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23Mar2021

Why Brain Gym exercises for children?

The simplest and fun way to engage young children and reap all the best of benefits for their all round development is to engage them in Brain-gym exercises. In order to target certain areas of the brain or to understand their impact on children’s learning is the main aim of teaching brain gym exercises to children right from a young age. We often hear parents complaining about their children that they have become fidgety, throw tantrums, cannot follow teacher directions, cannot concentrate on tasks, has speech problems and so on.

This is a result of the children getting exposed to a lot of powerful outside distractions such as :

1) Loud background music of films, cartoons, video games and more.
2) Over stimulation- interacting with many adults who continuously try to keep giving information thinking that this will help the child understand things better and earlier.
3) Children getting used as entertainment objects by adults knowingly or unknowingly. Teaching them inappropriate dance movements, role-modeling adult dialogues and songs in front of them.

These are a few examples. The list is really long.

Instead if we can give them enough time to explore things that are child friendly and give scope to their imagination and creativity they will flourish far better in their lives. Simple play things like a ball, a doll, some newspapers, craft papers, glue and some free space makes them very happy as they are now in charge of bringing to reality what is going on in their minds.

Importance of physical and brain exercises is the best gift we can give our kids. Once they get into a routine they like  and follow it forever.

Teaching them proper physical and brain exercises will make them healthy, wealthy and wise. In this world of anxiety and stress these exercises are a real boon. They give relaxation, calmness and thus keeps your brain active and fog-free. Using props such as grugru belts, scarves, flash-lights and caps makes it even more exciting as they focus on the activities even better.

In a study they have given the exact relation of the target areas and the areas of education they address.

Target: Areas of the
brain.

Target: Area of
Education

Laterality

Auditory, taking notes,
speech, retention, critical thinking, problem solving,
creativity

Centering

Focus, attention, fidgeting, following directions, listening to the teacher, executive functioning

Focus

Anxiety, anxiousness,
tantrums, meltdowns,
sensory overload, stress

2021
25Feb2020

Hobbies

Does the word ‘Hobbies’ sound familiar to you? Did you have a hobby when you were a child? Do you still pursue your hobby? hobbies? In my school days I remember children collected stamps, stones, empty match-box cartons, greeting cards, broken bangles, bus tickets, coins, rocks, shells and conches, photos of cricketers in newspapers and magazines and more. Some children involved in drawing and painting while some did simple cooking with help of their mothers. 85% people will agree that they did have a hobby when they were kids but they have lost it, as they got busy and engaged with adulthood. Why is it so? Is there something that can be done to pass on this gift of developing a hobby to our young children? The answer is YES.The dictionary meaning of hobby is- An activity that you do for pleasure when you are not working. We often talk about how busy our day has become. Usually we look forward to weekends and think about relaxing and following up some hobby. But due to some or the other reasons cannot find time for the hobbies. Children of today are unconsciously passed on the stress and pressures by parents due to the hectic life they lead. They are burdened with academics and competitions at this tender age. At times they aren’t even ready for this. But there is no time to understand them. They are just dragged into this madness. Th technology has added to this in the sense that it has got a negative impact on their lives. They have become passive, inactive, as they just sit and watch shows on the gadgets instead of actively doing things physically by themselves. Introducing them to a hobby will help them in a number of ways. They will get a chance to mingle with unknown peers and make friends, bring them closer to nature, give them a sense of responsibility and ownership, a platform to spark and unfold their creativity and interests, gather long lasting knowledge and information, gain first hand experiences, spike their curiosity thus shaping their personality. These children will certainly develop confidence, become independent and self- reliant. They will develop thinking skills, team spirit, compassion and patience and various other life skills that are the essential virtues of adult life. Not to forget that they will engage themselves positively and develop their own attention span along with good concentration. Parents of course play a very important and an alert role in this. They have to give them this exposure intentionally. They have to take them to explore interesting places like museums, art galleries, exhibitions, plays and concerts, fort climbing, etc. They also have to have a keen eye on the interests the child shows and pick up the clue to further provide them necessary help. Summer holidays are round the corner. Don’t you think it is the best time to get them set for this? Get set and Go!
Happy Hobbying!

