TESTIMONIALS

Our Happy Parents' Review

Testimonials from organisations WM has collaborated with

Neha and Gaurav Mehra

Sonal Saraogi

I write to Word Munchers with an immense sense of gratitude and happiness on seeing my twins Aashirya and Riyaarth’s heartening progress in their writing as well as in their linguistic ability. I am really happy for the attention and focus provided to them in class and for the continuous update provided to us by teachers at regular intervals about progress. The best part of these classes are exposure to various National and International competitions which really enhances the thinking and writing of children. The helping words provided each week surely builds up their vocabulary.

(Parent of Aashirya Saraogi and Riyaarth Saraogi) Grade 5, Age 10

Parent of Diya Shah

My child has been with word munchers since grade 4. It has not only helped her improve her language and creativity but also helped her intellectually and developing her personality. The opportunities and introduction to new platforms has broadened her visions and thoughts. The faculty is cooperative and supportive, my child has learnt a lot and has been inspired through teachers and students she has met in this journey of 7 years.

Parent of Ishaan Sarkar

While the world came to a standstill, during the lockdown our worlds turned upside down, especially for our little ones, so as a parent we were looking for ways to get them connected to the outside world, even if virtually and that is when I came to know of Word Munchers , from a dear friend and since then it has managed to be a part of our daily conversations!

Every single teacher in Word Muncher extends their support , like it’s a big family enjoying all of their mischief and encouraging these budding writers to explore the world of their imagination so beautifully. The best part of their guidance is that , they let the child think independently instead of restricting their thoughts with their own. That’s truly the real essence, where Word Muncher stands apart.

As a parent, it’s always a pleasure to see my child looking forward to his classes, so much so he doesn’t miss it even when he is holidaying

Thanking every one of you at Word Muncher and may you transform the world in the most beautiful way. The true educators of these times.

Student name – Ishaan Sarkar | Grade – 5  | School – Hiranandani Foundation School | Location- Mumbai

Riddhika Agarwal

A big thank you to all the teachers of Word Munchers for the excellent classes you all have been conducting for the kids who love to write. Rinisha always had a love for reading books and writing. Your creative writing classes have given her writing a new dimension and she enjoys it a lot more. She thoroughly enjoys all the class discussions and is always eager to join the classes, always looking forward to learn something new. Thank you for your guidance and much appreciate all the efforts that you all put into curating new topics for every class. It has been a great learning for Rinisha and looking forward to seeing her writing even better.

(Mother of Rinisha Agarwal)

Sonia Khemka

Hi, I am Sonia Khemka, mother of Suhani khemka (Class 10) and Vanshil Khemka (Class 5). I will always be thankful to Richa Ma’am and the whole team of Word Munchers for their continuous efforts in making both my kids fall in love with creative writing with so much ease and joy. Their classes are so much fun that my children look forward to attend them. Suhani has been blessed with various opportunities through Word Munchers and it has helped her to be the confident girl that she is today. As I always say, keep inspiring young minds !! The world needs more teachers like you.

Lagnajita Chatterjee

With the growth of technology in today’s era, equal importance is given to language, especially English. As a mother who who wishes to guide her child with the correct application of spoken and written English, I put my trust on team Word Munchers. After attending the classes, I see positive change in my child. She sounds confident while speaking and writing English.
Learning with an understanding attitude, the ability to explain the use of certain sentences and words in English language has taken a good growth.

Ability of the application of the teachers’ guidance in poems- rhythmic or non rhythmic, paragraph writing autobiography or story writing, is the key improvement that I can see in my daughter. She now looks forward to the upcoming classes with new and exciting activities and titles. Thus,I can confirm that Word Munchers is one of a kind delivering the Creative Writing Classes in the ‘learn with fun’ way.
Thus as a person and a mother who understands the importance of the English language, I give my best wishes to the team.
God bless Word Munchers with huge success and growth.

Thanks and Regards
Lagnajita Chatterjee
(Mother of Adrika Chatterjee)
27th January, 2024

Shikhaa Ghosh

My son Wrishik Ghosh has been associated with Word Munchers from the past 2 years now. As a parent I feel it is one of the best decisions taken by me for developing his creative writing skills. He has learnt about many ways of writing such as science fiction, memoir writing, book review to name some of them. His canvas of imagination has expanded so well due to the classes he attends with Word Munchers. Special shout out to Richa Wahi ma’am and Papia ma’am

Regards
Shikhaa Ghosh

Mahashweta Dutta

Our children – Prisha (11 years) and Kiyansh (6 years) have been attending classes at Word Munchers for the last several years. Richa Ma’am and the entire team have made learning an interactive and unique experience for them. They constantly work to raise the bar with each programme / course, thus ensuring that both the children are always motivated to do their best. The team is extremely capable and provide constant support and guidance to the children.

