Sambhavam

Sambhavam in Sanskrit means 'EVENT', and in the context of learning at MNC, experiencing an event in real life situations reinforces the skills learnt in the school environment. This program is planned to enhance the skills taught in the classroom and specifically to assist children to:

Learn from real life experiences by planning of events outside school environment
Learn from peers
Reinforce learnt skills
Generalize skills in performing activities of daily living

Methodology

A specific theme is selected for each quarter of the academic year
Teachers plan the activity with parents and select the venue (for example parks, shopping malls)
The activity is carried out and recorded on video
Children are shown this video the next day to help them recall activities performed
Charts and props are prepared by children, parents and teachers together for a re-enactment of the visit
Reinforce skills generalized by visiting the venue again
Give a demonstration of the activities by recreating the scene.

Sambhavam is conducted every quarter of the year. The various places visited during the year 2022-2023 are :

Murugan Super Market
Pazhamudir Nilayam (Veg Shop)
Guindy National Park
Hotel Virudhunagar Chettinad Restaurant

The children were accompanied by their parents, special educators and staff of MNC. They had a firsthand experience of all aspects of their outing. They had an opportunity to learn how to pick up items from a shopping counter as per the list every child carried and how to get them billed. In the Guindy park they were really happy to see the monkeys jumping about and other domestic animals prancing inside their cages. The liked the open air long walks they took and were fascinated by the crocodiles and snakes. Children learned the skills of standing in the queue and purchasing a ticket, chose articles in a shop and took them to the counter for billing etc.

Judging by the responses from the parents and children, the results are very encouraging. The children enacted the scenes of their visit at the centre shortly thereafter. The video taken during their outings was shown to the children and models were made by the Special educators/mothers involving the children, and shown to them to reinforce the outing.