2020
15Jan2020

Education Vs Academics

Education and Academics are two key words of today especially as children begin schooling. Various updates about new pedagogy used by different schools and comparison of schools on social media and internet, based on a variety of criteria, really add to the dilemma about what is the right thing to do? Which is a better option for school? We first need to understand the individual meaning of each of these words ‘Education’ and ‘Academics’ in depth. We will then understand that they are inseparable, essential elements of a child’s early years. Looking at the past few decades the changes in society have been tremendously varied. Skill sets that we used to focus upon when we were at school and that we need or use today have changed a lot. Similarly if we think about 20 years from today when preschoolers of today are going to be entering the professional world, choosing careers, the skill sets needed have to be taken care of today. This implies that a lot of thinking has to go into the process of teaching-learning /schooling so as to help these children make appropriate choices and pursue the careers they wish for, smoothly. Our current education system revolves around the 3 R’s, a very traditional way of education. The need of the time is to strike a balance between the 3 R’s and all round development of the child. His IQ and EQ has to be taken care of equally. This is where we have to focus on understanding what is Academics and what is Education and how important is blending them together. We have often heard that Early years- 0 to 5 yrs are very important with respect to the child’s future. They certainly are. However, what we get to see is parents are so over protective about the kids that they do not allow the children freedom to explore their environment on their own, under adult supervision. They are pampered with love and material things, which instead of making them active are making children passive, possessive and dependent. Schools feel that the education that they provide has to be the best academic course that can be. Every activity has been designed planned in a way where the end product is already predicted. It is stereotype teacher led process. Unless there is freedom of expression to each child while he uses the art material and the readiness to accept and understand the child’s creation, creativity cannot be fostered. Creativity is a key skill for the 21 st century and has to be an integral part of Education. General Knowledge, Value Education, Social Service cannot become academic subjects that are graded for school record purpose, using question papers. They have to be practical oriented and scored according to children’s performance. Opportunities to work in the society through various activities such as surveys, conducting interviews, volunteering for social cause are very important. This is education at large. Academics that is generally known as numbers and alphabets is absolutely essential but not to be overtly given the importance. 

There are 2 academic trends colliding here-

1. we’re expecting more from kids earlier, and

2. we’re starting them earlier.

Inspite of starting early with these academic skills we find that 90% children struggle in their Primary classes with numbers and alphabets be it reading or writing. Blending the right percentage of academics and education in the broader sense as discussed in the above content, is the key to success for these 21 st Century kids

2020
18Dec2019

Galaxy Treasures

The monthly theme for October-November was Galaxy Treasures.

This included activities related to space. Children enjoyed making their own galaxies in small water bottles. They experienced Star Gazing and were enthralled to see how beautiful the moon looks. They could see the Saturn rings in real, which usually are only available to see in the books and remain imaginary.

In the Sun Dial activity they saw how the shadow of the sun moves throughout the day and marked timings on their Sun Dial to make their own clock.

Further to the experience with the Sun, children saw a demo of Solar Cooker. They were briefed about the construction and use of a solar cooker. They then got to make their own Solar cookers using simple material such as shoe box, tinted black paper, silver foil and a wrap paper.

Lastly children got to experience the experiments of refraction of light with a prism and crystallization of sugar and salt using sunlight.

