School-ready, the gentle way — no tears, no rote.
I'm a pre-primary teacher in Kochi — 13 years with 2 to 6 year olds. I run small phonics and school-readiness classes (max 8 children), and help parents through the admission-interview season without turning toddlers into flashcard machines.
- 9:30Hello song & weather chartAmmu is today's weather helper
- 9:50Phonics: the "s" soundsand tray tracing, sound basket
- 10:20Snack & wash-up practiceopening our own tiffin boxes
- 10:45Paper-plate snail craftscissor grip practice, no "perfect" snails
- 11:15Story mat: "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"then home, with one sticker each
The right skill at the right age
Pushing a 3-year-old to write is how children learn to hate school before they start it. Here's what each age is actually ready for.
Hands, words & goodbyes
- Separating from parents without distress — slowly, over weeks
- Rhymes, naming things, two-word requests
- Pouring, stacking, scribbling — the muscles before the pencil
- Sitting in a circle for five whole minutes
Sounds, scissors & sharing
- Phonics sounds (not letter names first) through games
- Number sense to 10 with objects, not chanting
- Scissor grip, tracing in sand, then crayons
- Waiting for a turn — the hardest syllabus of all
Blending, writing & confidence
- Blending sounds into words — c-a-t becomes cat, joyfully
- Writing patterns → letters → own name
- Simple addition stories with beads and blocks
- Speaking up: news time, show-and-tell, interview practice
Classes at my home studio, Panampilly Nagar
Max 8 children per batch. Fees include all materials. First week is a paid trial — leave anytime in week one and the rest is refunded.
Playgroup mornings
- Mon–Fri, 9:30–11:30 AM
- Parent stays nearby for the first 2 weeks
- Rhymes, sensory play, first friendships
- Friday note home + monthly parent chat
Phonics & readiness
- 3 evenings a week, 4:30–6:00 PM
- Jolly Phonics-based, multi-sensory
- Number sense with real objects
- Termly one-page progress note (no marks, no ranks)
Admission-interview prep
- For big-school KG/Class 1 interviews
- Conversation practice, not scripted answers
- One parent-prep session included
- I'll tell you honestly if your child doesn't need this
Sibling discount 15% · one sponsored seat per batch for families who can't pay — ask quietly, it's handled quietly.
What a class actually looks like
Ninety minutes, phonics batch. It looks like play. Every minute of it is planned.
Arrival & settling ritual
Shoes on the rack, name card on the board, one hello each. Ritual is what makes a child feel safe enough to learn.
Circle time & sound of the day
A song, the weather chart, and today's phonics sound introduced with objects from the sound basket — s for spoon, sock, stone.
Table work, three stations
Sand-tray tracing, playdough letters, picture-sound matching. Children rotate; nobody sits still for 20 minutes because nobody can.
Free play (yes, on purpose)
Blocks and pretend-kitchen. This is where I watch sharing, language and grip — my real assessment happens here.
Story mat & number game
One picture book read properly — voices and all — then a counting game that hides addition inside it.
Pack up & one sticker
Children pack their own bags. One sticker each, always — for coming, not for winning.
Thirteen years of tiny chairs
In my first month as a nursery assistant in 2013, a boy named Adhil cried every single morning for three weeks. The senior teacher told me to ignore it — "they all stop eventually". I didn't ignore it. I sat with him at the door every morning until the door stopped being scary. He stopped crying in week four; his mother cried instead.
That's still my method. I've taught playgroup to UKG at two schools in Kochi, trained in Montessori methods, and now run small batches from my home studio — because eight children get what thirty never can.
"A child who feels safe will learn everything. A child who doesn't will learn nothing — beautifully disguised as rote."
Asked at every first meeting
"My child cries at drop-off. Should we wait another year?"
Usually no — crying at goodbye is normal and passes with a proper settling routine. We do short days first, and a parent stays nearby for two weeks. If after a month your child is still distressed, I'll tell you honestly to pause. That has happened twice in 13 years.
"The school next door teaches writing at 3. Are we falling behind?"
A 3-year-old's hand bones aren't ready for sustained writing — early forcing shows up later as bad grip and hatred of homework. Your child will write at 4.5 and overtake the early starters by Class 1. I can show you the research at the visit.
"Will you prepare my child for the big-school interview?"
Yes — as conversation practice, not memorised answers. Schools can smell a coached child instantly. A child who can talk about their own drawing does better than one who recites twenty flashcards.
"How will I know what's happening in class?"
A one-line note every Friday, a photo or two on the parents' group each week, and a proper 20-minute chat every term. No daily homework diary — they're four.
Experience & training
Experience
Home studio — phonics & readiness batches
Five batches a week, max 8 children each. Waitlist most terms; I won't add a ninth chair.
Pre-primary teacher (LKG, then UKG lead)
Class of 28. Rewrote the UKG phonics plan; it's still in use.
Nursery assistant → teacher
Where Adhil taught me more than my diploma did.
Education & training
Nursery Teacher Training (NTT) Diploma
With a B.A. in Malayalam literature before it — stories are my raw material.
Montessori orientation course
Practical life & sensorial materials; my classroom borrows heavily from it.
Jolly Phonics teacher training
Refreshed 2023. Multi-sensory phonics is the backbone of my readiness batches.
Small people, big changes
My daughter went from hiding behind my leg to conducting the hello song. The interview at her new school lasted five minutes — she chatted the whole way through.
Sunita miss told us NOT to join her interview-prep batch — said our son didn't need it. Who says no to fees? That's when we knew she was the real thing.
The Friday notes are one line but they're the right line. "Ammu shared her crayons today without being asked." I saved every one of them.
Things I keep telling worried parents
Sounds before letter names: why "sss" beats "ess"
The one phonics switch that makes blending click months earlier — and how to do it at home.
April 2026 · 3 minThe 15-minute bedtime story is the whole syllabus
Vocabulary, attention, empathy, print-awareness — one picture book a night does more than any app.
February 2026 · 5 minAdmission interviews: what schools are actually checking
Hint: it's not the alphabet. What KG interviewers look for, from teachers who've sat on that side of the table.
Book the free visit hour
Bring your child on a Saturday morning. They play, you watch, we talk. No forms, no fees, no decision on the spot.
Lovely — see you Saturday?
I'll WhatsApp you by tomorrow evening with the next visit-hour date and what to bring (nothing, mostly).