Reading - An important Life skill

 

One of the most important Life skill that can be developed from early years is – READING !

Reading can begin from an early age of 6 months. Initially make the child sit in your lap and read the book as though you both are reading it together. As the child sees colorful pictures, he will develop the interest to sit and listen to you. Here, his visual skills are developing. 

As the child grows, his attention span increases and is able to sit in one place for some time. 

Read to the child:

1. Show him the cover of the book – Before reading the book, show the cover of the book to the child and ask him questions about it. This is a great way to engage his interest.

2. Keep him focused – Young children get easily distracted. Start asking questions about characters in the book or ask him to predict what will happen next? This will test their interest and enhance predictive skills.

3. Assess his new skills – As you are reading along, a new word comes up, ask him to guess the meaning of it. You also need to repeatedly ask questions. This enhances language and thinking skills.

4. Make it simple for him – While reading the story, breakdown big / complex sentences for him to understand it better.

5. Use Voice modulation – The characters in a story can be differentiated using different voices for each character. This helps the child to picturize the story. When the story comes alive, he will be thrilled to listen to it. 

6. Ask for their response and reaction – Once the story is completed, ask the child what did he enjoy the most about the story? What is that he did not like in the story? If given a chance, what would he change in the story? This helps is building their confidence level and increases the oral fluency.

7. Different languages - Using a language that you are comfortable in, is a good way to start reading stories and Nursery Rhymes to the child. Being bilingual helps the child with understanding and recognizing syllables, phonics and letters.

It is absolutely normal if the child does not sit through the read aloud but you continue to read as he is listening unintentionally. Here, his listening skills are dominant.

Reading stories with the child is beneficial for the adults too. The special time you spend reading together helps to build your relationship with the child.

Creative ways to spend quality time with your child

 A family is the biggest asset any of us can have and hence it is very important that we spend good time with family and the loves ones. Spending time with them helps to understand each other better.  Here are few tips which I follow in the day to day routine  :- 

• Have a morning ritual where you spend at least 10 minutes with the child doing something as simple as reading a newspaper.

• Involve him in meal preparations as it helps in family bonding & togetherness .

• Encourage conversations at the dinner table where the family members are involved too.

• Share the history of the family & the ancestors.

• Reverse the role and become a child. Ask him questions which involves research and reasons.

• Motivate him to plan a holiday or organize a party.

• Exercise / workout or go for a walk together.

Having a family is a blessing. Make the most of it by bonding and doing activities together. Spend time together and make memories.

To Do list for the EXAM WARRIORS

 

Covid 19 is almost hitting a second wave and another list of restrictions in each state is about to be imposed. With already so much going around, students are stressed about Board exams that are just around the corner. Exams being online with the same syllabus is challenging for many but if organized and planned in advance, it can be fruitful.

Below mentioned are few tips to prepare for Pre- and on-going board exams:

1.     Revise your work
      It is wise that you keep enough time to review your syllabus. Last minute studies are stressful and less productive.

2.    Take help from adults and friends
      It is absolutely fine to take help from your friends, parents or teachers. Let all your doubts be cleared before the exams as it will make you more confident of the topic.

3.    Organize your schedule
      As you are preparing for the revision of subjects, plan your day with combination of easy and                  difficult subjects, preferred and less preferred subjects, favorite and least favorite subjects.

4.     Keep intervals
      It is important that you keep sufficient intervals between your studying time which includes meal            time and play time.

5.     Hobby
      It is extremely important that you continue with your hobby even pre- and on-going exams.                    Hobbies like dancing, reading a story, playing a sport, going for a walk or organizing your                      cupboard should be continued. Engage in any kind of activity that makes you happy.

6.     Look after yourself
     As its rightly said, health is wealth- taking care of yourself by following a healthy and nutritional           diet, keeping hydrated, exercise regime and adequate sleep of 8 -10 hours.

7.    Different methods of revising
      Revising the same notes again and again could become boring and dull. Hence try out various                techniques like reviewing previous year’s question papers, drawing diagrams, mind maps of the             notes or healthy discussions with peers and friends will surely make it interactive and interesting            to strengthen the knowledge of the subject.

8.      Change in study area
       With the on-going pandemic, we cannot venture out a lot but within our comfort zone, we can                 surely have different study areas like studying in living room when no one is around or walking             and revising a chapter in your room. Different background improves memory retention.
                                                     

9.     Give a break to your eyes
      Due to everything being virtual, our eyes are stressed too. It is essentially important that we follow        a routine of eye exercises.

10.     Exam’s essentials
        As the exams approach, it is mandatory that you get all the information regarding the exams very            much in advance. Keep all the essentials like - exam hall ticket, timings of the exams, exam time            table, stationeries - very handy
                                               

Since the government has not yet declared whether the exams would be online or at the Centre, One of my favorite tip is – Have a travel buddy to the Centre who is punctual and jovial as that will motivate you to write your exams with the positive energy.

"Put your best effort on the exam and you will be rewarded with the success."

MY TAKE ON BEING A MOM TO A SINGLE CHILD

“Beta, it’s time to have a second baby” was one of the statement I used to hear few years back (and of course I do have to listen to it now but rarely) Statements like these can never be argued or carried forward as a conversation but here are my thoughts (or I wish I could reply back to those aunties) :

•     “Siblings are great companions” - I do have siblings and we bond very well. We, the grownups, are busy with our careers, family and life; we seldom meet. I know they will always be there for me when needed but when I actually need them, they are pre committed which I will not say is wrong.  21^st century kids are so independent that they will make friends quickly.
•         “Beta, you have a good family support” - yes I do have super support from my husband, mother in law, my mom and all others. But this is no reason to have a second child. At the end, I am the mother and I am responsible for everything. I can take their help but cannot be depended on them.
  
