I see a sparkle in their eyes when I enter their room.
A tiny room which can seat 20 children at the most. The adjacent rooms are not separated with a wall. Rather, they are divided in a way that would give an impression of office cubicles.
But it is not any office space that I am describing.
It is the school which I visit every Thursday precisely at 11 '0 clock and leave exactly at 12.
It is an underprivileged school and has been adopted by an NGO that goes mobile carrying storybooks to selected schools in Hyderabad.

That sparkle in their eyes tell me that they have been waiting for another Story Reading session.
Probably, this may be their one hour of complete enjoyment for the whole week.
The noise that surrounds the place (coming from all the adjacent classrooms) do not bother them nor me. Of course, this makes my task a little difficult. I 'shout'  the story rather than 'read' it for them:)
At the end of each story, they eagerly wait for the fun- filled worksheets or activities.
Their enthusiasm never fades.

I have worked in an International School earlier and I cannot remember a single child who showed this kind of earnestness in the classroom. I was never happy in that job even though I was paid.
But here, I am just a volunteer working without any incentives and I am 'happy'.

Stories of childhood

I feel older when she insists me to recite stories of my childhood. This happens quite often now as our television has become obsolete. The stories of my school, of my play, of my mischief, of my visits to grandparents and my encounters with my numerous cousins...

And, as the stories unwind there follows inquiries such as 'why don't I have?' or 'why wasn't I there?'
It's difficult to explain how things have changed now: from how 'we' were to how 'they' are now.
It's changed from playing in gallis and fields and farms to just play areas or parks with a slide and swing.
It's changed from playing on streets to corridors or parks.

The mere act of 'cycling', for example, has reduced to 'riding within restricted vicinity'. On roads it's dangerous. I often get reminded of the cycle rides that took us from school to friends' house;from picnics to coaching classes. A bicycle was everybody's best friend then.

How I wish I could show her what a joy that would be!
At least she is lucky, in a sense that her grandparents stay in a village where she can still enjoy things in its true sense.

Recitation

I have been browsing the net from afternoon for children's poems as I have to prepare A for her recitation competition.

Every where the results seemed to be same 'Nursery Rhymes'. Other than rhymes I could hardly find anything.

Then I changed the search option to particular poets and I was pleased to find the kind of material that I wanted.

I couldn't stop sharing these two recitals as I enjoyed listening to them....

Make room for Elephants

I know the world's a crowded place,
And elephants do take up space,
But if it makes a difference, Lord,
I would gladly share me room and board.
A baby elephant would do,
But, if he brings his mother too,
There's dad's garage. He wouldn't mind.
To elephants he's more than kind,
But I wonder what our Mum would say,
If the elephant's father came to stay!

By Ruskin Bond

Someone

Some one came knocking
At my wee, small door;
Someone came knocking;
I'm sure-sure-sure;
I listened, I opened,
I looked to left and right,
But nought there was a stirring
In the still dark night;
Only the busy beetle
Tap-tapping in the wall,
Only from the forest
The screech-owl's call,
Only the cricket whistling
While the dewdrops fall,
So I know not who came knocking,
At all, at all, at all.

By Walter de la mare

Like and dislike

It has happened so many times that I liked few people without any particular reason and disliked a few without any evidence for doing so...
And those perceptions have changed vice versa a lot many times.

There is a boy (who is in Grade 4) in the apartment whom I encountered several times last year. He is a boy with special needs.
Being a remedial teacher and after knowing that he is kid with special needs I avoided talking either to him or to his mother.

It's difficult to understand what made me do so.

I presumed that he was a child with lot of behavioural issues (which he ought to have considering his condition). I even thought how would I handle such a kid if by any chance approached me for help.

But, lately I have been taking English remedial classes for this boy!

One fine day, his mother approached me for assistance for coping up with his English and attention difficulties and I did not find a reason to say NO.
So, I accepted.

Few days took me to understand him and his behaviour (it's more difficult as he is slightly autistic).

Now, we seem to be getting along very well with each other.

He doesn't miss a single class, gets upset if the class is suspended without any notice, speaks a few English sentences which he failed to do earlier, loves watching his favourite Brain gym video. What more, he even wishes me good evening and thank you while entering the class and walking out.

He even laughs which I thought he seldom did. Though he does that controlling himself (do not know why), but he looks very cute when he does.

