At Imara the endeavour is to allow each child to learn at their own pace. The child is observed, watched over and gently guided by the facilitators at all times to ensure that the learning capacities of the child remain stimulated and are actively engaged. The attempt is to nudge the child onward in their learning journey from their areas of comfort by awakening their senses to the wonder and joy of life around them and the possibilities for exploring the world they are in. The child is allowed to linger on, savour and relish their sensory and learning experiences so as to internalize them completely. Then they are ready to move on.

The child from the Kindergarten until Age 10 is carefully guided in their learning by the teacher. The Teacher forms the centre of the classroom and the child looks to the teacher to direct the course of their learning. From Age 10 to Age 14, the teacher steps back to becoming a facilitator. The child is now at the centre of their own learning, the facilitator merely indicating the direction of the learning, helping the child if they get stuck in their understanding, suggesting solutions to problems that the child might be encountering in their learning, overseeing the gathering of information, its assimilation and its articulation as knowledge. Through this kind of training, the child at 14 years is capable of taking control of their own learning and progress to become independent learners. The facilitator steps further back from the learning process to merely provide broad guidelines and help prepare study schedules for the child to take ownership and responsibility for their learning.

Rhythm is a very important element in Imara’s Pedagogy. At every stage from Kindergarten to the oldest group of children the effort is on to instill a sense of steady rhythm in the child in the way each day is laid out for the child as also in the child’s food, rest and sleep habits, both in school and at home. Rhythm provides a sense of security through consistency and continuity for the child which is very essential to the child’s inner growth and development. When this is disturbed with irregular food, sleep and other erratic schedules the child will fall out of step with things both at home and at school and will be unable to respond to their fullest potential at both places.

A child’s wholesome growth and development consist of three aspects - the physical, the emotional and the mental. At Imara, time and attention are devoted to all three equally through continuous observation by the facilitators.

Physical Education forms an important part of the daily routine at school. The children begin each day with an hour of physical activity. Physical Education helps build not only stamina, agility and physical fitness but also helps in regulating the vital or emotional energies of the child and in gaining the mental strength to withstand challenges in team sports while giving off one’s best. At every stage of the child’s day, all three parameters come in for consideration while observing the child’s conduct and performance.

The emotional well-being of the child is accorded primacy in the pedagogy. Facilitators are keenly aware of each child and their emotional states of being. Discussions and dialogue are always initiated to help the child express their emotions, become conscious of them and then find ways to manage or resolve them so that they do not prove to be an obstacle.

Mental work can proceed with relative ease only when the child is emotionally in a stable condition and there is no physical fatigue. The child is guided to reflect on and become conscious of their own inner states of being through self-observation - how are they doing physically, emotionally and mentally.

Through this exercise they are brought to greater and greater states of self-awareness, so that they are then independently able to regulate whatever disturbances may be there in any of these aspects.

At Imara every child is encouraged to excel and to reach their maximum potential in different spheres. But this is done largely in a non-competitive environment, where the children are not pitted against each other; they are not compared with each other; they are not in a race to get ahead of the others; they are not judged, labelled or graded on the basis of how they perform. The effort is always for the child to become more and more conscious of their own performance and constantly engage in improving that by moving it to the next level. Even when the children engage in team sports/games/quizzes/presentations, the endeavour is to bring each child to feel a winner - for trying wholeheartedly, for putting in their best with all sincerity, for appreciating the work/game and enjoying the process.

The child is allowed to be free at Imara - free from fear, free from inhibitions. There is freedom of expression and freedom of being accorded to the child. But in the course of exercising this freedom, the Pedagogy at Imara is attuned to ensuring that the child perceives the fine line between freedom and license. The freedom that the child experiences comes with a sense of responsibility, that this freedom cannot transgress into another person’s territory or that they cannot disturb the environment around them in order to play out their freedom. This in turn helps develop the child’s ability to discern and be conscious and mindful of their activities and their surroundings.

Conflict resolution is given a prime place in the learning environment at Imara. Circle Time is a time in the day’s schedule for engaging with specific issues that a child or several children might be facing with others in the group. The Circle is moderated by the Core Facilitator who listens, allowing each child to express their feelings fearlessly. Problems are articulated freely and solutions are elicited from the children themselves. This is a democratic process where there is a consensus on the solution. The Facilitator then prompts the children to commit to abiding by the solution that they themselves have generated.

Children are placed in mixed age groups that have two levels of learning in each group. A child stays in one group for a period of two years, moving up from one level to the other within the group before going into the next group. The younger ones in the group learn from their older peers. The following year, they become the older ones in the group and get the opportunity to be in the position to help the younger ones who have joined their group. This helps build both their sense of giving and taking, helping to balance them out beautifully. The dynamic fosters emotional maturity and a sense of community.
Kindergarten - ages 3 to 6
Group 1 - ages 6 to 8
Group 2 - ages 8 to 10
Group 3 - ages 10 to 12
Group 4 - ages 12 to 14
Group 5 - ages 14 to 16

While learning through play is an integral part of Imara’s Pedagogy as also to arouse curiosity in the child and allow them to follow it as a guiding force towards their learning, hard core academic work forms a part of the daily school routine where skills such as the three Rs are rigorously taught. The mental capacities of the child to concentrate, comprehend, assimilate and articulate are systematically built up over the years. The focus, however, is not merely on covering as much content as possible in the course of the academic year but on ensuring that the child is given the time to delve into each topic, experience certain aspects of it deeply, make connections using their previous knowledge and store the learning in their memory so as to be able to retrieve it easily and at will whenever the need arises. Children who are 14+ years enter a two year period of exam preparation wherein they choose their subjects of study depending on their interests and aptitude. They begin a more structured programme of learning within the framework of a set exam syllabus. They are at this point mostly independent in their ability to learn. They settle into the textbook mode of learning and are given sufficient mock tests prior to the exam for them to get adjusted to writing within a time limit and to answer according to the marks allotted for each question.