Blogs
16Dec2019

Competitions Yes or No

It is commonly said that this is the age of competitions. The word Competition is derived from the word ‘ competing’- usually for supremacy, winning, getting a prize. When can this be possible? Only when you are ready for the act that is going to be performed by a group where you are one among many trying to be the best, the winner, the supreme! Now when this comes to young children, do they really understand what the competition is? Are they really ready to compete? Is it really apt to get children as young as 3-8 years into competitions? Are they really independent and creative in what they are doing for the competition? Simple examples such as a fancy dress competition or mad hats competition, how much is actually the child’s role in it? Certain gestures or dialogues are given to the children and they enact what is practiced. How can that be considered for competition? The child who is smart or trained well receives the prize. There are so many side effects of competitions for these children of a tender age. At times the waiting time, the costumes they are made to wear, the long hours of rehearsals, is quite frustrating for them. Adults take a lot of enjoyment by watching these tiny performers, but who knows the frustration they have. They cannot speak for themselves. I always compare these type of children’s competitions with the cockfights and bullfights organized for the pleasure of adults. Have you ever watched children performing a ‘shringarik lavani’ in a dance competition? They do not even know the meaning of the lyrics and the actions given to them. But they perform what is told to them. They get a huge applaud for the performance. Are there competitions of activities that are related to the children’s interest, capacities, capabilities?  Most of the competitions are based on adult selected topics. A very simple thought about the readiness of children is very important when we talk about competitions but often ignored.  Children need to be given enough time to explore their environment, use art material, enjoy free play, listen to kid songs (not nursery rhymes), time to make their own poems, own artifacts? We want our children to be all-rounders and it is very important to give them enough exposure to understand and make choices of their interest. If we want them to sing, dance, play instruments, shine in sports, be toppers in academics we have to let them listen to good music, watch authentic dance and acting shows, read books, poems, watch games. Discuss the highlights with them and give them opportunities to show what they can do. This will build their confidence and they will be much prepared for the competitions. The major concern about today’s competitions is the adult world is not only creating stereotypes but also killing children’s natural creativity and innocence. Have you ever watched the Master Chef Junior Competition? I bet you will understand the real meaning of a competition. Competitions can be healthy and fair only when children have acquired the necessary skills and proficiency. Giving them a feeling of stardom at a tender age will not only hamper their development but also create an unhealthy ego and pride in them. This might also restrict their further growth and instinct of learning more. They are at a growing age and they should only be given exposure to try their hands out until they show proficiency in doing anything. These days it has become a fashion to conduct competitions and in the end declare all participants as winners. This is not the right way to conduct competitions. We need to have patience until children attain maturity to understand the real meaning of competition and then face it. They are so innocent that they do not even understand if they don’t win, it is the parents who get upset. Let us give our children the exposure and choice to select the activities of their interest and to develop the necessary skills before they enter a competition and compete.

Blogs
16Dec2019

Competitions Yes or No

It is commonly said that this is the age of competitions. The word Competition is derived from the word ‘ competing’- usually for supremacy, winning, getting a prize.

When can this be possible? Only when you are ready for the act that is going to be performed by a group where you are one among many trying to be the best, the winner, the supreme!

Now when this comes to young children, do they really understand what the competition is? Are they really ready to compete?

Is it really apt to get children as young as 3-8 years into competitions?

Are they really independent and creative in what they are doing for the competition?

Simple examples such as a fancy dress competition or mad hats competition, how much is actually the child’s role in it? Certain gestures or dialogues are given to the children and they enact what is practiced. How can that be considered for competition? The child who is smart or trained well receives the prize.

There are so many side effects of competitions for these children of a tender age. At times the waiting time, the costumes they are made to wear, the long hours of rehearsals, is quite frustrating for them. Adults take a lot of enjoyment by watching these tiny performers, but who knows the frustration they have. They cannot speak for themselves.

I always compare these type of children’s competitions with the cockfights and bullfights organized for the pleasure of adults.

Have you ever watched children performing a ‘shringarik lavani’ in a dance competition? They do not even know the meaning of the lyrics and the actions given to them. But they perform what is told to them. They get a huge applaud for the performance.

Are there competitions of activities that are related to the children’s interest, capacities, capabilities?  Most of the competitions are based on adult selected topics.

A very simple thought about the readiness of children is very important when we talk about competitions but often ignored.  Children need to be given enough time to explore their environment, use art material, enjoy free play, listen to kid songs (not nursery rhymes), time to make their own poems, own artifacts? We want our children to be all-rounders and it is very important to give them enough exposure to understand and make choices of their interest. If we want them to sing, dance, play instruments, shine in sports, be toppers in academics we have to let them listen to good music, watch authentic dance and acting shows, read books, poems, watch games. Discuss the highlights with them and give them opportunities to show what they can do. This will build their confidence and they will be much prepared for the competitions.

