Saturday, December 10, 2011

Education...

"acquiring knowledge" -- is one of the definitions, in recent times... it seem to be changing to "packing knowledge" to the kids, rather than kid trying to acquire at their pace.

Reason for this change is probably "parents" to blame than education institutions... because the demand is more for schools that would be packing the knowledge, parents wants their kid to be "first" and outperform their neighbor kids etc.,

Why have parents become like this? -- because they have either struggled to reach the heights (read as success) in career and they think, it would be easier for their kid to reach same height... if they study well / be part of a prestigious knowledge packing school

Why is success so important? -- because that is the source of money, prestige, lifestyle... that keeps the urban / city dwellers on the nerve as they want to own the best home, latest car etc.,

that's my rough thoughts... above, please do leave a comment on what you feel. In below I would like to propose a new thinking philosophy for parents (for ones that are successful or others that are still struggling)

Let the kid enjoy his life, with equal amount of play (if you have time, sit with kid & play along!) & education, don't put lot of pressure... he / she will grow up to be as smart as her genes are, no amount of additional knowledge packing will help -- only be a facilitator & help the kid in providing the required resources.

-Bhaskara

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Learning through games...

Kids learn lot of things, through game -- experiencing this practically with our son these days & the age this start is typically around 4 - 5yrs & should be practiced on a consistent basis, try these simple games:
  • board games, that would have a math in them -- learn with the kid to count the score, add them (using fingers)
  • plan a bed time game, that could be around recollecting 'the day' for yourself, spouse & the kid
Playing games, not only keeps the kid engaged, they learn new concepts / tricks to build their knowledge & will be able keep them away from TV!

-Bhaskara

Toys from trash...

I have been enjoying the re-learning of basic concepts... while making toys from trash for Aditya (my son), it definitely comes out of passion to do with kids, but I think it should be tried by every parent to do few experiments with their children -

Arvind Gupta Toys - http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/

It's a great source for trying simple - science concepts, origami & fun toys. I'm enjoying past few weeks...