One of my friends had come home with her two year old daughter and we were just talking when her daughter started crying so varsha came over and told my friend,'tell her that thing' i did not know what she wanted her to tell but my friend seemed to know and she just smiled. Varsha kept repeating,'aunty tell her that thing'. I got curious and gave my friend a questioning look, she started laughing and told me that once earlier when varsha was playing at her house she had told her child that she would lock her up in the toilet if she did not listen to her and varsha had a shocked look on her face and that was what she was talking about.
Later in the night when i was casually talking to varsha about that she looked at me and said,'aunty would really not do that would she?'' she was fooling na?'so i asked her how would she feel if i told her that..she thought for a while smiled and said,'you will not say that, you are fooling' and we did not talk anymore about it.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
snakes and ladders..
Whenever we play snakes and ladders in the middle of the game varsha gets angry and starts crying when she has to come down the snake and then we are not able to finish the game. So, the other day i decided that we would play this game differently. I set a time say five minutes and we both have to reach home before that five minutes is up or we have to start all over again. The first time she was not that enthusiastic as her mind was used to the old rules of who reaches first but slowly she got involved in the game and we realised that it was much more fun helping each other and reaching home within the time set.
She taught the game to varun and her father and we had fun playing it in the cooperative way. It would be great if these toys when come to the market instead of having the usual rules of winner/loser can give such ideas where the game becomes more fun.
She taught the game to varun and her father and we had fun playing it in the cooperative way. It would be great if these toys when come to the market instead of having the usual rules of winner/loser can give such ideas where the game becomes more fun.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Facilitation Part 2
In the timbaktu conference there was a workshop on learning which made me ponder more on facilitation. The workshop started with division of the participants in groups and we were asked to write down two things which we have learnt in our life and how did we learn it and what helped us to learn it. It was easy we all wrote down what we had learnt and came up with some common things which helped us learn it. Then the facilitator of the workshop started writing down what each group had to say. During that I noticed that when one participant said a word the facilitator put her own words and completed it and said ‘’ isn’t that what you wanted to say?’’ It was like she had that in mind and she was getting what she wanted from us and the whole process seemed guided.
In the next activity each group was given a different case sheet which related to learning in some way. The example which we got was a classroom setting where the children are doing some fill in the blanks maths sums. What we needed to do was to find where learning was happening, how it was happening and make a note of it on a sheet which was to be put up for everyone to see. We did go through the activity where one of us felt that the example was not complete so coming to such conclusions was not possible..but we still managed to complete the activity and when we went through what the other groups had written about their case studies we realised that all of us had come up with the same thing as that was what the facilitators wanted us to see or understand about learning. It was strange but there was a feeling that we had reached a conclusion what the facilitators wanted from us. Instead of telling us directly they used the cases which was convenient for them and made us think in the way they wanted. It has really made me question as to what is facilitation. Do I actually give freedom for children to think or they do the thinking in such a way that it is convenient for me. Instead of the traditional method of rote or direct teaching I am still teaching but in a way without hurting their self esteem basically in a nicer way :-)
In the next activity each group was given a different case sheet which related to learning in some way. The example which we got was a classroom setting where the children are doing some fill in the blanks maths sums. What we needed to do was to find where learning was happening, how it was happening and make a note of it on a sheet which was to be put up for everyone to see. We did go through the activity where one of us felt that the example was not complete so coming to such conclusions was not possible..but we still managed to complete the activity and when we went through what the other groups had written about their case studies we realised that all of us had come up with the same thing as that was what the facilitators wanted us to see or understand about learning. It was strange but there was a feeling that we had reached a conclusion what the facilitators wanted from us. Instead of telling us directly they used the cases which was convenient for them and made us think in the way they wanted. It has really made me question as to what is facilitation. Do I actually give freedom for children to think or they do the thinking in such a way that it is convenient for me. Instead of the traditional method of rote or direct teaching I am still teaching but in a way without hurting their self esteem basically in a nicer way :-)
Confusing thoughts..
The other day I was watching a cricket match in which SA were trying to save the match with one wicket left and you could hear the commentators telling how great it would be if they could pull it off as there was still twenty minutes to go. The Indian bowler managed to get the batsmen out and there was a jump of joy but what followed it was what caught my eye:Where the commentators were praising the batsmen for his courage to stand up there it changed to what a win for India in matter of seconds; India is still No.1 was displayed on all the news channels; The bowler not only jumped with joy but the bowler showed his joy by making a face and expressed himself in an aggressive way.
It made me think was such aggressive expression necessary? What is this No.1 obsession? Why do we need to have the concept of winning and losing? These thoughts have been really troubling me a lot.
The other day varsha made up a game and when I was not able to do the needful she said ,’’ you are a loser’’ I was surprised as this vocabulary is not used by us at home then where is she getting this from.
I saw a reality show where talented singers are pitted against each other and there was a scene where one of them is shouting, crying and cursing others. We keep telling our children to take failures in their stride but we see adults expressing themselves in a violent manner but when the children cry if they are not happy we brand them as being sensitive and not being able to take things in a positive way etc. There are two absolutely contradictory situations. Why do people need to compete with each other to prove who is the best among them? Is it because we have got so used to this concept that we can find thrill and enjoyment when people are fighting with one another to decide who is No.1.
