About Us: In the media

The De-school brigade- Malini Bhupta in 'India Today'

No kidding we don’t go to school- Preetha Nair in 'Mail Today'

Home school home- Preetika Mathew in Andpersand

Home furnished- Nisha Susan in 'Tehelka'

A small list yet, but Tehelka? I am honored :-) 

About Us: Aditi

Details:

Name: Aditi Elassery

Age: 14

Education: Homeschooled since 2006. Probably next year taking the 10th standard board administered by NIOS

Interests:

Reading, photography, drawing, history, music, nature

Sample of creativity:

A lit paper lantern photographed by Aditi

Family's Assessment:

Aditi is...

... an introverted teenager but is still very comfortable in her relationships with both children and adults. (Arun's opinion)

... a gentle, considerate girl who can be focused and efficient when situations demand it. (Kanti's opinion)

... always trying to become better, like not getting too angry, but often forgets. (Aditi's opinion)

... a very good person but sometimes gets on my nerves and irritates me. (Srikant's opinion)

... nice. (Dinkar's opinion)

One positive external assessment:

With the simple camera that she uses and with no formal learning I have not seen anybody else who can take pictures like Aditi. (Friend Surkhab Shaukeen a professional photographer who has studied and taught in the US)

About Us: Srikant

Details:

Name: Srikant Elassery

Age: 11

Education: Homeschooled since 2006. Going through class 6 material now

Interests:

Reading, music, drawing, geography, trains, planes, cooking 

Sample of creativity:

Ship made with the pod of the tulip tree

Family's Assessment:

Srikant is...

... physically strong, musically talented and has a vivid imagination. (Arun's opinion)

... a bit enamored with the trappings of money, extremely strong-willed, a talented musician. (Kanti's opinion)

... sometimes stupid and sometimes very sensible. (Aditi's opinion)

... a nice boy but sometimes he is very selfish and stubborn. (Srikant's opinion)

... interested in planes. (Dinkar's opinion)

One positive external assessment:

If he continues, Srikant can become a professional Tabla player. (Srikant's Tabla teacher)

About Us: Dinkar

Details:

Name: Dinkar Elassery

Age: 8

Education: Never been to school. Going through class 3 material now

Interests:

Drawing, cars, planes, nature

Sample of creativity:

Family's Assessment:

Dinkar is...

... mischievous and artistic and wise beyond his years. (Arun's opinion)

... creative and intuitive, appears insubordinate because he thinks totally out of the box. (Kanti's opinion)

... very troublesome sometimes but otherwise quite nice. (Aditi's opinion)

... a very good person but very naughty. (Srikant's opinion)

... interested in playing. (Dinkar's opinion)

One positive external assessment:

Many children come to me but nobody is able to think at this level. (Shashi Maheshwari, Dinkar's drawing teacher in Delhi talking to us)

About Us: Kanti

Details:

Name: SV Kanti Ratna

Age: 40

Education: Master of Computer Science (MCS), Pune university, 1993

Current work: Full time at home

Interests:

Cooking, growing plants, stitching, education, personal growth

Sample of creativity:

Sour dough bread baked by Kanti

Family's Assessment:

Kanti is...

... the real implementer of all our strange ideas and she is very good at this job. (Arun's opinion)

... an autocratic perfectionist. (Kanti's opinion)

... a nice person to be with, though she shouts a lot occasionally. (Aditi's opinion)

... a very lovable person but sometimes she shouts a lot. (Srikant's opinion)

... nice sometimes and bad sometimes (Dinkar's opinion)

One positive external assessment:
The only good thing that Arun has done in his life has been to get married to Kanti (Arun's friend, after he met Kanti)

About Us: Arun

Details:

Name: Arun Elassery

Age: 44

Education: BTech, IIT Kharagpur, 1988

Current work: WATIS (Wipro Applying Thought In Schools)

Interests:

Talking, writing, reading, education, self development

Sample of creativity:

A picture book for children called 'The Laughing Onion' written by me. Available from Eklavya here or from A1 books here

Family's Assessment:

Arun is...

... still in the process of growing up out of a long childhood. (Arun's opinion)

... the happy philosopher captain of our family ship. (Kanti's opinion)

... a fun person to be with, though he irritates me sometimes. (Aditi's opinion)

... a very nice person but sometimes he is irritating. (Srikant's opinion)

... nice sometimes and bad sometimes (Dinkar's opinion)

One positive external assessment:

Nice article. Fun to see the picture. They failed to mention that you're a rebel mystic, though, and quite likely a danger to society. (Friend Chuck Schreiner after reading the Tehelka magazine article on homeschooling that featured us that you can see here)

Trip to Sikkim

Description:  

6 day trek from Yuksam to Dzongri (Kanchendzonga base camp) and back, West Sikkim

Date: 

Late April, 2010

Why (or why not on Discovery channel):
To stand at the highest point of our trek (14000 ft) at 5 AM in freezing cold surrounded by majestic white mountains to watch the sky lightening as the sun rises over the kanchendzonga mountain range and to feel the incredible joy and incredible sadness of being there

Team:

Family 1: Kanti, Arun, Aditi, Srikant, Dinkar
Family 2: Sangeetha, Sathish, Shalom, Ishaan
Guide: Jeet Bahadur Gurung alias JB 

Cooks: Bir Bahadur alias BB and helper Ashish
Yakmen: Mani alias Baichung and Indra the intrepid Chang drinker
Yaks: Blackie 1, Blackie 2, Snowwhite, Brownie 1, Brownie 2

Problems:
- Walking trails full of yak and pony dung, slushy slippery mud, leeches

- Bitter cold, Hailstorms and at Dzongri a proper snowstorm, leaking tents, no proper toilets, no change of clothes
- Mild altitude sickness, low energy on the way up (only for the adults, children were fine throughout)

Discoveries:
- Chang a wonderful millet wine that you have to see and taste to believe
- Our own arrogance (or is that ignorance) in thinking we could do this difficultish walk. (The first people we talked to said we can't take 7 and 8 year olds up)
- Our guide whom we chanced upon and who made the whole experience very very special indeed (Contact JB at 9647888415 if you want to do this or other treks in Sikkim. He comes with a very high recommendation from all of us adults and especially children for his exceptional efficiency and good humor)

Random photos:

 The children. Ever cheerful and ever ahead

 The tents we stayed in on 3 of the 6 nights we were trekking

JB with Ishaan. Believe me, JB is magic!

Viewpoint at Dzongri. The highest point of our trek

Majestic Kanchendzonga range. Praying distance away

Mist on the way down

Dinkar test rides a yak. Yes, I will take this one with the power steering option please!

The adults celebrate with Chang. The smiles on the faces and the haziness of the picture depicts their collective state of mind