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Ways to Prepare your Kids for Exams

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20th (1)

Examination time is that time of the year when kids are busy cramming in all the lessons covered over a period of several months in a few hours before the exams.

It is also that time of the year when kids regret not sticking to their resolution of devoting a certain amount of time for studies every day.

Parents often complain about how exams are as much of a testing time for them as it is for their children. But can we do something to make life easier for both–children as well as their parents?

Children regard exams as a burden that should be done away with. They may have a point there, but it is also true that exams are a very important part of their academic life.

Now that the final examinations are just a few months away, this is a good time to explore the ways to get parents and students to start preparing for the exams. There isn’t a magic formula to do this right, but following points may be able to give you to formulate your own strategy. [Read more…]

Teach our Kids to Love & Respect

By:

13th

Didn’t some of us have in us a rebellious streak when we were younger? We questioned our parents about the laws and rules the community imposed on us(rather unjustly, we felt). At some point, we even raised doubts about the relevance of society itself in the modern context. In this discussion, we will talk about why the concept of society is important and why we should care.

Human civilization owes its existence to the concepts of family and community which act as our support systems and without which chaos would ensue. Like the animal world, human society is made up of individuals with disparate temperaments. Society operates using a broad set of guidelines that act as an appraisal system that rewards good deeds and punishes bad ones.

Having established the importance of society, let us see what values form the bedrock on which civilized societies stand and thrive: helping the needy, caring for all life forms, looking after the environment and placing others’ welfare before one’s own. In short, we need to teach our children who are the future caretakers of society to inculcate the following values: [Read more…]

Building Baby’s First Library

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6th

Given babies’ exceptional powers of comprehension, what is a good age to introduce them to books, or are they too young for books at this stage? On the contrary, scientists recommend that parents read out aloud to the baby until she is old enough to share the books with them.

The benefits of reading aloud to babies are immense: it teaches the babies to recognise speech patterns, it improves their memory, and it enhances their cognitive thinking skills. Research shows that children exposed to books may outperform those that were not in school.

Reading a book together allows parents to spend quality time with their child, especially in cases where both parents are working professionals. It helps the children to build strong bonds with the parents, and regard family as a support system they can rely on at all times.

What type of books fit the bill? Simple and illustrative books do. But make sure that when you leave the baby alone for a moment or two the kid does not make a meal of the book by chewing it up. You would surely want your baby to digest important topics, wouldn’t you, but not literally! [Read more…]

Reading is the fun way to go!

By:

30th (1)

Imagine waking up to a world without the internet, which for some inexplicable reason has ceased to exist forever. For most of us, a life without Google, YouTube, and Facebook is a scenario nightmares are made of.

Those of us who grew up reading books (and those who have taken up reading recently) would probably raise our collective eyebrows one eighth of an inch, yawn politely and pick up the juicy crime thriller we had been reading before the ‘calamity’ took the surfing millions by surprise and sent them into a state of deep shock and utter disbelief! However, the book lovers would be more interested to find out who really committed the crime in the whodunit we just mentioned: was it the butler or was it the hollywood star staying at the Haveli as the Maharajah’s personal guest!

The world is divided into two groups: Book lovers, and those who regard the activity as one that requires infinite amount of patience to wade through tonnes of the written word– one solitary page at a time. For book lovers, however, it was books that kept them out of mischief in childhood, it was books that provided them with a window to the world in college, and it was books that kept them entertained when they started fending for themselves. [Read more…]

Republic Day: Celebrating the Constitution of India

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23rd

The story of India’s independence from the British rule is a story without precedence that demonstrated to the world that adopting a strategy of nonviolence and civil disobedience could prove to be a potent force capable of bringing a mighty empire to its knees.

The newly-gained freedom brought with it its own set of challenges: namely, dealing with the aftermath of the partition of the country, persuading the principalities to join the Union, and unifying diverse groups under a common theme—the idea that we are one nation and one people.

