Education | ParentsSquare

Transition from Daycare to Preschool

My friend’s four-year-old daughter, Tania, loves the daycare centre she goes to. She enjoys the home environment, the laidback attitude of the “aunty” there who also happens to be the ex-principal of a school. But it is time for her to move on to preschool and my friend is a little worried about her reaction… [ Continue Reading → ]

Breakfast: Is it Really Important?

I have a friend, Lisa, who is always cajoling her 13-year-old daughter, Maria, to have one healthy meal in a day. Maria’s constant refrain, however, is that she is never hungry. To make matters worse, she ignores breakfast completely. Some months ago, not only did Maria develop severe headaches, her performance in school showed a… [ Continue Reading → ]

Do You Know Your Students?

What would you answer if you were asked to give one reason to show that the 14th Century King, Ferozshah Tughlaq, was a good and kind ruler? At a leading school in the capital, a grade seven child gave the following answer. The king abolished the harsh punishment of cutting off limbs for committing crimes…. [ Continue Reading → ]

Creativity in Education

What does creativity in education mean? It not only implies an original approach towards tackling the same old lessons on the part of the teacher but also an attempt to foster and stimulate the natural inborn creativity that every child possesses and which often dies a slow death on exposure to the stultifying routine school… [ Continue Reading → ]

Winter Wear – What Should It Be?

Ooooh! Aaahhh! Eeeh! That’s what comes out of the mouth of children when they wait for their school bus, on an early winter morning. It’s a pity to see all those kids in shorts and skirts out there shivering, and trying to get whatever little warmth they can from the exhaust pipes of the passing… [ Continue Reading → ]

School Projects – Stressful or Exciting?

Parent A: “Oh no Alisha, do you have to make another school project?” Parent B: “Wow! Another school project? Come on, son, let’s do our best!” These are two very diverse viewpoints of parents who are required to help their children with school projects. Over the years school projects have assumed a great significance in… [ Continue Reading → ]

The Morning Rush: the daily battle of getting ready for school

Rita’s son Aman is five years old. Almost every morning mother and son have a battle getting ready for school. They need to leave the house by 7 am. From the moment he wakes up at 6 o’clock, Aman is expected to brush his teeth, bathe, comb his hair, get dressed, eat breakfast and fill… [ Continue Reading → ]

Is the ‘industrial’ model of schooling killing ‘childhood’?

As soon as its time for school admissions, parents all over the country are a harried lot. It’s a bit like Russian roulette for there is often no clear reason behind one child’s admission to a school and another child being turned away. It is a fact that getting admission in a good school is… [ Continue Reading → ]

Do We Need Summer School?

Come summer, most parents make a beeline for special classes, workshops, or any form of group activity to keep their children occupied. A mime class, a swimming session, a dance or a theatre workshop would keep the kids engaged at least for a few hours everyday, they say. But, aren’t these supposed to be summer… [ Continue Reading → ]

What matters is not the quantity but the quality of time we devoted to our children

Educationists say that over 60% of a child’s grooming and personality building happens at home. Parents say it is the school, which influences character building. While the debate goes on, millions of children go through their lives crossing thresholds of infancy, childhood and adolescence, taking parental non-indulgence (note we are not saying indifference) for granted…. [ Continue Reading → ]