My daughter, Shreya, had been learning English creative writing with Word Munchers, since she was eight years old. Now she’s fourteen.

The classes were informal and fun for the children as they discussed a particular topic in a group, carefully guided by the teachers. This discussion, I found, was as important as the process of writing itself. It built group-work skills and honed their thinking skills.
The writing exercises helped build her vocabulary and were good practice for improving written communication, required both in school as well as later in life.

Parent's Feedback in Whataap

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Why is teaching an ‘uncool’ choice?

When Bernard Shaw said, ‘ Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach,’ he sealed the fate of all teachers. This statement of his has been floating around for years, and now in its modern avatar sounds something like this – why aren’t you studying? What will you do with your life? Do you want to become a teacher? And it is this sentiment that has percolated so deep into our system that when I started working as a teacher, a well-meaning colleague asked me, “Why did you become a teacher? You could have been anything you wanted.”

And this is the basic problem why we feel that teaching cannot, should not be a sought-after profession. It is the profession we opt for when we have ‘no choice’, when all other options seem bleak, when we’re looking for a convenient job, or for something where we can pass time and earn some money. And who thinks this way? A large part of society, and as a result a large part of the teaching community.

So why is teaching so ‘uncool’? When I tell people that I am a teacher, here are the 3 most standard reactions that I get –

First, it’s an easy job
Second, wow you get so many holidays
Third, lucky you, you get off work so early and have so much free time.

I’d like to discuss these reactions.

It really amuses me when people think teaching is an easy job. Imagine a class of thirty kids, which is a conservative number considering some classes have above 50. So let’s say there are 30 kids – some have amazing grasping power, some no concentration at all, there are a few kids in the classroom who would rather be in the field, then there are some who are trying to understand but it’s taking them longer. Yet that chapter or concept has to be taught and the children have to be graded as per the academic systems put in place by the school. And if the kids don’t do well then of course we are ready to say that there was something wrong in the way the lesson was taught. But to be honest with you, teaching is definitely the easiest part of a teacher’s job.

What else do teachers do apart from teach? We make a difference in the lives of students. We explain to a child who hasn’t done well that it is not the end of the world. We motivate a child who has done well to excel further. We crawl under desks to find the sharpner that a 5 year old has lost probably for the third time in the day. We encourage students to dream big, to make choices with confidence and to accept the consequences of their choices. We celebrate victories and teach children to accept failures and learn from them. We inculcate values in them. We work towards keeping them safe. We call your children our kids, and to a large extent allow adults to outsource parenting to us. We often hear statements like, “Bye mom, ma’am is waiting,” as our brats rush out of the classroom. We stretch our students to enable them to explore and determine their own potential. And let’s not forget that none of this falls under our job description or is included in our appointment letters. Do we still think teaching is an easy job!

Oh how we’re grudged our holidays! Summer break, Winter break, Puja break, mid-term break, government holidays – it seems like we’re never working. Do you know we also get medical leave? But we cannot afford to get sick. If a teacher doesn’t show up for class, the class doesn’t move forward. So when the doctor says mandatory one week bed rest, we’re at work on day 3. We cannot take off for lunch on a working day, or say we’re stepping out and will be back in an hour. If our own children have Sports Day and our school has a Parent Teachers Meet, guess where we’re going to be? When school closes those who teach senior classes come in to offer extra assistance to older kids so that our kids can perform better during exams. Vacations are also used to prepare lesson plans, finish corrections, assess projects in order to lighten the load when the term starts. And yes, strange as it may sound to some, we too have friends and family. And we do enjoy travelling. We work and then earn our rest, even though we’re supposedly doing an easy job.

Of course we get over early! We, on an average, clock in around 6 hours a day, as opposed to the person working in the office who spends around 9-10 hours away. But what is it that we do after school? Netflix and coffee! Apart from lugging back home corrections and developing lesson plans which we cannot finish in school because the free periods in our time tables are few and far between, we also find ways to supplement our incomes. There are teachers who go after working hours to tutorial centres, to residences, or work from their residence to bridge the income gap between what a teacher’s salary can afford and the life we want to provide for our families and ourselves. Think back to your tuition classes, some of which have ended even at 9 pm. Think back to those frantic phone calls where you’ve requested ma’am or sir to please spare extra time as the exams were around the corner and you needed revision. Think back to when you’ve requested for a Saturday evening or a Sunday morning class because that’s when you’re free. But we accommodate your requests, because teaching is not simply an easy job, it’s a responsibility.