If we consider each individual an entity on his own then why are we doing this to ourselves comparing, criticizing instead of acknowledging and giving space to each other. Is it idealism to think in this way. I don’t know. When we compete our intention is to be one up on the other person so does this give rise to aggressive expression in us.
When I look around me I think most of the competition we see around us is artificially created. The very common contention is that competition is inherent in human beings which I am not able to agree with. Competition comes into play when I create it.
If in a classroom while dealing with five year olds I give a star to one child for answering a question I am telling the rest of the class that you don’t know what he knows and I create competition instead of asking the child to share where he got the information from so that others can also benefit we single out the child without realizing what effect it has on others. While trying to motivate one child we are demotivating the rest of the children.
I am unable to understand the logic of competitions in every walk of our lives. It starts from a baby entering a contest and getting prizes for silky hair and chubby cheeks. It hurts me when people say that a child needs to compete from a young age so it helps him to cope with the societal pressures later on..i am really not sure if it does that i think it actually demotivates a child and the child may stop trying after losing a few times.
I think we need to really introspect as a community as a society as to what we are doing and what is our objective. Why is cooperation and just doing things for the joy of doing it not there? Why should there be a winner and a loser all the time? Is the world not big enough for people to have a space of their own and be happy in that space?
Lots of confused thoughts and will keep writing more….
It made me think was such aggressive expression necessary? What is this No.1 obsession? Why do we need to have the concept of winning and losing? These thoughts have been really troubling me a lot.
The other day varsha made up a game and when I was not able to do the needful she said ,’’ you are a loser’’ I was surprised as this vocabulary is not used by us at home then where is she getting this from.
I saw a reality show where talented singers are pitted against each other and there was a scene where one of them is shouting, crying and cursing others. We keep telling our children to take failures in their stride but we see adults expressing themselves in a violent manner but when the children cry if they are not happy we brand them as being sensitive and not being able to take things in a positive way etc. There are two absolutely contradictory situations. Why do people need to compete with each other to prove who is the best among them? Is it because we have got so used to this concept that we can find thrill and enjoyment when people are fighting with one another to decide who is No.1.
If we consider each individual an entity on his own then why are we doing this to ourselves comparing, criticizing instead of acknowledging and giving space to each other. Is it idealism to think in this way. I don’t know. When we compete our intention is to be one up on the other person so does this give rise to aggressive expression in us.
When I look around me I think most of the competition we see around us is artificially created. The very common contention is that competition is inherent in human beings which I am not able to agree with. Competition comes into play when I create it.
If in a classroom while dealing with five year olds I give a star to one child for answering a question I am telling the rest of the class that you don’t know what he knows and I create competition instead of asking the child to share where he got the information from so that others can also benefit we single out the child without realizing what effect it has on others. While trying to motivate one child we are demotivating the rest of the children.
I am unable to understand the logic of competitions in every walk of our lives. It starts from a baby entering a contest and getting prizes for silky hair and chubby cheeks. It hurts me when people say that a child needs to compete from a young age so it helps him to cope with the societal pressures later on..i am really not sure if it does that i think it actually demotivates a child and the child may stop trying after losing a few times.
I think we need to really introspect as a community as a society as to what we are doing and what is our objective. Why is cooperation and just doing things for the joy of doing it not there? Why should there be a winner and a loser all the time? Is the world not big enough for people to have a space of their own and be happy in that space?
Lots of confused thoughts and will keep writing more….
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Love..
When I came into this world,
I was scared and confused,
Everything looked bright in this world Then I saw faces over me,
They smiled looking at me,
Voices said, we are your father and mother,
And you are our sweetheart so do not fear,
We are there for you dear,
I did not know what they meant,
But I know they meant well I never looked back since then,
Have had all the love and affection from them,
And I could not have asked more from them
When I had children of my own,
I held them tight,
Told them I love them,
I will give them all the love I can,
And hope when they grows up and have a family of their own,
They share happiness and love with them,
Because Love is something very strong,
It can make you do things right or wrong,
It can bind or break hearts,
Love grows only when it is shared.
I was scared and confused,
Everything looked bright in this world Then I saw faces over me,
They smiled looking at me,
Voices said, we are your father and mother,
And you are our sweetheart so do not fear,
We are there for you dear,
I did not know what they meant,
But I know they meant well I never looked back since then,
Have had all the love and affection from them,
And I could not have asked more from them
When I had children of my own,
I held them tight,
Told them I love them,
I will give them all the love I can,
And hope when they grows up and have a family of their own,
They share happiness and love with them,
Because Love is something very strong,
It can make you do things right or wrong,
It can bind or break hearts,
Love grows only when it is shared.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
God chooses..
The other day varun, varsha and her friend Krishna were sitting and having breakfast and they were talking and suddenly i heard the topic had gone to God, dying etc. This is the conversation I heard:
Varsha: You know when we will grow old and die we will be born again as baby and then again we will grow..it is very simple.