We also needed to frame a constitution based on modern ideas that was capable of delivering justice to all citizens regardless of caste, creed, language, ethnicity or religion as a matter of priority. Our laws until then were based on the modified colonial Government of India Act 1935.

However, our leaders rose to the occasion: A drafting committee was duly appointed to draft a permanent constitution, with Dr B R Ambedkar as chairman. 26 January, 1950 is the day on which India formally adopted the Constitution and is celebrated as Republic Day. [Read more…]

Enjoy Winter with Fun Board Games & Activity Crafts

By:

16th

Winter’s here! It’s time to dust those board games and have a gala time with family and friends. Playing board games is not only a fun activity but in the process, children can learn a lot of strategies and it can help develop their brain as well.

Every craft or an activity book has its own way of teaching something new and improving children’s sensory skills. Not only a child’s individual development, but also his social skills are accelerated by various board games and crafts.

Here are some of the ways board games and activity crafts can help your children:

They introduce the concept of critical thinking

Board games cannot be played unless and until you think through your next move. It helps develop the functionality of critical thinking in your child and also helps them to learn to strategize.

Board games like monopoly, mastermind and chess help the kids develop their thinking abilities and help them think in different ways.

It is very essential that kids learn to think of new ideas or ideas that are out of the box from an early age and these board games provide an interesting and fun way to achieve the same. [Read more…]

The Diverse Harvest Festivals in India – a closer look

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9th copy (1)

The Diverse Harvest Festivals in India – a closer look

With the harvest festivals like Makar Sankranti, Bihu, Lohri and Pongal right around the corner, we are all excited to see what this harvest season has in store for us. We were taught that these harvest festivals are one of the most fun-filled but equally important festivals for the farmers across India.

Therefore, it is our duty to educate our kids about these harvest festivals and their significance in India. This will be a fun-filled opportunity for them to see how these festivals are celebrated and why they are important.

Here are some ways that people celebrate these harvest festivals across India:

Pongal O Pongal!

Pongal is one of the most celebrated festivals in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a 4 day long festival during the season when rice, turmeric, sugar-cane and other cereals are harvested. Typically, the celebrations consists of boiling rice in an earthen pot and making a sweet dish out of it, in the process allowing the rice to boil out of the pot while the people shout ‘Pongal O Pongal’.

The word Pongal means ‘to boil’ in Tamil. The first day is celebrated as Bhogi where useless house articles are thrown in the pyre and burnt.

The second day is when the rice is boiled in a pot outside of the house accompanied by sugarcane and other sweets for consumption. [Read more…]

6 things that parents can do to ensure a brighter 2017 for their children

By:

1st

There are many things that we plan for our children but in the everyday rush of doing our daily chores, sometimes those things just remain at the back of our mind. This 2017, let your kids learn something new and experiment with various things in this world.

Here are some things that parents can do to help their kids have an amazing year ahead:

  • Encourage them to participate in extra-curricular activities at school

Encourage your kids to register for as many extra-curricular activities as possible in school. Let them explore and see what suits them and what does not. Extra-curricular activities will help in developing the all-round personality of your kids. They will learn to interact with new people and they will also know as to how they can socialize once they step out into the competitive world.

[Read more…]

This Christmas – Let your children experience the satisfaction of giving

By:

19th

What with all the festival mood around, there’s no bigger present than the satisfaction of giving. Teaching your kids to give is one of the biggest learnings that you can inculcate in them during their childhood.
Here are some ideas that you can utilize this holiday season to involve your children in the activity of giving:

– Involve them along with you in your giving activities

Whenever you are doing a good deed, make sure to talk about it with your kids. Your kids will always idealize you as their role models and hence, your actions will always have a direct impact on them.