The major concern about today’s competitions is the adult world is not only creating stereotypes but also killing children’s natural creativity and innocence.

Have you ever watched the Master Chef Junior Competition? I bet you will understand the real meaning of a competition.

Competitions can be healthy and fair only when children have acquired the necessary skills and proficiency. Giving them a feeling of stardom at a tender age will not only hamper their development but also create an unhealthy ego and pride in them. This might also restrict their further growth and instinct of learning more. They are at a growing age and they should only be given exposure to try their hands out until they show proficiency in doing anything.

These days it has become a fashion to conduct competitions and in the end declare all participants as winners. This is not the right way to conduct competitions. We need to have patience until children attain maturity to understand the real meaning of competition and then face it. They are so innocent that they do not even understand if they don’t win, it is the parents who get upset.

Let us give our children the exposure and choice to select the activities of their interest and to develop the necessary skills before they enter a competition and compete.

2019
9Nov2019

The Mall Generation

When I was a Primary teacher in one of the renowned schools here in Pune, we used to ask children to write essays. The topics varied according to the grades such as My mother, My Father- for Grade 1, My School, My Teacher- For Grade 2 and so on. For Grade 4 we had given a topic, ‘How I spent my weekend?’ As I started reading I figured out that most of the children wrote about either going for a movie, dinner in a restaurant or in a Mall, which was the greatest attraction of the time. The another common activity they mentioned was playing with toys. As I discussed this with my co-teacher who taught the other class, she too had similar responses. At that time we did not think anything further on that.

But today when I am writing a blog about Parenting and how to address children related issues; this incident came to my mind prominently. As children we were taken to the grocery shop, vegetable market, zoo which was in the heart of the city,( we were the fortunate Punekars), hill tops and parks where we could run and play and enjoy to our heart’s content. We also got to get some treats such as bhel, pani puri and occassionaly a kulfi or ice cream. Things started changing so fast in the last 2 decades that we did not even notice the changes in the children’s world that is impacting not only their lives at this moment but is going to have a huge impact on the society at large.

Parents find it better to take children to Malls over weekends for various reasons-

  1. The latest attraction and buzz 
  2. Safe environment
  3. The whole family gets to do activities of their interests
  4. Comfortable environment
  5. Engaging displays
  6. Play zones for kids
  7. Food courts 
  8. Discount offers
  9. Variety of products to select from

Coming to the point of view from building childhood- do these experiences really add any value to the child’s knowledge, value to the child’s time, his self-development, social and cognitive development? And at what cost?

Instead if children get an opportunity to do activities where they can get real life experiences and hands on activities to do, they will become more productive and smart. They will become more responsible as adults and have the right kind of maturity per age. The practical knowledge that they gain will make them confident individuals. This will all result into a society of responsible and sensible citizens. We will get to see a disciplined and well-behaved society, which will be in harmony.

What are the weekend activities we can currently do with kids-

  1. Take them to historical places and initiate simple conversations about history- historical characters, names of warriors, places, etc
  2. Join activity clubs which cater to theme based activities over weekends
  3. Kids cooking activity such as involving kids for Sunday b’fast/dinner
  4. Reading night play date. Involving your child’s friends to bring a story book to read and have activities build around 
  5. Engage children in some home gardening activities
  6. Take children for field trips to the vegetable market, dentist, art studio

Time to bring awareness amongst the adults and act accordingly to save the coming generation and generations there after.

2019
11Oct2019

Myths of Schooling

We all know that formal education begins in school. In order to begin this formal education there are needs those form a base for this formal learning to begin. This base is expected to be built right from the child’s birth until he is admitted to school. There are studies, which have proved that right from conception a child can be groomed in various ways. But that is another subject that can be addressed separately.