Rhythm and Movement therapy

Attended a rejuvenating Dance therapy session today at our school which was demonstrated by Dr. Tripura Kashyap, a dance therapist.

As her colleague's body moved to the tunes of enchanting music most of our bodies too wanted to sway.

How well she explained the way body movements can be used in the classroom which, not only enhances learning but revitalises the creativity of each student and teacher.

Dance, which can be learned not for a performance but as a process, can be amalgamated in each subject a child is learning in class.

Simple usage of props such as balloons, sticks, stretching ropes can make a boring topic more interesting.

She imbibed Howard Gardner's concept of 'Multiple Intelligence' to express each child's unique ability too.

By far it was an amazing session, to conclude.

Ganesha Immersion

Last week, the whole city of Hyderabad was busy with the Ganesh immersion.

Me and my daughter witnessed the same immersion sight next to our apartment which is surrounded by daily wage workers.

A group of about 6-7 children gathered around carrying a drum made of cardboard box. I did think they were playing something but later I realised that they were all busy in the immersion of the Ganesh they had prepared.

The Ganesh (which was invisible for me though) was placed on a tiny truck which too was built with cardboard boxes. All the children danced and shouted around their truck while pulling the chord which was tied at its end.

Dancing merrily, they brought their idol to an open field filled with shrubs, cleared some place for themselves, dug a hole and happily sent away their GOD.

The whole act was finished in just 10- 15 mins time.

While all the others try to immerse their favourite God with pompous and glory, the children displyed it in their own way.

This incident happened just today in my class.

She is a second grade student- very cute, still filled with baby talk (as she cannot pronounce few letters) and very innocent too.
After she completed her work, I started chatting and pulling her leg saying that you always go down from higher classes the following year. So, I said "you will go to first grade next year".
She kept refusing and at the end she revealed something which made my heart sink. She said 'few of her classmates do ask her to go to first grade again as she does not know the spelling of words'.

This she said casually without any bad feeling which only reflects her innocence.

This is the kind of situation faced by many of the children who have a learning difficulty.
They are not completely accepted by the peers even though a lot of counselling is done by the class teachers.

These children are always looked down as someone who is slow in understanding and cannot match the speed of rest of the class.

This indifferent attitude of peers along with the frustration of not being able to learn brings down the confidence level of the child to a very great extent.

I wish these children could be understood better.

Teaching (or learning) Math

I have always been bad with numbers.
Except the basic operations of addition and multiplication all other calculations make me phobic.
Sometimes I even thought if I were dyscalculic (may be in some respect yes!!!).
Though, being with S I have learnt a great deal now.

When I started taking classes for my student 'N' I concentrated mainly on English.
But her mother explained that not only English but Math too was a great area of concern.
She wanted me to teach both the subjects.
Now, I couldn't admit to her that I was so bad in Math especially even at the third grade level.

I decided to give it a try, though I started it much later when she showed some improvement in English.
At present, to my amusement I am not just teaching her Math but I have learnt a great deal while being in that process. (I must thank S too here as he has given me lot of ideas).
I can easily connect one area to another related topic, can prepare a lesson plan and make it interseting.
As for N's mother is concerned, she is very happy that her daughter has shown changes (if not lot yet considerably)in her 'attitude' towards the subject. This attitude change can make a lot of difference. This who once hated the subject likes to learn the same numbers now!

And I am glad that I too changed my attitude from 'NOT teaching MATH' to 'YES I will teach MATH'.

Girl's Birthday

A cute drawing titled 'Girl's Birthday' by my student.

A B C D

Majority of parents think of the learning process in terms of the letters of the alphabet that their child has learnt.

Just for example.,the other day i was speaking to a neighbour at my native place whose son is almost of my daughter's age. And i casually asked if he is attending school. She said 'he doesn't in class but cries all the time' and soon she added but 'he can recite ABCD very well and can count up to 10'.
There are parents who search for schools for their children where there is stress on teaching academics rather than anything else.

What these parents not want understand is to see if their child has the readiness to read and write. A child cannot read or write just because he has started schooling. It takes a lot of mental as well as physical preparation on the part of the child to formally start writing or reading.

