Saturday was the first parent-teacher meeting at Kathir's new school - Sloka! At the end of the meeting, I came out of the room with a strange feeling... Do I really know my child?
"Kathir is a gentle boy, does not push anyone, eats on his own, eats everything, loves carrots (!!)" If I heard it right, he is an angel! My my, do I really know my little boy?? Well, he is about to turn 4 so he is naughty and certainly not gentle by any stretch of imagination - even his 4-month old kid sister will nod in agreement to this! He used to eat on this own when he was 2, not any more! He used to go to the toilet on his own when he was 2, not any more! He used to love eating - anything that we gave him - not any more!! So, it was really strange when I heard all those eulogies of praise from his Geetha teacher.
Sloka is certainly not for the faint-hearted. We enrolled Kathir here because Sloka follows a "no-stress" curriculum. It follows the Waldorf philosophy - emphasize on the child's imagination/thinking skills and not literary skills. They do not teach the famous ABCD, 1234 until they are at least 7. It's another matter that Kathir has learned A to Z, 1 to 50 (reading and writing!!) in his earlier play schools - which he is quite emphatic about unlearning now!!
Coming back to Sloka... we got Kathir into Sloka with the utopian thought of letting him enjoy his childhood and keeping him away from the rat-race. If you ask Kathir what did you do at school? He replies: "Main gana gaya, khela aur khana khaya" No wonder, he loves his school despite being woken up at 6.30 am everyday!
Daily routine in school (8.30 am to 12.30 pm)
Morning play (inside class)
Sing
Sand play (outside class)
Sing
Fruit time (we send one whole fruit a day, its cut and fruit salad distributed to all)
Sing
More sand play
Sing
Snack time (every parent takes turn to send mini meals for 20 kids every day)
Sing
Time to go home
Routine for kids at home
- Follow a ritual that does not change (including timings on holidays - coz kids their age do not know the difference between a working day and a holiday - so any change in ritual will stress them out. In short - no sleeping late and partying late on weekends!!)
- No TV - Strictly NO TV (well - it stops creativity in kids!! - esp no cartoon channels, no mythology, no music channel, no animal channels - they can be violent at times, no news - coz that may also color their thought process... In short - throw out your idiot box else your child may turn into one!)
- Dinner at 7.30 and off to bed at 8 (in short - come back from work early, no excuses!) Read out nice fairy tales or tell them stories (no mythological ones!)
- Kids learn through imitation - no cursing, no shouting, no gesturing, no complaining in front of the child, lest they imitate!
- No saying "NO" to the child. Tell them stories about right/wrong (sigh!). I thought my instructional design skills were rusting, and I had to seek alternative career options - no such luck!
- Parents can volunteer to do the class laundry once a month
- Parents must send nutritious snacks, soup (if its cold) and juice (if its warm) etc...
- Parents will organize the Diwali mela, parents will create crafts, parents must take them for nature walks, parents need to read to them everyday, parents must allow them to eat on their own, paint their hands/legs/houses in any color, play with "atta dough"... phew!
Little did we realize that "keeping the kid stress-free meant making the parents stress-out"! I was reminded of the first law of Thermodynamics that my dad had taught me - energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is transferred from one form to another. Do you see it applicable to the "stress factor" being transferred from kid to parents??
Hmm... but finally at the end of the day when I see Kathir happy and looking forward to school, all my maternal instincts take over and I'm happy he goes to Sloka!
"Kathir is a gentle boy, does not push anyone, eats on his own, eats everything, loves carrots (!!)" If I heard it right, he is an angel! My my, do I really know my little boy?? Well, he is about to turn 4 so he is naughty and certainly not gentle by any stretch of imagination - even his 4-month old kid sister will nod in agreement to this! He used to eat on this own when he was 2, not any more! He used to go to the toilet on his own when he was 2, not any more! He used to love eating - anything that we gave him - not any more!! So, it was really strange when I heard all those eulogies of praise from his Geetha teacher.
Sloka is certainly not for the faint-hearted. We enrolled Kathir here because Sloka follows a "no-stress" curriculum. It follows the Waldorf philosophy - emphasize on the child's imagination/thinking skills and not literary skills. They do not teach the famous ABCD, 1234 until they are at least 7. It's another matter that Kathir has learned A to Z, 1 to 50 (reading and writing!!) in his earlier play schools - which he is quite emphatic about unlearning now!!
Coming back to Sloka... we got Kathir into Sloka with the utopian thought of letting him enjoy his childhood and keeping him away from the rat-race. If you ask Kathir what did you do at school? He replies: "Main gana gaya, khela aur khana khaya" No wonder, he loves his school despite being woken up at 6.30 am everyday!
Daily routine in school (8.30 am to 12.30 pm)
Morning play (inside class)
Sing
Sand play (outside class)
Sing
Fruit time (we send one whole fruit a day, its cut and fruit salad distributed to all)
Sing
More sand play
Sing
Snack time (every parent takes turn to send mini meals for 20 kids every day)
Sing
Time to go home
Routine for kids at home
- Follow a ritual that does not change (including timings on holidays - coz kids their age do not know the difference between a working day and a holiday - so any change in ritual will stress them out. In short - no sleeping late and partying late on weekends!!)
- No TV - Strictly NO TV (well - it stops creativity in kids!! - esp no cartoon channels, no mythology, no music channel, no animal channels - they can be violent at times, no news - coz that may also color their thought process... In short - throw out your idiot box else your child may turn into one!)
- Dinner at 7.30 and off to bed at 8 (in short - come back from work early, no excuses!) Read out nice fairy tales or tell them stories (no mythological ones!)
- Kids learn through imitation - no cursing, no shouting, no gesturing, no complaining in front of the child, lest they imitate!
- No saying "NO" to the child. Tell them stories about right/wrong (sigh!). I thought my instructional design skills were rusting, and I had to seek alternative career options - no such luck!
- Parents can volunteer to do the class laundry once a month
- Parents must send nutritious snacks, soup (if its cold) and juice (if its warm) etc...
- Parents will organize the Diwali mela, parents will create crafts, parents must take them for nature walks, parents need to read to them everyday, parents must allow them to eat on their own, paint their hands/legs/houses in any color, play with "atta dough"... phew!
Little did we realize that "keeping the kid stress-free meant making the parents stress-out"! I was reminded of the first law of Thermodynamics that my dad had taught me - energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is transferred from one form to another. Do you see it applicable to the "stress factor" being transferred from kid to parents??
Hmm... but finally at the end of the day when I see Kathir happy and looking forward to school, all my maternal instincts take over and I'm happy he goes to Sloka!