Krishna: No..when we die and go to God he will put us into a box and decide what he should do with us and then send us down again.
Varun: No ..Krishna when we die God sees all that we have done..if we do nice and good things he will not send us down and we can stay with him but if we do not do nice things he can send us down in any form..he can even make us a rock.
Varsha: Wow! that is amazing na!
and the conversation ended there..was thinking where did they get all this from definitely not from me :-)
Varsha: You know when we will grow old and die we will be born again as baby and then again we will grow..it is very simple.
Krishna: No..when we die and go to God he will put us into a box and decide what he should do with us and then send us down again.
Varun: No ..Krishna when we die God sees all that we have done..if we do nice and good things he will not send us down and we can stay with him but if we do not do nice things he can send us down in any form..he can even make us a rock.
Varsha: Wow! that is amazing na!
and the conversation ended there..was thinking where did they get all this from definitely not from me :-)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
star thingy update..
There seems to have been some effect of the letter(assuming that is one of the reasons) the star mania has come down drastically..varsha is not as crazy about the stars as she was earlier ..though it has not stopped completely..hoping it will..
hip hip hooray!
hip hip hooray!
Facilitation..part 1
what is facilitation? after coming back from timbaktu i am really asking myself this question. There was one session on shared fractions which i found really impressive. This teacher taught his children using shared fractions. It was not the content but the teacher's interest in his children which amazed me as he was able to find out the level of a child by observing how the child had done a certain thing. Coming back to facilitation the teacher came to a point where the children understood that they were dividing a number of objects equally to some number of children and the next step was to introduce them to the sign of division, so the teacher told them that he did not know and asked them to find out and come up with what sign needs to be put there.
The next day the children came up with the sign of division asking locals, then the question was where to place the sign between the numbers, on the left side of the numbers or on the right side of the numbers, in the end after the teacher asked them several questions came up with the sign being in the middle and the teacher was happy that the children got it..here i thought it was so cool the children coming up with stuff on their own but my bubble burst when someone asked me did the children come up with the sign of division on their own and i said they found out from others but he said no the sign already exists isn't it ..i said yes but the children took effort to find it ..the second thing he told me confused me ..he said there is a language where the division sign comes in the front of the numbers etc and these are conventions which are already there so what is the need to go all round it and also the fact that the teacher would have gone on till they came to the right answer(or so as to say what he wanted them to come to) so as far as the facilitation is concerned with regard to the division sign it is totally guided by the facilitator in the guise of making the child think which he thought was not necessary. My contention is though it is guided there is a possibility for the children to understand it much better as they went through the process of thinking and finding out for themselves. It is also making me think whether this type of facilitation actually helping children or are we somewhere disguising our objectives under the blanket of making them think till they get it right..hmm..
The next day the children came up with the sign of division asking locals, then the question was where to place the sign between the numbers, on the left side of the numbers or on the right side of the numbers, in the end after the teacher asked them several questions came up with the sign being in the middle and the teacher was happy that the children got it..here i thought it was so cool the children coming up with stuff on their own but my bubble burst when someone asked me did the children come up with the sign of division on their own and i said they found out from others but he said no the sign already exists isn't it ..i said yes but the children took effort to find it ..the second thing he told me confused me ..he said there is a language where the division sign comes in the front of the numbers etc and these are conventions which are already there so what is the need to go all round it and also the fact that the teacher would have gone on till they came to the right answer(or so as to say what he wanted them to come to) so as far as the facilitation is concerned with regard to the division sign it is totally guided by the facilitator in the guise of making the child think which he thought was not necessary. My contention is though it is guided there is a possibility for the children to understand it much better as they went through the process of thinking and finding out for themselves. It is also making me think whether this type of facilitation actually helping children or are we somewhere disguising our objectives under the blanket of making them think till they get it right..hmm..
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
talk about now..
I was talking to varsha about something she had done and she tells me 'mummy don't talk about what has happened, talk about now'.
Earn stars..
In varsha's school there is a lot of emphasis on giving stars ..they give for eating fast, writing fast ..the list goes on and on so i wrote a letter to the counsellor letting her know my thoughts about the star thingy. During the counselling session the counsellor mentioned that stars need to be earned and should not be given just like that. Now, what is the need for me to earn stars and who determines whether i deserve stars or not ..what is good enough .. who should i satisfy to get the stars and where has learning placed in all this. All these questions come to my mind but could not ask as i was not there in the session(was in geniekids)..
more on this later
www.onesolution.in
www.onesolution.in
vocabulary
The day before varsha was out the whole day playing in the park. She would come eat and then immediately go down. In the evening around 6pm when she came back i told her that she needed to stay at home. She got angry with me and i told her very firmly that she cannot go out and play. She looks at me and says'You are being aggressive with me' and i told her well! i am choosing to be and she replies 'ok, i am also choosing to be aggresive right now'. I could not help but smile at the same time thinking that she is just 5yrs now but what would happen when she grows up..hmmhmm will keep posting..
www.onesolution.in
www.onesolution.in
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