I was amazed at one of my acquaintance's (whose son too is slow at learning) remark on a child who had learning difficulty.
She remarked "may be her parents doesn't shout at her and don't control her so she has the problem?" Even after telling her what the problem was she was not in a position to understand it.

Initially i thought the educated parents would understand such problems better but now it doesn't hold good. Because, even if some of the parents are educated and hold good jobs their attitude towards education and the problems related to educating the children remain to be age old.

Of course there are people who very sensitive their children's feelings and take very good care but still a majority of them whose mindset needs to be changed towards learning.

On handwriting...

I have been reading some material on 'Teaching Handwriting to Children' and i came across this beautiful note by someone called Brown:"What is stressed today is handwriting to be 'functional' i.e., stress is on legibility and speed.

...the primary goal in penmanship is to produce efficiently a free flow of ideas or easily read thoughts onto paper with a minimum of attention to the mechanics of the art."

Panna

Panna is a book,a fairy- tale meant for children. But, the moment I saw the book I was taken by the beautiful drawings inside it which I later learnt is Madhubani folk art.
It's written by Kamala Das who is a poet and this book is her first attempt in writing children's book.

"Panna lives on the seaside with her brother Moti, a fisherman. One day, while waiting for Moti to return from the high seas with his catch of fish, Panna falls asleep. When she wakes up, she finds she has magically reached the land under the sea. And what a wonderful land it is, with its pearl-lined streets, coral houses and green moving sky. Here she meets the Fish King and Fish Queen. But becomes of poor Moti when he returns from the sea and finds his beloved sister gone?"

This being the story, children would certainly enjoy reading it as did I.

To kill a mocking bird

I must admit that I started reading this book because of Mouna's suggestion and I am glad I read it.
I read it twice- the first time I was forced to give away the book to the library when I had almost finished it. So had to borrow it the second time. So as not miss the link I started it from the beginning and it was good as things gave much more meaning to me when I read it the second time.
There were several instances where I would laugh loudly at all the adventures of Jem, Scout and Dill (especially the Boo Radley incident) and would look up to see if someone is watching me laughing like that.

One can relive their childhood days while reading this book.

I think it's not just the humor that bound me with the characters but the intricacies with which they teach the simple lessons of life, of adulthood and growing up.

The little episodes of Boo Radley; fire at Ms. Maudie's; Jem and Scout's encounter with Mrs. Dubose; Atticus shooting at the mad dog; Dill's running away; the case of Tom Robinson and at the end Boo Radley saving the children from Mr. Ewell; all carry such good messages with a touch of humor.

I really enjoyed reading the book.

Disparity

Whenever i see my daughter's activities, be it playing (especially the symbolic play which she has learnt recently) or babbling or motor coordination while handling objects(finger dexterity) or self eating and many more such behaviours, i will be compelled to go back to those days when i worked with children with disabilities.

That's because, whatever my daughter is learning now as a 14 months old child those children being more than 5 or 6 years of age were learning it then.
I really at the damage that occurs because of the disability or the disability that's being caused because of the damage!

The human brain

It's been a long time since i read anything serious especially related to my field (psychology)....
And still more, these busy days with my daughter made me think that i even forget whatever i had read while i was a student...
But, not really...
As i can see my psychology teachings being enacted in front of my eyes every day by my child...
While reading Developmental psychology i always found it difficult to match the age of the children with their milestones...
Even after completion of my Master's i didn't know at which age a child would reach a particular milestone....
But now, it's not that hard...
What is more amusing about watching the baby grow is 'wondering how the human brain develops with each day'...
The way our brain learn and unlearn things (how should i cry my mother is present and how should i fall asleep when dad is around), the way it can send those signals by the look of someone (who is my mother), the mapping of locations (which is 'my home' n which is not; i am out now; knowing where the TV is located;looking at the direction where the dad keeps his laptop etc.,), formation of language acquisition (quick reaction to the mother tongue and not to a foreign language that is played in TV)- it truly is amazing...
All this at such an early age of just 7 months!!!
While many people (whom i have encountered with) like to say "what a wonderful creation of GOD"; people like me would like to believe in the "wonders of nature" who created this human body...

