Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Nursery Portfolio Day..
Today we went for the Portfolio of Nursery!!
All new experience for me. During our times there was nothing like this, wasn't sure if De will be able to explain what all he did in the class all through the year. (for him Jan-June)..
Was surprised he could remember everything!
It was AMAZING to see that, he has actually DONE so much work... within 2 min he finished showing us everything he did.. and took me more than 15 min to recollect and write them down on notes lol...
Lots of effort has gone into all this... :-)
No wonder she used to lose patience so often... with more than 15 similar kids around..
The most interesting thing I noticed. - Story telling
There were few pictures on a A4 sheet and the children were asked to write a story. Basically they wrote a few alphabets and scribbled. Then teacher asked them what they wrote. Here's what he said -
"Dev is going to Dusseldorf to get chocolate in this space ship(he drew something in the shape of a rocket). Dev is driving the spaceship..."
ahh I again forgot whatelse was there..
shall add up when I recollect.. :)
1 more topic - building where they made their HOMES (cut out triangles, squares, rectangles etc)
Dev - playing, eating..
Mama - sitting
Papa - cooking - lol - grrrrr... this has never happened - Papa does "sitting" & Mama cooking..
Good Lord what picture he is giving the world about his family.. :-P
He was very enthusiastic about showing the changing seasons.
There was painting of tress, with green leaves, yellow-orange leaves, no leaves
and also pictures of children out in the snow & green grass in all the season.
All new experience for me. During our times there was nothing like this, wasn't sure if De will be able to explain what all he did in the class all through the year. (for him Jan-June)..
Was surprised he could remember everything!
It was AMAZING to see that, he has actually DONE so much work... within 2 min he finished showing us everything he did.. and took me more than 15 min to recollect and write them down on notes lol...
Lots of effort has gone into all this... :-)
No wonder she used to lose patience so often... with more than 15 similar kids around..
The most interesting thing I noticed. - Story telling
There were few pictures on a A4 sheet and the children were asked to write a story. Basically they wrote a few alphabets and scribbled. Then teacher asked them what they wrote. Here's what he said -
"Dev is going to Dusseldorf to get chocolate in this space ship(he drew something in the shape of a rocket). Dev is driving the spaceship..."
ahh I again forgot whatelse was there..
shall add up when I recollect.. :)
1 more topic - building where they made their HOMES (cut out triangles, squares, rectangles etc)
Dev - playing, eating..
Mama - sitting
Papa - cooking - lol - grrrrr... this has never happened - Papa does "sitting" & Mama cooking..
Good Lord what picture he is giving the world about his family.. :-P
He loved showing different home:
Bear lives in the Cave, Birds live in the Nest, Spider live in the Web, Bee live in the Hive, Dev lives in Home.. :-)
He was very enthusiastic about showing the changing seasons.
There was painting of tress, with green leaves, yellow-orange leaves, no leaves
and also pictures of children out in the snow & green grass in all the season.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Revisiting - Home Remedies
Is this true ?
- Drinking fresh tomato juice can help regenerate damaged liver.
- Cabbages are richer in Vitamin C than oranges.
- Vitamin C in guava is five times more than in an orange.
- Many of us avoid eating nuts for fear of weight gain. Such fears are groundless. In fact, people who consume nuts at least twice in a week are much less likely to gain weight than those who almost never eat nuts.
- Application of ginger juice on the navel provides relief from loose motion.
- Pouring ritha (soapnut) water in the nostrils provides relief from jaundice.
Home Remedies
Friday, June 18, 2010
Teacher - student - school post - revisited...
After all the self-analysis and speaking repetitively both with my child and his school faculties (staff, teacher, principal & also parents from different countries); most of the feedback and response came as clear indication that there wasn't a problem for which I should be so concerned. My child is like any other boy of his age and growing up naturally with all his new pranks to keep me alert all the time.
Coming back to what I had written in my earlier posts:
http://devacharyamenon.blogspot.com/2010/06/teachers-pet-is-that-you.html
http://devacharyamenon.blogspot.com/2010/06/view-of-educationist-regarding-india.html
Teacher's pet - is that you ?
I understand that there are various methodology of educating children and it varies from teacher to teacher as well student to student. Not all students respond to instructions in similar way. It does not necessarily mean that do not follow them or they are not obedient, but given a child of 3-4 yrs. their area of interest and "mood" varies from time-to-time
As, far my child is concerned, I know he does not like to be ordered or commanded to do anything. He gets more stubborn if he is not spoken poliently and if we show anger or raise our voice. Thats what concerned me in the earlier posts, he was getting more stubborn to prove he is a "bad boy".