The first three years are the crucial years of every child’s life where the child achieves his basic developmental benchmarks. These need to be understood and taken care of with utmost priority by the parents. The child needs to be prepared (pre-requisitions of entering school) to enter this new environment. He needs to be empowered and supported to develop the competency of various skills before he goes to school. The awareness of developmental milestones and child psychology play a very important role in this.

It is very interesting to see how these children and the parents change their focus and attention as well as expectations from the child, the school as well as the teacher, as they start attending school. The child is expected to bid goodbye to the parents with a smiley face on the very first day. Yes, this is possible only if the child is having the awareness of what is coming up for him, in a very positive manner. The re-assurance of the parents that they will be seeing him in a short time is very important emotional cue that the child needs to have couple of days prior to attending school. Reading books related to separation anxiety and a positive talk about school is highly helpful.

Typically parents with children who are self-centered complain that the child does not want to go to school or complains about his teacher if she tries to discipline him. School is the first place where the child is beginning his lessons of healthy socialization. The need to share, taking turns, empathy, love and care for peers and teachers is very important at this age. The teachers are doing this job diligently and parents need to understand this and co-operate. Sharing at school but being possessive with belongings at home is commonly seen in these small children. Consistency about applying the rule of sharing has to be applied each time the child comes across such situations. This will build in the quality of sharing in the child. The school is not wholly responsible for this.

Same is the case of independence. Parents usually feed their children and expect teachers to do so. In a class of 20 to 30 children this is totally impossible. The child sits down helpless, hoping someone to come feed him. The teacher tries to inculcate the habit of feeding himself independently but if this is not supported at home, the child will find it very difficult to develop this habit of independent eating. 

Basically, Early Childhood Education has to focus on areas of development that help the child prepare for his formal education that begins in the Primary school. Academics have to be formally started only at the age of 6 years. This is because the child has to be fully prepared for the Primary education.

Skill sets such as a well-developed attention span, good eye-hand co-ordination, the pincer grip (pencil grip), age specific patience, empathy, sharing and caring, phonemic awareness, etc. Basically the shift from 3 R’s(Reading, Writing and Arithmatic) to 4 C’s to begin with( creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration) is the key to success for these 21st Century kids.

Parents and schools need to take a serious note of this.

2019
10Sep2019

Helping your child build independence-3

‘Confident kids are competent kids’

In my last blog, we saw the chores we can engage young children in. We will now take a look at what are the important things we need to remember in order to engage them meaningfully and consistently.

  1. Awareness- Parents need to develop the awareness to imbibe the habit of independence in children and letting them do small day-to-day chores. This will build self-confidence in them along with dignity of labor. These also have to be gender neutral.
    Eg- Getting their own plate or cup and putting it away after use, helping in setting up the dinner table.
  2. Consistency- Providing children a consistent opportunity to practice self-independence in day-to-day activities is very important.Children need to follow a certain activity every single day as a part of their routine to make it a permanent habit.
    Eg-Cleaning up their room by putting away used toys or material before leaving the room.
  3. Achievable and Age Appropriate goals- The tasks set up for children should be age appropriate and achievable. They should not be overwhelmed or feel the fear of failure while attempting the task given to them.
    Eg- Watering the plants with a can, drying washed utensils, re-filling groceries in a jar.
  4. Positive reinforcement- Children should be motivated by positive reinforcement on attempting and accomplishing the independent tasks given to them.
    Eg- making positive remarks about the work done by children using phrases such as “ I can see you are a very good helper”, “Thank you for helping me out in bringing the plates and glasses to the dining table”
  5. Encouragement- Consistent encouraging words will help children remain focused and accomplished doing the assigned tasks. In case you see that the child is about to give up on a task use encouraging words.
    Eg- using words such as ‘you are almost there’, ‘you can do it’, ‘cannot wait to see you finish’.
  6. Firmness- Parents(adults) have to be firm themselves. Seeing their children struggle or even fail at times make parents give up on their expectations and patience and they rush in for help. Accepting the struggle and giving children the necessary time to succeed is what parents need to understand. This resistance to tasks might also result in unpleasant interactions; fury and throwing fits and emotional mellow down can be seen at times, but parents should not give up.
    Eg- Using words such as “I am proud of the hard work you are putting in”, “Its ok even if you have to do it again”, “You need to give it a try and I am sure you will succeed”.
  7. Clear expectations- Parents have to have a clear idea about what are the expected outcomes of the tasks given to their children. The same need to be communicated to the children before they start the task and intermittent reminders are equally necessary for successful outcome.Eg- “I expect you to keep your shoes and school bag in the assigned place properly every day”.

