THE GREAT CONFLICT
Dr.Madeswaran
After 5 years ,the child will start to build up its anagrams which has been gathered from birth ,even from the embryo stage.
Now there is a problem arises between the teachers and parents with the child. The child out its experiences think that he\she knew all and attained mastery in many areas.
Every aspect in life became familiar to them and makes them to think like that. Even often we think, we know every thing. It is because of our exposure to every think. For example , people who work in Thirupur [a vary famous town in south India for knitting industry] think that after few years of company experience they can start their own industry. But we think we are quiet experienced in starting the company. Our little exposure has made us think like that.
Similarly the child thinks he\she can do all of its own and also knew everything. Now please do not discourage the child., tease the child or preach with your flashback. Just leave them for a while. Try to realize they are not egoistic, they are gathering the self-confidence to do the work on their own. The child wants to be independent. The child wants to go further . But often the looses the interest and switch on to other work or area of interest. More than 15 minutes the child will never sit.
Let me share an experience:
When I called a child from a very traditional Tamil speaking back ground to begin her Tamil letters, she first refused to sit with me.
She replied,'' Tamil sir, I need not learn these letters, because I knew Tamil very well than all my class mates. I talk only in Tamil at home''.
I just left her for a week and concentrated on other students. Suddenly she came one day with her notebook and asked me to being the letters. I asked why. She just replied.,
'' Sir, I felt very bad, when I saw all other friends identified the letters from many books. I knew Tamil to converse , but not to read. I want to learn fast ,please help me ''
Now she is the best student in Tamil. Dear parents--teachers., please understand the child.
Yesterday when we celebrated our Navarathry festival [ 10 days festival all over India which falls at the month of October ] in school, many 6+ children were made to perform classical songs on stage. There was a child above 6 years, came down after the performance very sad. I asked why, she just replied.,
'' Sir ,I was learning classical music till last month. But I refused to go to my classes. I felt disinterested , but today I feel sad that I could not perform well like my classmates .I am going to ask mother to call my classical music teacher to begin my new classes''.
This is the nature of 6+children.
They are not regretting us, our suggestions, areas of interest and needs but slowly building their own abstraction of knowledge. So give time, space and shed your ego+ expectation.
THE CHILD LEARNS MORE IN INFORMAL WAY:
We must be very very careful in talking, behaving within our environment in presence of 6+.because now they are ready to observe carefully and abstracting many areas of knowledge. So what ever you talk, do it will be abstracted indirectly within them and they are going to reflect in their life. So what you want to imply on them, you do, you talk and give informally.
Are we learning cine songs formally? Same way 6+learns most of the things informally., but they need to be trained to sit and observe formally also. In our school, we make 2+ children twice in a week to sit in formal way to listen to language sessions to attain the skill of sitting and listening .
So slowly give them the time and space to evolve. Dont miss any occasion to express your attention, culture, festivals, sensations. Please dont say like the directors who are spoiling the world with nasty films ,''people like this only''.Children like and appreciate very good things.
When our school celebrated Navarathry yesterday, parents of primary section organized the programme. When sweets and snacks were distributed, few students were very eager in telling their friends not to waste, spill...because the parents have made them from morning 5 'o clock. See the order and love of 6+ children!
Every child enjoyed and expressed the joy of Golu [arranging dolls for Navarathry festival] and fun of the festival in various occasions. Suddenly two boys quarreled with one another and cried and came to us. One boy said,'' sir, he started fighting with me for the ball. I think he is like Mahishasura demon.''[This demon was kille dby Durga Devi on the last day of Navarathry ]. The story of Mahishasura has entered his mind. Dear parents, please try to realize that you cant harvest your child's knowledge immediately.
When every child brought a doll to set up the Navarathry golu, children whose parents did not care even to send a single toy expressed their guilty feelings. Please dont put all your emotions, work stress and other reasons and stress your children. Dont think that a toy is no so important for them .
ALLOW THE CHILDREN TO WORK FOR THEM SELF
Now it is the time to allow the child to realize that he \she is here on this earth to work for them self and help others. But parents are sitting for hours together to make their children to do the home work ,studies and every home after 6 p.m begins with stress, beatings and shouting.
Dear parents, just leave them for a week , let them go to school without their work. But make sure the school is not punishing corporally. Let them experience the school situation for not being responsible.
