Training a child.

Now a days, schooling became a hot topic in parents’ discussion. For many, a school with higher tuition fees automatically represents better education. Hence school fees are skyrocketing yearly.
Is the contention that higher fees represents better education, correct?
It is true that due to inflationary pressures and other influences, fees are increasing yearly. Some of the other reasons are the new private schools, equipment like virtual screens etc and exotic options like IB. Thus school fees are ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 10000 or more per month. In addition there are other fees like infrastructure fees etc.
But is a consumer getting returns equal to the investment. Let see.

What does a child needs to understand and grow up as a responsible citizen. School provides a platform to mix with kids of similar age and help them understand the interactions. Thus some sort of school experience is desirable. More than this, what can one expect from a school platform, other than the peer interaction. 

This is a tricky question. Given a chance, I expect everything under the sun. Good coaching, good subject knowledge, tricks to clear competitive exams and the list goes on. Is this realistic?
Normal class has 30-40 students with 0-100% understanding / learning ability. As a matter of fact, teacher can target a group of middle 30-40% for instruction. This is reasonable. What will happen if one’s ward falls outside this band?

Also, school offers many additional items in which a child can participate. What should a parent do.
Ideal solution can be first understand the child. What are its strengths and weaknesses to get an approximate idea of what are the areas where a child can shine and where one needs polishing. This can be a starting point from where a parent can start one’s expectations/demands from school. 

 However, the exercise should be rational. To keep it rational, one can take the help of a close friend or a psychologist.

A child can be analysed on multiple intelligence framework. What types of intelligence a child displays. Check which traits you want to improve. Then make a plan for stressing those traits unobtrusively.

For example, if a child is a loner and a parent feels that he be introduced to group activities, a parent can gradually work on this aspect by encouraging him to participate in group activities in school, residential colony etc.

Thus it will be useful, to let the children experience and understand various skill sets. This will also help one to zero down on one;s liking and may be work on it in future.

Understand that this is a long exercise and patience is the most important thing in the process.

I tried this with my kids and results are satisfactory.

Inspiring others

Generally we feels that others are not performing as we would have performed if placed in such a situation. This feeling may be partly due to one’s biased observation. But there may be some truth in the feeling.

I am very passionate about something as I conceived it want it to happen. One has to understand that others may not know the details and for them, it is another routine job.

The question here is can I inspire others to be as passionate as I am in a cause. There are few points one can contemplate in this situation.

1.      Does one care for others

2.      Does one encourage others do something rather than ordering them around?

3.      Does one passionate about the job oneself in order to inspire others?

4.      Is the need clearly communicated to others.

Most of the issues that one encounters in these questions or discussions pertains to relations rather than knowledge or skill. This is to be understood, before one tries to inspire others. I recently read a good example of this behavior, narrated by APJ Abdul Kalam. He was the team leader for Satellite launch vehicle project. When his first mission(launch satellite launch vehicle)  was a failure, his boss handled the press conference taking the blame. The next time when the launch was successful, his boss made Kalam go and chair the press conference.

Thus one can inspire peers, subordinates and children with one’s attitude.

Another Cube puzzle.

There is another toy puzzle, which is similar to rubick’s cube. It is called Soma cube. It has 7 pieces from which on has to make a cube. You can see an animation of the same on you tub from following link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ngzN2RQEtM

Though it looks simple, it is not so easy. But children can find the solution with some effort. They will enjoy the challenge.

Many other arrangements can be made with these pieces as shown in the above video.

This is an inexpensive toy which can provide good time for a child.

Origami

This is a fun activity for children and adults alike.

Origami means paper folding. This is a craft, where paper is folded into different shapes. There are many videos available on youtube on how to fold paper to get letters, animals, objects etc.

This is a fun activity for children of all ages. Can be started with children as small as 5 years.

Initially, an adult has to accompany / guide the child in making some easy shapes. It does not matter if the fold or the object is not great. Let children pay with paper first. Slowly they can develop interest and skill and after a year or two, they can do things on their own or by seeing books or videos.

Origami can be used to teach mathematical concepts to kids.
 
This activity develops hand to eye coordination in children, at the same time entertaining them.