It was a phase and has gone past now. As per his teacher, sometimes students react very positively when you praise others infront of him and hence try to improve. Ignoring a child and giving "stickers/gifts" as a token of appreciation to them, helps him to do the activities he otherwise is not willing to do. This also increases the competitive spirit. Hence, all these extra efforts were to make Dev sit down to writting activity. Thats the thing he does not like to do sitting at a place.
Regarding the colour of skin:
This kind of discussion in there amongst the students in all the class. A parent of Grade 2 once told me, "Teachers do not speak about this. It's the student who discuss. The Indian girl wants to be reborn as a girl with blond hair and white skin. One of her other friend wants a dusky skin with black hair. These are just their fantasy."
After hearing this I left the dicussion there. And thought it needs some more time for me to conclude anything. Moreover, he will be going to a new class from August. A new teacher and new class with new things to learn might just erase a few thoughts from his mind.
View of an educationist regarding Indian Education System:
I agree to most of the things told here. It's good or bad cannot be really judged if you do not consider India as a whole. The system which we follow in India is best suited for the given time, and considering the rising population.
Every statistic has told us that by 2012 India will be the youngest nation. Hence, the students fighting for a seat in a prestigious college for any professional degree will be enormous compared to our generation.
Given this situation, the child has to know to fight from a very young age if he has to succeed in his profession or career. Memorising and Pushing nature is a product of this, which in my opinion is nothing to be ashamed about.
Inspite of so many regional languages, many of us choose to visit a sschool with English as a first language to stay at apar with the world. Hence any Indian kid would be speaking atleast two languages from a very early age, say 2-3 yrs. When I learnt my "German" language at college, primarily I used to "think" in English and translate in "German". This time-span decreased as we practiced speaking more often. So, the "thinking-time" cannot be contributed to being a "confused" person.
It's by nature that we tend to think in our mother tongue. Right now, when Im typing these words Im not thinking in Bengali but in English. Same goes for the students. considering how fast a child picks up new things they don't take much time speaking any new language either. Moreover like in my family, we speak mainly "Hindi" and "English". Both mine and my husband's mother tongue is different (Bengali and Malayalam & Tamil). My child is more comfortable speaking in English right now because of his environment and the time he spends at school. That does not mean he is/will grow up to be a confussed "individual". Yes, while speaking in Bengali he uses many English words now, which even I do while speaking Hindi/Bengali, inspite of knowing the equivalent words.
Because, of the grinding we go through in the initial years, a student is able to cope up with the challenges doing further studies anywhere across the globe. We are also doing excellent at professional fields where ever we are. The methodology which we follow in India can't be followed in other countries. And the International Schools in India though claim that they are using different methods, parents still feel the need to educated their child with the board in Indian system. Well, there are exceptions, where one has the luxury to shift base to other countries for child education.
With respect to a boy's and a girl's inclination to study, well its a known fact that "girls mature at a younger age than a boy". At school or home and amongst friends or siblings its natural to see such differences in liking of activities. Yet in a classroom of boys and girls all of them are of equal agegroup +/- 6 months and coping up well.
So, I shall like to see my child go to the next class. He might not be perfect with respect to the writting and organising skills compared to a girl/student of his class. But I shall give him a fair chance to be able to take responsibilities for his own development. If this means I'm a "pushy" parent like a typical Indian, then I'm so.
Coming back to what I had written in my earlier posts:
http://devacharyamenon.blogspot.com/2010/06/teachers-pet-is-that-you.html
http://devacharyamenon.blogspot.com/2010/06/view-of-educationist-regarding-india.html
Teacher's pet - is that you ?
I understand that there are various methodology of educating children and it varies from teacher to teacher as well student to student. Not all students respond to instructions in similar way. It does not necessarily mean that do not follow them or they are not obedient, but given a child of 3-4 yrs. their area of interest and "mood" varies from time-to-time
As, far my child is concerned, I know he does not like to be ordered or commanded to do anything. He gets more stubborn if he is not spoken poliently and if we show anger or raise our voice. Thats what concerned me in the earlier posts, he was getting more stubborn to prove he is a "bad boy".
It was a phase and has gone past now. As per his teacher, sometimes students react very positively when you praise others infront of him and hence try to improve. Ignoring a child and giving "stickers/gifts" as a token of appreciation to them, helps him to do the activities he otherwise is not willing to do. This also increases the competitive spirit. Hence, all these extra efforts were to make Dev sit down to writting activity. Thats the thing he does not like to do sitting at a place.
Regarding the colour of skin:
This kind of discussion in there amongst the students in all the class. A parent of Grade 2 once told me, "Teachers do not speak about this. It's the student who discuss. The Indian girl wants to be reborn as a girl with blond hair and white skin. One of her other friend wants a dusky skin with black hair. These are just their fantasy."
