BEING PARENTS by Somabandhu Kodikara

A mother of a five year old met me and said that her son made a strange remark. She said the child was not spending sufficient time at home on his school work and that both her husband and she were pressurizing him to do so. One day when the father got a little angry and raised his voice, the child has asked ‘Are there no parents in this world anymore? Why is everybody a teacher?’

Though asked by a five year old, it is a question that deserves a good answer.

A child would have literally hundreds of teachers in his life, but just one father and one mother. Therefore, if the parents too start playing the role of teacher, the child might easily get disillusioned.

This does not mean that parents should leave education of the child solely in the hands of the teacher. They should necessarily involve themselves in the learning process but with a different perspective.

HOME PLAY

The first step in this change of perspective is to transform homework in to homeplay – a term coined to distinguish the difference. Homeplay is effective in the Early Years Education and lower primary classes especially. Parents have to be resourceful in understanding and implementing it.

The principle and purpose of homeplay is to make education fun. Unlike teachers, parents do not have syllabuses to complete and assessments to conduct. Hence parents can play education with children rather than teach them.

LET YOUR CHILD TEACH YOU

The role reversal is a very effective means of implementing homepaly. Instead of mother trying to play teacher when the child comes home from school, let the child become the teacher and ‘teach’ the parent everything that she saw, heard, did, learnt etc.

On the one hand, this will make the child open up and speak freely, leading to development of self-expression. On the other hand, you will get to know everything that happened in your absence. Thirdly, this opens up a window for the parent to see the working of the child’s mind. This window would become very useful later on, when the child grows up and certain chemicals get injected in to the blood stream by natural processes. It would be impossible to build the window at that time.

Most importantly, as the saying goes ‘teaching is the best form of learning’. When the child teaches what she learnt, the content of what she learnt gets reinforced in her own mind.

Hence wise parents should provide all necessary facilities like a white board fixed at the child’s height and spend time in getting the child to explain every new letter, word, poem, story, dance stem, concept in Environmental Studies, mathematical operation that she learnt in school.

PLAYING EDUCATION

Intelligent parents who are aware that the child absorbs information at a phenomenal rate, and processes them in his brain, can make use of every opportunity to facilitate this process.

Well-known games that children play, like ‘Male, Female, Flowers, Fruits, Animals’ and ‘I Spy with My Little Eye’ can be used creatively to develop various skills in the child.

Parents can conduct quizzes, spelling Bee contests, and General Knowledge competitions to make learning interesting. However it should not be parent playing the role of teacher and asking all the questions from the child. Competition can be healthy when it is enjoyable. Members of the household can divide themselves in to two teams for this purpose.

Passing a ball can be coupled with counting. When the child can count well in English, you may count in Sinhala and then in Tamil. When that is perfected you may count backwards, then in twos, threes etc. as the child matures.

If the game is passing the cushion, the one who gets caught may have to make a speech on a topic chosen by the others.

CULTIVATING MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is a key ingredient in the Teaching Learning Process. The society has become very fast paced and life hectic, with accompanying stresses and tensions. It has become the norm to do things mindlessly. Eating mindlessly, with the eyes glued to the TV screen is just one example.

Mindfulness can be cultivated at school as well as at home by doing a few interesting exercises and games.

SILENCE GAME OF THE SPIDER MAN

Shut off the TB and get everybody at home to sit on cushions on the floor in a circle. The one who gives instructions can change on rotation. Ask everybody to sit quietly and slowly let the eyes close. Take a few deep breaths. Now listen to the sounds outside with the keen hearing faculties of the Spider Man. You may listen to sounds from near, from far, chirping of birds only, barking of dogs, sounds of moving vehicles and gradually turn to sounds that come from within your own body.

Generally adults will not hear sounds emanating from within, but children will, when they become calm.

EATING LIKE ET

Children know that ET who was abandoned on Earth had to first learn everything that the humans did. Sit around the dining table with the TV switched off and spend a minute every day to take the first mouthful like ET.

ET would first observe the food very well with his eyes and identify what is on the plate in detail. It will also smell the food with his nose before tasting. It will not gulp down the food but keep a little on the tongue and check out the taste first.

You may also add a statement of gratitude to everyone who has played a part in getting the food on to the plate.

WALKING FOR THE FIRST TIME

Another fine exercise is to spend a few minutes on walking mindfully. Everyone should walk mindfully with the mind on the sensations felt in the feet. Although this sounds very simple, you would realize that the mind does not allow it to be controlled easily. Children would find it entertaining if you call it walk like ET with the mind on what she is doing.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILOs)

Teachers are trained to first decide on the ILOs before they teach anything to children.

What new things would the children know at the end of the lesson?

What would the children be able to do as a result of the lesson?

How would the lesson affect the decision making ability of the child?

The above applies to Homeplay as well. Resourceful parents may think of the ILOs before they engage their children in learning activities listed above.

Somabandhu Kodikara