Three months after the seven-week pilot, RLI returned to the school in Chennai. As Dr. Rich walked into the preschool campus, he asked some of the former students to spell words taught in song, dance, theater and art. This is what he encountered.

Here's another demonstration of the “stickiness” of the RICH Learning methods.

This is how we start our day at RICH Learning. These are our Saturday kids - a dozen of the initial preschoolers involved in the Chennai school. Sitting around the children are our first six instructors who started spin-off schools in Nagaland, Siliguri, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kothaguda.

As soon as the music kicks in we get moving! After 20 minutes of jumping and singing and having a good time, a child’s brain is at maximum attention.

Jumping and dancing before learning is great for old brains and bodies, too. It gives the brain oxygen (to make it attentive), glucose (to make it retentive) and a brain fertilizer called BDNF (to build more brain cells, more connections on the ends of existing brain cells, and more receptors on the connections). Exercise also washes away the toxic stress hormone Cortisol, which impedes learning.

Grand Unit Finale

The "Final Test" for every seven-week Unit of RICH Learning is a stage production. Children showcase what they have learned to their parents, family and community. This is what brain-based learning on arts-based platforms looks like.