When a child who knew Tamil very well came to school without her home work, test preparation. Slowly after seeing her peer group's strange behavior towards her started learning. The friends have told her that they cant accept her without learning, because the team name is often getting spoiled because of her. Now she has realized that she needs to work for herself and also for her team.
4 WHEELS OF THE CAR :
The 4 wheels of a car called 6+ children are,
physical--mental--emotional and spiritual developments
Montessori has designed her didactic materials, syllabus and all activities to enrich and develop all these 4 aspects of a child. Even if any one of these is ignored your child fails in life. But modern education in conventional schools are just making the children to run with marks.
Today all the 4 wheels are ignored. The society is also slowly reaping for that. Increase in orphanage centers, old age homes ,crimes and diseases are the fruits we have attained through this education pattern.
There is no time for a 16 year boy to rest his brain, he begins his day at 4 a.m in a tution centre for science subjects to get centum. Only IISC OR medicine or IT is his parents aim and to fly to abroad and one of the the greatest wish of the parents ,'later what happens? '' the beloved son has gone out of the family ''.
FOR SECULARISTS :
It is the greatest blunder in India that most of the highly well educated ,western thinking and well settled families are spoiling the greatest traditions and ethics in the name of ''secularism''. The history has clearly highlighted that people will follow what educated and rulers are believing and following. But after independence the well educated Hindus are misunderstanding the concepts of spiritualism, being religious and not following and exposing their children to Indian way of living. Hinduism is not at all a religion established by a single man. It is called ''Sanadhana dharma''...a way of living in dharma and spiritually. But being religious is the initial step to begin our spiritualism. The traditions, culture and ethics have been forgot and erased by most of the well educated rich Indians who are especially Hindus.
Every concept of the tradition is questioned and asked for realistic view and being neglected and the society is merging into disinterest and laziness. There are many students in my school who dont know Gayathri mantra, poonul [ a sacred thread ] though they were born to follow them.
When Ramzan was celebrated in our school, it was so nice to see the Muslim children observing the fasting along with their family. They read pages from Quran, explained the various aspects of the Islamic religion. But it is very sad to see most of the Hindu students even do not know about local Hindu Gods. Sanadhana dharma has given the ever ending freedom to live and to attain spiritualism. But like a child in a Montessori environment sometime misusing the freedom, Hindus are misusing the freedom and slowly forgetting the right path of living. But the so called ''sophisticated family kids'' were exposed tto our traditions and culture, the aspects they have learned are extremely unexplainable. Montessori is very particular about this.
The religious exposure must make the children to become aware about their social values, rituals, nature and customs. When students have refused to chant the slokas loudly, once we explained why the tree planted in the centre of our assembly alone has grown fastly after responding to the chants, today the students are ready to chant many slokas.
It is the adults fault because of ego---tension--stress- disinterest-- laziness.
Many children have expressed how their mothers have left out the home without Golu arrangement .Reason: she has no time. The entire man is now smeared with marks, position and money but not with the vaccination so called---values, culture and spiritualism. Even the adults have spoiled the nutritive values of kids. The junk foods are so attractive. But our students have listened to us and now stopped eating junk food at least inside the school. It is all the adult's laziness and prestige in the mass makes the children to eat all these things. The NRI children are tasting our Navarathry sundals, kadalaiurandaies and beetle leaves.[ Indian food items ] Dear parents, children have to be clearly explained. There is no child in my class who brings Pizza for the party. Believe this!
Expose them to all good habits, culture, traditions. There were children who come in very very dirty dress, short dress in the name of modern dress. They were offered by the adults only. Do not blame the kids. There was a girl in grade 3 who was wearing literally a 2 piece clothing. It is who's fault? That girl asked one of our lady staff to help her with a shawl to cover, because she need to dance on the stage. So Montessori has asked us to change our view on children and make them to live for them by them for them. Let us be the guide not the dictators. The choice made by them will be perfect ,if we believe them first.
Let us not try to satisfy our children with money and bribes ,let us spare time ,give the freedom of choice to work and nourish them with maximum help. Do not work for them to show your pride in your party or ladies club gatherings. Let them understand that he\she is on this beautiful planet to live peacefully and serve all . Montessori says ,
'' What am I ? what is the task of man in this wonderful universe? Do we merely live here for ourselves or is there something more for us to do? why do we struggle and fight? what is good and evil?''
Our children are incarnations. ,please believe them.
thanking you!!!
