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HASTI PUBLIC SCHOOL & JR.COLLEGE,DONDAICHA

BLOG NUMBER 115                                                                                                                                                                           KIDS ARE AMAZING                                                                                                                                                                                                     Can you understand your child?better?                                                                                                                                                                     Do you wish to communicate  ?                                                                                                                                                            What if your child doesn’t like a subject or academics in general?                                                                                                                    

Do you think academics are important?                                                                                                                                      

 How do you communicate this with your child?                                                                                                                                                                                                        Kids are amazing, but parents complain that the kid doesn’t understand.                                                                  

Kids are born scientists, CEOs, they get the real purpose of education                                                                                                                                                                                                   So how do we as parents go upto their level (as supposed to down to their level as many call it)  and then communicate them?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Parents speak the language of

1- Job safety/Respect

2- Livelihood/Employment

3- Correct Answers, Notes

Kids speak

1- Fun, joy of learning, vibe

2- Growing self, intelligence

3- Questions, Perspectives

Isn’t this like offering a God a 100 coconuts or candles for a job or any other wishes? Is it devotion or greed then?

Likewise, isn’t it greed if education is seen as a means of generating wealth? Aren’t the kids the pure ones who see the real purpose of education?

Only 10 or 15 out of 25kids in a class actually find the subjects interesting. The others find school interesting only because they meet friends, get a peer group, have enriching activities beyond academics. So what if these kids do not show interest in learning?

Many parents tell the kids that one needs marks to get a job. They explain that the kids need to earn some day and take responsibilities. However most kids do not understand this language and get even more repelled. They try to dodge these arguments with answers like I’ll earn some way. The real challenge is that kids don’t see value in the traditional model of academics.

1- Do we show the purpose of different subjects? How social studies evolve perspectives, how Maths brings in abstract thinking, Language- interpretation and Science- data driven decision making?

2- Does the child see academic training as a way of transforming the mind? The core of the activity of the academia is – look at the real world, make models of it and learn how these models can be used in different situations. So, does the child see value with model building?

3- Does the child value the homeworks and projects? Or are they dry rituals whose meaning is lost in translation? Do we explain them the why before talking of what to do? Do we leave the how to them or do we spoon-feed them?

4- Do we look at the marks alone or do we look at the intelligence that the child builds through the learning? Do we value and recognize this in kids? Kids feel good when they appear intelligent and they push harder if they get that recognition.

5- It is not just about encouraging your childs passion. A few basics become important- are you providing an emotional safety net to your child, is your child understanding the need for exploration, is your child having a base understanding of the world – this is where academics come in.

If parents can change the way subjects or studies are looked at, parent-child gap gets reduced. A good thing is that curious kids refuse to comply unless you show them a solid purpose. Most parents or teacher struggle there because the intent is usually money generation rather than the kick of learning. Kids usually prefer the latter.