"Never let your schooling interrupt your education"

I love this quote! And this is a nice blog to follow.......

http://simplehomeschool.net

Raghav's first mind-map and story

The Little Cloud and Her Friends

One day there was a little cloud. She was white and soft. She loved to play hide and seek with her other friend clouds, the sun and the moon. She floated in the sky and had a big smile on her face. She loved her friends and herself. She was very kind, careful and never hurt anybody else.

The little cloud was in another country where it rained every day. Everyday her friend - the wind pushed her into the water gently. The cloud sucked up all the water from the sea, and the wind under the cloud pushed her up into the sky. And then the water came lashing down as rain! The cloud danced and laughed and said “I made everything wet!” She laughed so much that people could not hear what she was saying.

Then there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky. The little cloud went behind the rainbow, hugged and kissed her. She smiled at the rainbow and the rainbow smiled back. The little cloud loved her so much and they became good friends.

The Puzzle Carpet

Today was Puzzle Day!......Raghav wanted to fill up his entire room with puzzles and drive his cars over them..........that was his objective for the day! And this was what he achieved this morning!.....perhaps he will continue tomorrow......

Raghav wanted to make a carpet of puzzles, and I must say that this definitely added colour to the house as you can see in the picture - better than the best Shyam Ahuja carpet!....I started the day with a grumble as I had to keep stepping on them to access other things in his room and couldn't clean the floor....but I enjoyed it as it progressed. Suddenly it became a work of art! And it got me thinking......we often tell kids not to step on books especially, because they are "God" - I am sure most of us grew up hearing this from our grandparents - but then, isn't God everywhere and in everything? Why is it ok to step on a carpet - even the most beautiful, hand-woven, expensive Kashmiri carpet? Should we not respect the hands that toiled to make it a work of art? Should we not respect everything for that matter? Then why is it ok to step on some things but not on others - like a kolam or a book or money? Funny we never question these simple things enough! Do any of you know why or think otherwise?

A Balance Act

It has taken me forever to put my thoughts here, but here goes...
(I can ramble and digress so bear with me!!)

Every child is unique and comes to this world with his or her strengths and challenges.
Dont glare at me and tell me you have heard this before and from the mouths of greats...I know...I am just borrowing thoughts and reflecting on them...because as I sail this Parenting Ship,there is one fact that never changes,
Someone has been there, seen that and done that!!

As a parent I have my own unique challenges and that hampers me from doing things in a certain way.
As a parent I have my unique strengths and that helps me do things in a certain way.

Now replace Parent with Child and still the truth in that remains unchanged.

I have 2 very different children and each of them is challenging me in different ways.
While one thrives on routine and rules, the other rebels at any hint of routine or rule!
While one likes less choice, the other wants a multitude and yet still be dissatisfied, opting to do things in a way that I have not even thought about!
While one is calm and undisturbed by outside forces the other is an ocean in turmoil whose tsunamic outbursts threaten us from to time!

In all of these observations and experiences I can only say that understanding the child: needs, likes/dislikes, expectations, roles they play at every stage
understanding ourself: needs, likes/dislikes, expectations and roles we play at every stage... is the most important part of parenting.

Parenting is also an active interaction between the caregivers, child, family, society, and community.

It is an intricate web that we bring this child into and as We understand they too will begin to interpret, but Their interpretations also help us understand!

Keeping ourselves flexible and open to change helps us in this balancing act.

(Please feel free to comment!...I am Big enough to Take it!!)

Let's savour every moment.....

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