What can we do about this situation? What can we do to start getting society to acknowledge the commitment and effort made by teachers? What can we do to get teachers to realize the invaluable contribution they make in our lives? We can start by not saying or supporting statements like – you better study and get good grades otherwise you won’t be able to do anything in life and you’ll land up being a teacher. We can stop questioning people’s choices to be teachers. Instead of telling someone there’s no money in teaching we can allow him or her to find ways and means to follow a career they’re passionate about. We can say thank you to the teachers who have worked with us and let them know that they’ve definitely played an important role in our lives and helped us become who we are.

And there’s so much that we teachers get back in return. Most of the times, I won’t dare say all the times, the children are happy to see us! I remember my kids waiting to walk with me to the bus every afternoon because the little chat at the end of the day was important. Or in my first year as a teacher a nine year old offered me his free pizza coupon as a birthday gift. And no matter how deep the dark circles are or how frizzy the hair is, there’s always some kid who will come by and say, “Ma’am, you look so beautiful.” A young man I taught when he was a young boy still sends me the most heart warming Teacher’s Day messages. And as if to reassure me that I am popular with my students, one of the brats has informed me that if I were to die my funeral would be well attended.

A few years ago I attended a Christmas Eve party and as we sat around the bonfire we introduced ourselves. Someone was an engineer, someone was a banker, another was a lawyer. When it was my turn I said, “I’m a teacher.” For a fraction of a second there was silence, then a guest recalled a teacher from his school days, then someone else shared an anecdote – some inspiring, some comical. And as I sat back soaking in the warmth of the bonfire enjoying the discussion, I thought, even a few decades later we remember those who taught us. Our teachers continue to live on in our stories. How cool is that!

Richa Wahi
Proprietor

Once a year, the WM team meets in Kolkata to conduct offline camps and events for the children, apart from the regular offline and online events. In keeping with the spirit of Word Munchers, we offered specialised communication training through fun camps. During the recent term break, we hosted a series of engaging offline workshops aimed at enhancing children’s skills and providing a fun break from studies. Some of these were Debate and MUN camps, spelling and vocabulary camps, reading and dramatised reading camps, elocution, writing and more! Word Munchers' term break camp focused on specialised communication training, giving students a head start for the upcoming academic year. We believe nothing is more crucial for a child's development than strong communication skills.

"These Kids Can Write" is a collection of writings by our students. The anthology is an annual project that provides a platform to our students to showcase their writings and also encourages them to write more and write better. The book is a compilation of stories, poetries and essays.

This year (2024) would be the 6th edition of the anthology.

Literary Skill Building through Workshops

Junior Classic Series
Age group: 6 years and above
Mode: Hybrid
Word Munchers promotes reading camps where children participate in discussions, reviews, read-aloud sessions and role plays of the books read. The objective is -
• Enriched vocabulary
• Train the children to think creatively
Some of the books that were read and discussed:
The White Fang | The Treasure Island| Tom Sawyer| Around the World in 80 Days

Word Munchers hosted an innovative picnic combining creative learning with fun in January 2023 at Ballygunge.

Students were introduced to renowned authors across the nation. Well- known authors; Madhurima Vidyarthi, Anushka Ravishankar and Vishes Kothari graced the event.

Story telling sessions were also held by Swati Kheria and Kavita Gupta.

Students of Word Munchers showcased their creativity at the opening session of the Bengal Rowing Club Literary Festival. They penned down poetry and adorned a “tree” with their literary creations.          

Charity Bazaar is an annual initiative by Word Munchers. It is a community initiative, where children of all age groups can participate. They have to book their stall. 

Objective

  • Teaches students entrepreneurship skills
  • Raises funds for charitable causes
  • The event boasts of games, handicrafts and food stalls.

(Charity Bazaar 2024 was organised in partnership with Creative Caterpillar and Mirror Workshops.)

A platform to showcase your talent

  • The children read out to an audience.
  • Confidence building
  • Self-expression

Word Munchers students participated in the Open Mic organised in collaboration with Storyteller Bookstore. Kabir Bedi was the chief guest on the occasion of his book launch, “Stories I Must Tell”. The WM students interacted with the actor during the book signing. The event was held on July 19 at the Waypoint Café.

Students of Word Munchers recited poems written by them for Shobha Srinivasan, an award-winning children’s author.  The Open Mic was held on July 26 at Ballygunge.