Working with special children

5 statements made by the kids in my special school which can make you laugh:
1. Nikhil- a new comer, a chatter box but with great sense of humor, aged 11yrs.....
The question he asked one of the teachers was- "Gubbi mundugade inda mari hakutta athava hindinidava"?
2.Fareed- as the name indicates a Muslim (the reason am saying about his religion is to stress more on his Urdu mix accent:))), age-10 yrs, always making a mountain of a molehill......replied Nikhil's question- "Hey gubbi motte iduthe kano, mari hakalla....Namma maneli 2 Hennu ide adu motte iduthe gotta".
Listening to the word HENNU we burst out laughing thinking that he misspelled hennu(lady in Kannada) but later he himself gave the meaning that it was a HEN that used to lay eggs!!!!
So he made the Kannada version of the HEN as HENNU:)))))))
3. Pavan- age 14yrs, height- not more than of a 5yr old kid, half a litre of oil poured on his head everyday which would drip from his head till he goes to hostel in the evening. The statement by him which can drives me crazy everyday is.... "Good morning akka, good afternoon akka, good evening akka"....
This drives me crazy because the statement he makes whenever i pass through his class room, be it just few minutes apart.
N more importantly he says this by either folding his hands or saluting me.
4. Irfan- again a Muslim accent, 10yrs, very short built but healthy, protruding ears, very intelligent, always getting pinched by the senior students, had "drawn a picture of a man standing in the rain and had also drawn an umbrella a little away from the man. When asked why he had done that he said 'the wind blew the umbrella away from the man'!!!!!"
5. One more Nikhil: Oiled and spooky hair, 13yrs, always confused be it his subjects or conversation.... There was confusion about his medium of instruction so when the teacher asked him about his previuos school medium he said English medium and so all the teachers taught him in English. But later (3 months) we learned that he had studied in Kannada medium!!!!!

Things like this make me laugh for days but the same kids drive me mad everyday for not less than 100 times......

"Very good to meet you"

"Very good to meet you shruthi".........
This is the remark which i got last week from one of the kids who had visited our institute........
So what's special about it?
Ofcourse just to read the message it looks very simple but these words were not actually verbalised by the kid but he showed it to me by pointing to the letters from the alphabet sheet he carried with him wherever he went........
Thats because the child is Autistic (a disorder wherein, though the child has the capacity to speak n comprehend what the others' are telling still he fails to carry out his speaking capacity.....i.e his receptive language is very good but not his expressive language)......
He can perfectly understand what am i telling him but even if he wants he cannot answer me because he autistic......
But the child is fortunate that he is residing in the United States and receiving excellent special education........
Am calling him fortunate 'coz not many children with the same problem in India get the same kind of training.......
And what more, his parents are extremly supportive (though i thought his father pushed him a little too hard) .......
After i tried so hard to talk to him and he didn't utter a word, i finally gave up......
But only to find him pointing towards the letters which read "Very good............"
That gave a satisfaction.........

Return to Innocence

Very often we like to go back to our childhood just to forget the toils of the present day work.
But imagine your work itself giving you an opportunity to work with kids who always cheer you without giving any chance of early burn out.....
Same thing happens with my work too....
Working with children is not just work,its a way of releasing your tensions,forgetting that you are an adult and just being yourself...
I returned to my innocence while working with these two kids at my workplace....
Let me call one of them as "K" and the other "A".
"K" was the first kid i ever worked with. Though he had terrible problems in writing and interacting with people, he had the magic of bringing smile on anybody's face.
It was only three months that i worked with that kid but it made an impression in my mind for the life time.
After those three months we had to say goodbye to each other but i did not know how to make him realize that his sister (as he addressed me) won't be with him there after.
That poor little kid had the idea that he will be meeting me again after 2 months but.....
Looking at the innocence of "K" i did not have the courage to let him know that he will not be seeing his sister anymore.
Talking about "A"...Interaction with "A" was lesser compared to "K". But it influenced me even more."A" had more severe problems than "K". At times he would make me angry and frustrated but it made me like him all the more.
It was only once in a week that i met him but still his way of doing things lingered around all the time.
One fine day i reached my workplace with the thoughts of meeting "A" as it was long time since i had met him.When i arrived at my workplace ultimately i heard someone saying "A"'s parents have shifted to another place without even informing our school authorities.
Tears rolled from my eyes at the first realization of the sentence.
But "A" was gone from here may be never to return back.
This is the irony of life-Children make us return to innocence but sometimes they go out of our lives never to return back.