THE STORY BEHIND PLAYING WITH PAINTI

As a mom of two young Sikh boys, I've often wondered how I will pass on our rich heritage of the Panjabi language while living in Canada. It was never a question of 'if', but the challenge of 'how'. When my older son started school, he almost immediately switched to speaking English. There was something close to my heart that was lost, and I partly felt like I had failed him. I know that the connection to language is imperative if we want our children to build deep connections to Sikhi and Gurmat values. 
Thats when my expertise as an educator and my earnest efforts as a mom kicked in. There was no way my four year old was going to sit at a table and quietly trace the Gurmukhi letters in a Panjabi kaida. So, Playing With Painti was born as I researched the latest approaches to literacy and trends in the classrooms. Engaging kids with a variety of materials and understanding their nature of play lead me to creating a completely unique way of teaching our next generation the language of our ancestors, Panjabi.