Stressing over the studies of my elder one(Eeshan) and running after my little one(Ahaan),hardly gives me time for anything. My ‘me’ time, is usually in between their leaving for school and arriving from school and all the other chores that require my attention. So basically, my mind is always preoccupied !
One such day, when I was enjoying my ‘me’ time, It suddenly struck me .My little one had graduated from playschool to nursery and was all of just 3 years, but still he did not identify alphabets. Whenever he saw words he would say “ABCD’, and we found it very cute , laughed at it and carried on teaching the elder one. My elder one not only recognized each alphabet at this age but also could write a few(not that he is a prodigy, but because we had worked on him relentlessly).
In my little one’s case though we had had no time or inclination (as they say, most parents are spent by the time they have their second kid).We had been busy focusing on Eeshan and pursuing our respective lives and career goals. ’All kids learn to read and write’ ,’What are schools for?’ ,we had fallen for the parent trap!
In a related yet different incident,we were shocked to see, Eeshan to have received full marks in some of his tests when his grammar was incorrect.And his marks being cut because he had not followed the correct flow of steps ,even though he had achieved the right solution to the problem.The logic of the teacher being, ” I have marked him based on the clue sheet we are given by school”.Here arise my doubt and fears,that if my son had found a different solution to a problem,we are telling him it’s wrong,thereby limiting his potential.
This knowledge came as a rude shocker. Have we been that careless as parents ?Are schools not that dependable anymore?
and I remember a teacher of a prominent school in dalhousie asking students to put ‘ed’ after every word to get a solution.
I firmly believe parents are shaping the future/character of a child much more than school, and that involves studies too. Except maybe in a residential school, but even there I remember my mom used to monitor my studies progress every month!
Hey,
I agree parents are very essential in shaping the child’s future and they need to monitor kid’s development at every stage.It’s just that in today’s busy world we try and shake off responsibilities sometimes.I got an eye opener ,will never take things for granted now.