•      “By God’s grace, family is financially good.” -  I am very glad that family is financially strong and can afford many kids but that is not the reason why I am not having a second child. Beside education, there are many other expenses like after school activities, Holiday trips, Birthday Parties and the list goes on which demand not only finances but devoted time. I rather have one child and give him best of everything.
  
•     “Having a second child, increases the bond between husband and wife” : Really?  After having our child, we already spend very less time with each other as during the day we are busy with work and when he is free in the evening/ night, I am busy with my son’s classes and homework.  So in case if we have another child, We won’t see each other for days :)
  
  

I am confident that PN Jr.  will grow as an independent, obedient and caring Human. Few people believe that a single child tends to grow stubborn and self centered. There are families who have 3 to 4 children and yet are very stubborn. So it’s totally on one’s nature how he grows to be.

I might face the following challenges:

•   Inculcating sharing habits.
•   Taking care of the younger ones.
• Assuring safety while I play with other kids.

 But, all of these would have to be managed and implemented whether I have 1 or more children.

At the end, all I can say is..

 A mother to a single child is a happy mom who makes sure that her family too is always happy.

Are we really spending time with our kids?

In today's world, Parenting is so challenging. I remember when i was a kid, there were few games which we played at all ages. Games like hopscotch, kho kho, dog and the bone and more like these are just fading away. A week back i met few friends with their kids aged between 4 to 6 years for a playdate. To my surprise none of the kids knew the game Dog and the bone. But all the kids knew games like candy crush saga, subway surfer , fruit ninja, car racing and all the games that we play either on mobile phones or Tabs or Ipads.
Its a new trend where moms are discussing that what all games have they downloaded on their gadgets. But very few or rather none ever discusses what physical activity did her child do except for classes. I mean classes like football, cricket, skating are really needed at the age of 3 or 4 years? Taking kids to parks and garden is alsofading away.

I agree kids are playing football, cricket, Lego. BUT ALL ON THE GADGETS. Why is it that Moms want their kids to attend all those classes which are happening around? Why cant we sit with our kids and play all those games which we played as a child?
I was surprised to hear about a class where the kids of age 6 to 7 years are taught how to increase writing speed. Isnt thats we as parents need to work on?
There are literally competitions between moms as to how many classes her child goes for. I understand in 21st century, kids are super active and absorbs things from their environment faster than how we learnt as a child. But that doesnot mean that we keep sending kids to all possible classes and miss out on "we" time.
The concept of going for Picnics has just vanished. Why are we(adults) not doing all those things which our parents did for us when we were kids?

Parenting in today's world

With the lifestyle that we are living in and the kind that we are giving to our children, it is very necessary that we inculcate few things in them as and when, while they are growing up. We, as parents are more open and frank with our kids. We impart maximum knowledge to them. Most of us go to any extent to give them best of knowledge.

* As a mother to a son, it is important for me to teach him that every woman needs to be respected. Whether friend, sister or soulmate; all need to be treated equally as your male friend.
* Protect and respect every girl but donot loose your self respect.
* Yes, he needs to be independent and that means he willnot be spoon-fed at every stage of his life.
* He has to learn to take his own decisions and fulfill his own dreams.
* I will be there to support him but only if he works hard for it.
* Fight for yourself but never hurt someone.
* Respect elders by listening to them.  *Money isnot everything in life, there is something called relations. Never compare relations with money.
* Donot betray anybody's trust at any cost.
* Sometimes its good to lie but for the benefit of others.

Last but not the least, never forget to look after your parents in their old age. We will try our best not to bother you but God forbid if the need arises, please be kind to us.

Every parent is very confident about their child. But it is very essential that we prepare them for their future from their childhood.

Motherhood - always fun.

After a lot of ifs and buts, i finally sit to pen down my thoughts, my feelings and my view points.

MOTHER..itself is such a huge word that how much ever i write for it is gonna be less. I don’t know why am i writing this now but this is something i wanted to write since i was born as a MOM.. my son Pratham is 4 years and 3 months today but still i remember his tiny feet and fingers touching me for the first time.. his twinkling eyes looking at me as if an angel is watching me.. after going through the labour pain and all, when i saw him i was just super excited that a new part of me is born.. it was my husband (who very nicely accompanied me throughout my labour pain) asked the doc whether its a boy or a girl.. but for that moment(in fact till date) it really didn’t matter what the gender of the child was.. the only best part was that from 2 we have become 3.
Seeing him growing up is like a dream come true. Most of the days are happy but few are the ones which i feel should have never existed. Every stage is a challenge. His settling period when he came into this world, his feeding routines, his activities and his milestones like teething , walking, eating by himself and many more was all so much fun. Then came the major challenge in any parent’s life.. SCHOOLING..
First was getting his admission in a good playschool (how does one term a school good or bad is another story). After he secured in the desired and nearby playschool , next challenge was a good Higher school.
It was like a nightmare. So many nights went in thinking which school, which board etc will be good for him. Whether we will get in or no? But finally when he got in the desired school, we all were so happy. Its kinda relief when i see pratham going to school happily and he is in more playful mood when he returns from school.

Motherhood is an ongoing process where you enjoy every bit of it, atleast i do. Whenever i look at pratham or even think about him, all my worries are vanished.

Thank you Pratham for making me believe that there is someone in this world who i would love even more than myself.