Make sure that you share with them, your experiences of giving in the past and stories that can motivate them to donate. Choose a cause and let your children know as to why you are passionate about that cause and what have you done to contribute towards it. [Read more…]

Stay at Home or Work Full Time? A Human Perspective

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Stay at Home or Work Full Time? A Human Perspective

By Jayaram Rajaram

I am sure women are wondering what I (being a man) am going to say about a debate that is always highly polarized and one that has been done to death. Here I am digging into ancient Indian roots & wisdom and am going to offer a perspective for all human beings, in a gender-neutral manner.

Parents and Child

Ambition and competitive education with little or no introspection or self-awareness have harmed the human race and its peace of mind, irrespective of gender. It’s really time to move to a self-awareness, inward looking, duty-bound education system that nurtures creative thinking and collaboration while taking mental health very seriously (With an emphasis on yoga and meditation). A system that asks children what problem in the world they wish to solve and what their primary duties as sons/daughters/fathers/mothers/citizens of the world are, rather than what they want to be, with material gains, power, social recognition and bank balance being the primary objective.  Seriously, material gains and ambition are no benchmarks to judge people and it’s time society (every mother, father, grandfather and grandmother) understands this, as the damage that consumerism and materialism over the last 2-3 generations have done are already showing up in several nasty ways in most countries. Spiritually looking at things, we have to nurture a generation that is grateful and contented, but not lazy, while acting to make the world a better place. Delving into the Nishkama Karma approach, we as parents have to lead by example. As parents if we prioritize staying away from kids emphasizing the importance of earning a living and making money, that’s what our children will feel is socially rewarding and emulate us later in life. If every father and mother prioritize needs from wants and look beyond their small ego-centric lives (that depend largely on social validation) to nurture the future generation with the right values, we might have a chance of nurturing balanced, happy, confident and emotionally stable citizens of the future who are sensitive to others’ needs also.

So all this sounds good but where to start?

  • Every mother and every father currently working or not, have to assess how much time they get to spend with their children. I mean quality and quantity time with your children. We decided to bring our children into this world didn’t we? They are our purpose, duty and joy and not a distraction from our office work.   If a job demands more than 8-10 hours per day at work, start looking for a better job. Always remember that we work to live and do not live to work – no matter how fulfilling one’s job, business or career is (To put things in perspective, even a doctor has to take care of himself/herself to provide optimum patient care.).
  • Avoid taking up jobs that require late night phone calls, if you can avoid it, or work out flexi timings that let you spend time with your kids in the evening before your calls. A globalized-world is great for economics but disastrous for families. If it is a necessary evil, the least you can do is work around it without being a parent who is sleeping when your kids leave for school, and whose kids are asleep when you get back home. You will not be thinking about your American or Brit client (Or Indian or Chinese client if you are from the western hemisphere) who you never skipped a late night call with, on your death bed – I promise. 🙂
  • Schedule maximum number of days so your child gets time with his / her mother and father.
  • Ensure weekends or at least Sunday is 100% family time
  • Dedicate time for family meditation / quiet time everyday before bed time or first thing in the morning. Time for prayer / puja / God is also recommended for the parent if you wish to bring up a child who understands that there is a higher force within all of us and external rituals/routines help calm stressed minds and bring about one-pointedness of mind. The benefits of meditation and rituals include clarity of thought, focus, intuition and creativity and are today being recognized even by the so-called modern-scientific fraternity.
  • If you have all your needs and lifestyle requirements met, allow one partner to stay-at-home full time. I am not even entering the gender debate but putting kids’ needs ahead of parent-needs which is the beauty of the Indian parenting system has gotten horribly diluted along the way. This is a tough one as most of us have forgotten to be grateful for what we have and confuse needs from wants and justify all our wrong actions by looking outside for validation rather than looking inside and listening to that inner voice.
  • Reduce travel for work as much as possible. Both in terms of proximity to work place and work-related travel out of town.
  • When you attend your next work interview (whether you are a mother or father), keep your children’s needs ahead of your own. This might sound tough initially but this is where contentment begins and you will not regret the decision in the long run. Some parents say I am doing this to give my children a better life. The truth is children need us to be present more than the money (beyond basic needs and saving for their future along the way, which we must do as a duty too). Never forget that once they enter the teenage zone they won’t need you much anymore. No point having regrets at that point.
  • Travel as a family at least once a year. If possible, do short weekend breaks. None of your breaks have to be expensive and over the top for you to have a great time with your children.
  • Try to start your own lifestyle business, if your situation permits it so you have control over your time and how much you wish to earn (If your business works out well ). One partner can do this while the other brings in a steady income at first.
  • Stop trying to keep up with the Jones’, Jagans, Janes or Janakis as they might be looking at you and trying to keep up with you in some aspects of life. So stop! This gets people nowhere. Use Facebook only for entertainment and don’t worry if you can’t do an international holiday every year like some of your friends. They probably have hardly anytime with their families. Even if they do- STOP thinking about others except when you can do something to help a fellow human being. Even when you help someone do not expect quid-pro-quo and give for the sake of giving like it is your blessing from God that you have been given an opportunity to help someone.
  • Stop hoarding things and buying unnecessary stuff. Minimalistic living helps using resources (time and money) in experiences with your loved ones. Order of priority (Most important left to Least Important right) that we should aim for, work on, live daily and teach our kids is :