Developing a routine for the house will help children develop a system and discipline by themselves. This will have an everlasting impact on their lives. Let us take a step towards making our children confident and competent!

2019
10Sep2019

Helping your child build independence-2

 ‘Self help is the best help’.

Early years independence is a crucial part of our adult life. Do we really care to make our children independent? It is often seen that adults conveniently want their children to be independent. They do not have enough time and patience to give their children. So they do things for their children and this often ends up into dependency at the kids end. Children tend to get lazy, lack motivation, inability to do things on their own, lack confidence, develop fear of failure, develop anxiety, throw temper tantrums, become demanding or even socially non adjustable.

Being successful in fulfilling one’s needs makes an individual confident and aspiring. They look forward to adventures positively without fear. They are the best risk-takers.

Dependency these days comes out of the insecurity parents have about losing the child’s love and affection. Secondly, some of the parents also think that since they had to share parents time with other siblings, they did not get as pampering as they should have got if they were their parents only child. Hence they want to do everything for their kids. They forget the most important thing that since they got a chance to do things on there own they are at a benefit at this moment. Whereas if their child gets used to their help, he will always be dependent on them and will not develop his self-confidence or may develop laziness or can even become demanding.

Getting into the habit of helping themselves or doing things independently helps children to move ahead faster in all they do. Earlier the better.

Kids Who Do Chores Grow Up To Be More Successful & Happier Adults

Few examples of what are the tasks that we can assign to children for the development of independence in the early years.

2.5-3 years

  1. Starting to feed themselves independently with a spoon or hands,
  2. Holding their milk cups
  3. Keeping away (handing to adults) their cup, plate
  4. Zip and unzip their coats
  5. Wearing underpants, shirt or frock
  6. Getting their shoes to an adult to put them on and put them back in place once removed.

3-4 years

  1. Feeding themselves with spoon or hand
  2. Helping setting the table for dinner
  3. Helping in cleaning up after dinner
  4. Wearing their own clothes including buttoning, zipping
  5. Packing and unpacking their school bags
  6. Making a small snack eg- assembling a sandwich
  7. Keeping the school bag, shoes and socks in the appropriate places
  8. Watering plants, cleaning weeds
  9. Unpacking grocery
  10. Cleaning veggies eg- peeling peas, cleaning coriander
  11. Brushing teeth and bathing

4-5 years

  1. Feeding themselves independently
  2. Helping in the kitchen with cleaning veggies, making a salad, setting the dinner table, cleaning after dinner etc
  3. Sleep independently
  4. Using toilet independently
  5. Tiding up their room and arranging toys
  6. Manage a sleepover at a friend’s house/grandparents house
  7. Attending overnight camps
  8. Staying alone at home for a period of time
  9. Interacting with strangers
  10. Taking care of pets
  11. Keeping the trash cans for collection
  12. Putting their beds
  13. Washing the car
  14. Scrubbing doors and windows

Regular involvement of children in chores will help develop INDEPENDENCE along with-

  1. Develop sense of self dignity
  2. Develop sense of belongingness
  3. Develop sense of responsibility
  4. Develop confidence
  5. Develop awareness of work ethic
  6. Develop ability to work together

For a bright and healthy future for a healthy Nation

Let us make it a fun way by making a chart where they earn points which fetch them a prize such as a book, a field trip or a special healthy treat, visit to a friend, etc.

Let your imagination roll and enlist a few tasks that you would like to start with to initiate independence in your child. Do share what you are doing already or have started after reading this blog.

To be Continued…………

2019
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