Foundational Stage
The Foundation Stage is for children of the age 3 to 8.
Children start schooling in the
Foundational Stage. The design is based on the principles of Early Childhood Care and
Education (ECCE).
ECCE ideally consists of flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play-based, activity-based, and
inquiry-based learning, comprising of alphabets, languages, numbers, counting, colours,
shapes, indoor and outdoor play, puzzles and logical thinking, problem-solving, drawing,
painting and other visual art, craft, drama and puppetry, music and movement. It also
includes a focus on developing social capacities, sensitivity, good behaviour, courtesy,
ethics, personal and public cleanliness, teamwork, and cooperation. The overall aim of
ECCE will be to attain optimal outcomes in the domains of: physical and motor development,
cognitive development, socio-emotional-ethical development, cultural/artistic development,
and the development of communication and early language, litera- cy, and numeracy.” [NEP
2020, 1.2]
The Foundational Stage bridges the divide between the home environment of the child and
the formal school environment. It develops capacities in Foundational Literacy and
Numeracy that enables the student to learn all other subject areas. In addition to these
capacities, it develops valuable dispositions for active learning and would enable the
students to become engaged learners in formal school environments. Play and exploration
are the natural modes through which children learn and the Foundational Stage utilizes
these modes to promote the valuable capacities and dispositions.