(Most Important) People–>Food, Shelter, Clothing–> Simple Experiences –>Money to impact ones family and world positively (even if it is in a small way like educating one underprivileged child)–>Bigger Experiences–>Things (Least Important)

 

  • Take care of your and your spouse’s ageing parents and show your kids that this is how India works and that’s why the whole world looks to India for its solid family support system. You should not ask the kids to take care of you, but do your duty towards your parents (the child’s grandparents) and allow your child to watch it happening day in and day out. Nishkama Karma at every stage- where we do our duty without expecting anything in return. Very tough but this attitude has to be work in progress on a daily basis for all of us.
  • Last but not least, nobody can have it all and nobody is 100% right or 100% wrong so stop comparing yourselves with others and do what works for you. Whether you choose to stay at home or work full time, always remember to find a job that helps you to spend more time with family. Indra Nooyi said women can’t have it all. I say nobody can have it all (Not men, not women because what does all mean? One has to sacrifice something to gain something else. Isn’t this the law of nature?). If we are to nurture a better future generation and really cherish the process, we have to spend more time with our children (This applies to mothers and fathers).  If you don’t like what someone else is doing, or it irritates you, it probably means you haven’t come to terms with some aspect of your own personality and are allowing another’s actions or lifestyle to affect your mental peace.  Introspect, meditate and course correct.

So what’s the essence of this entire article from an ancient Indian Wisdom and Sanatana Dharma standpoint? In two words – Reduce Desire!

Unfulfilled desire leads to anger and then disillusionment and depression (Kama – desire, Krodha-Anger, Moha – Maya/Disillusionment). Desire fulfilled leads to more desire or greed (Lobha).

I will leave you with a lovely piece on Maturity by Adi Sankaracharya:

*What is maturity? – by Adi Shankara*

1. Maturity is when you stop trying to change others, …instead focus on changing yourself.

2. Maturity is when you accept people as they are.

3. Maturity is when you understand everyone is right in their own perspective.

4. Maturity is when you learn to “let go.

5. Maturity is when you are able to drop “expectations” from a relationship and give for the sake of giving.

6. Maturity is when you understand whatever you do, you do for your own peace.

7. Maturity is when you stop proving to the world, how intelligent you are.

8. Maturity is when you don’t seek approval from others.

9. Maturity is when you stop comparing with others.

10. Maturity is when you are at peace with yourself.

11. Maturity is when you are able to differentiate between “need” and “want” and are able to let go of your wants.

and last but most meaningful,

12. You gain Maturity when you stop attaching “happiness” to material things !!

Writing for other parents helps me introspect and course correct as a parent myself. I learn by writing and am in no way perfect. Let us all cherish every moment of the journey rather than hanker after some fictitious destination.

Image Credits: http://www.stockphotosforfree.com/