Paradigm Shift in Education
Some parenting tips that will help you sail through testing times
This pandemic has taught us alot of things, from empathy, family bonding, social distancing to the value of life but one thing that we are still learning is how to deal with this paradigm shift in education.
Parents have all sorts of issues from too much screen time to a lack of focus on children in an online classroom. Whereas, teachers are struggling to capture attention, devise strategies for online evaluation, and improve engagement. Last but not least the children, yes they do have their own set of problems too. For starters how to keep parents from poking their nose in their online classroom, ‘answer ma’am, Look at the screen, ask ma’am’ are some of the standard background voices in every student’s house. This further adds to the anxiety of not being able to meet friends, the sudden disappearance of lunch breaks and outdoor classes.
As parents, it is very important to make your child understand the current situation.
Never underestimate a child, no matter how small the children are; they can always understand better than we think. Tell them why they are being made to stay inside, tell them it’s rare, it is new to you as well. The entire world is learning to deal with it and so are you. The time is uncertain but one certain thing is that we will overcome the situation. Ask about their knowledge on the topic, try to answer their questions, and clarify their doubts. This is the first and most important step.
Look for learning ideas and loving people, stop bothering about what they are learning online from school, start finding things that can provide a learning experience to your child. Turn them into independent learners, encourage them to do secondary research for their queries. Play games for learning, a ‘ludo’, and a ‘ car race’ for learning addition. ‘Chinese whisper’ and ‘spell a move’ for spellings and other such games, be innovative. My eureka moment was when my students started saying, “are we just going to play in this class and not study ?” for the record, I was teaching them pronouns. They learn best when they learn it through play and that’s the only trick. There is a condition that applies though, * with people who love them. As I said in the beginning “ people who love”, looking for facilitators who are loving, kind, caring, and unbiased. As a concept loss won’t hurt as hard as an emotional loss.
Stop taking control, you cannot control everything that your child learns or the way they behave, learn to let it go at times. Remember the time that you were “NOT” in the classroom with them. Now imagine someone hovering over you while you finish your presentation or while you are in that office call with your boss? “ speak “, “ your turn”, “ look at your boss” obnoxious right? So, give your child some space and don’t comment while they attend their classes. Of course, you should guide them but not during the class.
Don’t compare but encourage, every child is special and so is yours. No, you don’t need a counselor if the child is not interacting in class. It’s not a race, it’s not a competition, and it’s not a stage so stop expecting them to perform always. Look for ways to encourage your child to speak rather than uprightly dictating them to do so. Let them pick up your not-so-important call and convey a message that you will call back, without compromising security and safety allow them to place an order for you over the phone. Let them make their own decisions like which clothes to wear and what to eat ( given an option ). Authorize them to make their timetable and incentivize them for following the same. These small things teach them to take initiative, speak up which will ultimately reflect in the classroom activities without you nudging them to do so.
There are alot of things that we as a community have to do for our children. The time is challenging and so is the task but if we keep learning and work hand in hand as a parent, educator, and school. We shall overcome!