At Imara, Project-Based Learning (PBL) brings traditional subjects to life through projects. The focus is on the process of learning, helping children discover how to learn rather than just what to learn. Project work extends for a month at the very least and in this time the child is given the time to research, understand and present their learning. PBL encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and research skills, while giving children the opportunity to explore and learn in a hands-on way. The curriculum is designed with input from both national and international educational standards, ensuring a broad and balanced approach. Core Facilitators take these standards into account when selecting project topics for their groups.

At Imara, after Project Work, the focus shifts to building important skills in Math and languages like English, Telugu, and Hindi.

Learning to calculate and communicate clearly are essential life skills, so we take our time to make sure children understand the basics thoroughly. Instead of rushing through new concepts, we focus on strengthening the fundamentals first, so children can build a solid foundation. Math and language lessons are taught through fun, hands-on activities and games to help children connect more deeply with numbers, letters, and their meanings.

Math and language curriculum are designed with input from both national and international educational standards, ensuring a broad and balanced approach.

Imara’s Pedagogy fully recognizes the value of Art and Craft in any learning space. They are not treated as a mere hobby isolated from the rest of the academic learning but are integrated into the whole scheme of learning for a child. They not only aid in building the fine motor skills in the child but also enable dexterity. The effort is to carefully shape aesthetics as a significant dimension in the personality of the child so that they have an eye and a taste for beauty and harmony, for patterns and design, for colours and textures. They are also seen to be a very important aspect in the quieting of the emotions/ the vital and in the expression of one’s deeper self. Mental skills such as one-pointed attention and concentration are trained and honed during art and craft. Imara’s Pedagogy dedicates substantial time and energy to Art and Craft with full-fledged programmes designed and customized for the children in each group to cater to their emotional needs, as well as being integrated into project work and Math and Language learning.

Assessments are continuous and comprehensive at Imara. The facilitators observe and document all the three aspects of the child - the physical, emotional and mental - and assess the child’s progress on each of these parameters at regular intervals. These assessments are shared with the parents during one on one interactions and also through detailed reports that cover the entire spectrum of learning opportunities for the child at Imara - from Physical Education to the School Trip or Theatre. The Assessments are not about awarding marks or grades through tests where the evaluation of the child’s performance rests on a single test/exam. It is a much deeper and more meaningful exercise where the facilitators observe the child keenly over a period of a term and arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the child’s state of being. The areas for improvement or additional work and attention are identified and made a focal point for the following period of learning at school.

Imara values the power of silence to center the mind and emotions. The school begins each day with a five-minute period of quiet reflection, followed by individual art activities that encourage inner stillness and creativity. This practice helps prepare children for focused, mindful learning throughout the day.

School trips for children aged 10 and above are designed to challenge them physically, emotionally, and mentally. These trips foster resilience, responsibility, and community spirit. Imara also celebrates one festival each year, emphasizing joy, community, and the spirit of togetherness. Parents are encouraged to participate in events like the annual Parents’ Fun Day.

Parents form an important part of the Imara community. They are invaluable partners in the educational journey of the children at Imara. The channel of communication is always left open between the parents and the school so that any pedagogical concern is addressed immediately and as effectively as possible. There is an annual Parents’ Fun Day at Imara when parents are invited to host and partake of games and food, to socialize and engage with each other, the children and the facilitators, thereby strengthening the community.

We believe that the continuous development of our facilitators is key to nurturing a rich learning environment for our students. We conduct workshops every quarter on various aspects including

- Curriculum developmentand implementation.
- Personal growth, helping facilitators identify and overcome their weak points.
- Art and craft skills development, encouraging creativity.
- Movement through games and ATB (Awareness Through Body), focusing on the mind-body connection.
- Mathematics implementation and enhancing music education.

Additionally, our weekly pedagogy meetings focus on understanding principles of Integral Education, conscious classroom management and enhancing child observational skills. These meetings stress the importance of age-appropriate handling of children, while ensuring the physical, mental, and emotional growth of each child is nurtured through the subject material.

The children eat lunch together at school. Lunch is a simple and nutritious meal. The objective is to ensure a regulation of the palate so as not to get carried away by overstimulating tastes. The food is far from being insipid but is low on spice and other condiments. Eating the same meal together also builds and strengthens the feeling of community. Imara’s Pedagogy also advises parents to provide balanced meals at home and not allow too much sugar or spice to affect the metabolism of the child.

Eight to nine hours of sleep is strongly advocated by the Pedagogy. The children should have at least a two hour interval between their last meal for the day and when they get into bed. A good night’s sleep helps the child’s brain process all that might have occurred in the course of the day, so that when the child awakes, they are fresh for a new day.

Rest is also rest from school work. There is no Home Work given to the children in the early years. The children are given time to assimilate what they have learned at school rather than crowd their hours at home with more work. As they grow older and become accustomed to more mental work, they take work home to practice their skills in Math and Language and at times some project related work.

All of them have performed well and we try to produce better holistic individuals with an inner sense of humanity to take on the challenges of the real world.