After hearing this I left the dicussion there. And thought it needs some more time for me to conclude anything. Moreover, he will be going to a new class from August. A new teacher and new class with new things to learn might just erase a few thoughts from his mind.
View of an educationist regarding Indian Education System:
I agree to most of the things told here. It's good or bad cannot be really judged if you do not consider India as a whole. The system which we follow in India is best suited for the given time, and considering the rising population.
Every statistic has told us that by 2012 India will be the youngest nation. Hence, the students fighting for a seat in a prestigious college for any professional degree will be enormous compared to our generation.
Given this situation, the child has to know to fight from a very young age if he has to succeed in his profession or career. Memorising and Pushing nature is a product of this, which in my opinion is nothing to be ashamed about.
Inspite of so many regional languages, many of us choose to visit a sschool with English as a first language to stay at apar with the world. Hence any Indian kid would be speaking atleast two languages from a very early age, say 2-3 yrs. When I learnt my "German" language at college, primarily I used to "think" in English and translate in "German". This time-span decreased as we practiced speaking more often. So, the "thinking-time" cannot be contributed to being a "confused" person.
It's by nature that we tend to think in our mother tongue. Right now, when Im typing these words Im not thinking in Bengali but in English. Same goes for the students. considering how fast a child picks up new things they don't take much time speaking any new language either. Moreover like in my family, we speak mainly "Hindi" and "English". Both mine and my husband's mother tongue is different (Bengali and Malayalam & Tamil). My child is more comfortable speaking in English right now because of his environment and the time he spends at school. That does not mean he is/will grow up to be a confussed "individual". Yes, while speaking in Bengali he uses many English words now, which even I do while speaking Hindi/Bengali, inspite of knowing the equivalent words.
Because, of the grinding we go through in the initial years, a student is able to cope up with the challenges doing further studies anywhere across the globe. We are also doing excellent at professional fields where ever we are. The methodology which we follow in India can't be followed in other countries. And the International Schools in India though claim that they are using different methods, parents still feel the need to educated their child with the board in Indian system. Well, there are exceptions, where one has the luxury to shift base to other countries for child education.
With respect to a boy's and a girl's inclination to study, well its a known fact that "girls mature at a younger age than a boy". At school or home and amongst friends or siblings its natural to see such differences in liking of activities. Yet in a classroom of boys and girls all of them are of equal agegroup +/- 6 months and coping up well.
So, I shall like to see my child go to the next class. He might not be perfect with respect to the writting and organising skills compared to a girl/student of his class. But I shall give him a fair chance to be able to take responsibilities for his own development. If this means I'm a "pushy" parent like a typical Indian, then I'm so.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
...accept me as I am...
It was bed-time again and as usual Krish selected his story and asked me to read this one. At the end he said, "..accept as it was" - meaning.. Then followed a few exchange of words and he kissed me, "Goodnight Ma" with a smile on his face.
His smile seemed to say a lot more than his words. Or am I imagining too much !!! Surely he is growing up fast & maturing too !
The story:
"Once there was a crow who was always brooding about his colour. He thought sadly, "I am so black and ugly. If only I was colourful as other birds!"
One day as the crow sat on a tree, a group of peacocks strutted by. They were walking with their feathers fanned out. The crow felt sad again, when he saw the peacocks' feathers. When the peacocks left, the crow found some of their feathers scattered on the ground. He picked them up and went to his friend the monkey. With his help, the crow tucked the feathers on his body. Then he went to the peacocks and said, "Let me join you for now I am as beautiful as you are."
But the peacocks grew angry and pecked the crow away from there. The crow flew back to his own friends. But the crows said, "Go away from here. you cannt live with us because you don't feel proud to be what you are."
So the poor crow was abandoned by his own fellows and had to lead a lonely life. He learnt to accept himself as he was.
His smile seemed to say a lot more than his words. Or am I imagining too much !!! Surely he is growing up fast & maturing too !
The story:
"Once there was a crow who was always brooding about his colour. He thought sadly, "I am so black and ugly. If only I was colourful as other birds!"
One day as the crow sat on a tree, a group of peacocks strutted by. They were walking with their feathers fanned out. The crow felt sad again, when he saw the peacocks' feathers. When the peacocks left, the crow found some of their feathers scattered on the ground. He picked them up and went to his friend the monkey. With his help, the crow tucked the feathers on his body. Then he went to the peacocks and said, "Let me join you for now I am as beautiful as you are."
But the peacocks grew angry and pecked the crow away from there. The crow flew back to his own friends. But the crows said, "Go away from here. you cannt live with us because you don't feel proud to be what you are."So the poor crow was abandoned by his own fellows and had to lead a lonely life. He learnt to accept himself as he was.
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