DR. SWATI POPAT VATS

With more than 35 years of experience, Dr. Swati Popat Vats is founder President of Early Childhood Association and the Association for Preparatory Education and Research- India (www.eca-aper.org). She is also  the President of Podar Education Network (www.podareducation.org) and the Founder Director of Podar Jumbo Kids (www.podarjumbokids.com) , preschool and day care chain in India with more than 500 centres in India  and 2 centres in UAE (Nursery and Teacher Training Institute) . She heads the Teacher training wing at Podar Institute of Education and has been a lead assurer.

She is the Early Years Consultant, Series Editor for the Cambridge International Early Years Program in India and serves on the advisory board of Cambridge University Press and Assessment South Asia advisory Board. Dr. Vats also serves as a Global member of the Think Tank of Kidzania.

Dr. Vats has studied the early childhood policy and curriculum for more than 52 countries and is  instrumental in adapting the Te Whariki curriculum of the government of New Zealand, the EYFS of UK and the number curriculum of Oxford  Numicon, in the curriculums she designs.

She is active in ensuring that people from all walks of life come together,  as she deeply believes that, ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ She mentors and motivates  parents to participate in their child’s learning in every way. Dr. Swati’s goal is to  make changes in the education system, by obliterating stress by  gifting children stress-free learning. To achieve this she has coined a new philosophy ‘KIDUCATION- education from the point of view of the child’s development‘

An advocate for children’s rights, Dr. Vats has worked incessantly to promote developmentally- appropriate curriculum and banning school interviews of children. Her most recent agenda is the pursuit to bring an awareness about child safety be it road  safety or safety of children and adolescents from  sexual abuse and for this she has developed workshops and written two books- ‘When Touch Becomes Trouble’ and ‘The Secret Touch’,  that can help kids, teachers and parents.

As the leader for Asia of the Nature Action Collaborative for Children (NACC) she works tirelessly to ensure that children in India grow up knowing the earth and learning to respect nature right from the start. She is also the National Representative for India at the World Forum Foundation which works for early childhood in 150 countries and whose mission is to promote  delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings.

She has authored the new age fairy tale series that has revolutionized traditional fairy tales and made them more relevant for kids, the titles include-3 Little Pigs Save The Earth, Red Riding Hood And The Wolf That Liked Healthy Food, Goldilocks And The 3 Magic Words and Hansel And Gretel And The Kind Old Lady. She has also created new age versions of rhymes like Humpty Dumpty and others to help children learn about socio-emotional and life skills.

During the Covid pandemic she penned these stories to help children understand, navigate and cope with the Covid Safety Protocols and to reduce their stress about the pandemic–   The New Lion and the Mouse- the mouse teaches the Lion about covid safety, Goldilocks and the 3 Covid Smart Bears and The three Billy Goats Gruff find out why the Troll is angry!

Her recent publications include:

1. Once Upon A Story (co-authored)- a book on Indian educationist Gijubhai Badheka and his Divaswapna method, published by Crossword
2. Yash And Yashika Learn About Coding and Cod And Codie Love To Code– books on teaching children precoding skills with games and activities, published by Scholastic.
3. NEP 2020- From Policy To Practice (co-authored) , published by Early Childhood Association.
4. Metacognition In The Foundational Years (co-authored) , published by Early Childhood Association.
5. A set of 3 story books titled, No! I Am Not An Elephant, No! I Am Not A Kangaroo And No! I Am Not A Takin. The books help children understand about unusual animals and have a set of activities and songs for children, published by Crossword.
6. ‘Why Do Words And Numbers Confuse Jai And Sashi?’, a story book about learning disabilities published by Scholastic.
7. Once Upon a Gift (co-authored)- a book on the father of Kindergarten, Fredrich Froebel and his Kindergarten method.

 Technology and its safe use for young children is also something that is close to her heart, she  trains teachers in using technology as a tool to extend learning and not as a ‘click and blink’ resource.   She helped set up TATASKY’s children’s television activity channel- ACTVE WHIZKIDS, which is a pioneer initiative in involving technology to make learning fun, and effective. She is the founder expert on the world’s first video based parenting website www.born-smart.com that helps parents understand and nurture brain development in the first 1000 days.  She designs projects to help teachers and parents make ‘screens’ an appropriate learning tool for children. Recently she spoke at the University of Verona,  about her work for Gifted and Talented children and how coding in Kindergarten helps children learn through play. She has designed the world’s first analog curriculum for coding in early and primary years.

Dr. Vats has received many awards and accolades like the Gold Award for Child Education from the Governor of Goa,  the Fellowship of Honour from New Zealand Tertiary College and an award from the   Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India for outstanding achievements, transforming lives, dedication to service and immense valuable contributions to society.

Dr. Vats has conducted workshops and trainings for parents and teachers globally on topics like Brain Development, Coding and Robotics, Understanding how children learn and why they fail, Gifted and Talented children, Understanding global curriculums, How to keep children safe from abuse, and many more.

A parenting mentor/guru, an educator, an advocate for child’s rights, a curriculum consultant, school designer, an entrepreneur, a school director, an author, a story teller, a parenting mentor, a teacher… Dr. Vats,  may play many roles but beneath all this is the intrinsic need to give childhood to children in as many ways as possible.