and are unable to express how they miss being with me. I can sense it and miss them too. With my throat dry and voice shaking, I hug them and say, “All the best, my sweethearts.”
My journey as a kindergarten teacher has just been four years, but I have had an ecstatic experience and memories to treasure for a lifetime.
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