How Far I'll Go......

Friday, January 10, 2020

School - love or hate?

Maddy January 10, 2020 2 Comments

Last night, I was spending some time on Quora and came across this question -"is it weird that a child hates going to school?". Responses were mostly, yes very normal. Well, to me it's not normal at all.

I disliked going to school for a very long time. I was an introvert child, didn't have a lot of friends and was bullied at times. There was this one big group and the leader of the gang, a girl, would always convince others not to speak to me if i said something which she didn't approve of! I have always been this person who would just not agree to anything for the sake to being in good books. So, i was always left alone. This happened for few years. Then my school came up with this concept of shuffling students of different sections when they were promoted to the next class. That's when things started getting better. New kids were kind and i could make a few friends or at least have communication.

My daughter usually loves going to school but there was a phase when she would just cry and say i don't like school. I got very worried and tried talking to her to understand what is it that is bothering her. After a lot of effort, she finally said that her best friend now plays with this other girl and the other girl just asks her to go away when she tries to join them in play. We comforted her and told her story that when Mumma was little, this happened to her and what she did. We also spoke to her class teacher and he said, he would observe and correct the situation and he did that! Few days later, she was again feeling good about going to school.

A friend's daughter, cried for days because kids in her cab would say nasty things to her.

When a child doesn't want to go to school, makes excuse or cry, parents at times think it's because they don't want to study and just have fun at home. Well, i think, there is always a reason if a child hates going to school -be it getting bullied by kids, scolded by teacher, unable to cope up with a subject etc. which leads to low self esteem and not wanting to go to school!

If you are facing this situation, please talk to your child to understand what is causing this behavior and work it out together.

A child spends significant amount of time in school and it is supposed to be a place where the child feels welcomed and happy.

Thank you for stopping by.....

# KidsArePrecious

Thursday, January 2, 2020

MATH for kids (3-5 year old)

Maddy January 02, 2020 0 Comments

There are certain things in life you wish you had done differently, for me that would-be MATH! I am not good in Math and I wish I learned it better.

I would say introducing MATH to kids (early years) is very important. Math is not just about numbers, it's about reasoning and thinking. If taught in fun way, it will increase their curiosity and liking for Math.

We started with Math concepts when our daughter was about 3 years old. Kids at this age like learning new things and she totally loved it.

I feel just sitting for some time to teach is kind of boring for kids at this age so it should be in form of play. Here are the few things you can try:

Pick the toy your kid loves the most and use that to teach counting. We used blocks and stacking toys. We started with 1-5 and moved further as per her comfort and interest.
Extend it to counting steps of walk, stairs, cars on road, number of times you catch the ball etc. Slowly your kid will think and relate numbers to all objects!
Kids love to play with household utensils and that can also be used to teach counting.
Once comfortable with counting, you can introduce comparison (greater, smaller, equal). Place stack of 3 blocks on one side, stack of 4 on other and discuss which has greater number of blocks.
You and your spouse can do jumping/running or skipping and ask your kid to keep a count of it and declare the winner!
Counting sides of different shapes that your child already knows is also a good activity.
Introducing addition would be next. Use objects or toys your child loves. Give 4 apples to your kid, ask to give one to mommy and discuss how many are left. Repeat with different toys and games.
When we play with blocks, before building, I would just ask my kiddo to segregate the different blocks and count each set. You can try the same. It's fun!
Teach counting and adding on fingers. Or mark lines on paper and add.
Make it your daily routine play addition games. There would be a time when your kid would be very comfortable to add single digit numbers orally.
Introduce to the concept of subtraction once you feel your child is good with addition. Use objects and make it fun.
Introduce to double digit numbers when your kid is good with single digits.