jugal bandhi: continuum of traditions and melodies

jugal bandhi: continuum of traditions and melodies

Kids have such a wonderful imagination !

Kids have such a wonderful imagination !

Songs -heard and forgotten ?

We often snatches of songs heard in childhood which we want to teach our kids.
An excellent source for songs for camping, teaching various themes is
http://www.songsforteaching.com/index.html
A site which allows legal downloads of MP3 files and provides lyrics for traditional songs is
http://freekidsmusic.com/

When little kids have a vacation..

Some parents look at vacation time with a little anxiety. If they aren’t going on a holiday, they wonder how they will spend time with kids and keep them happy.
There are many websites which give ideas for craft work for kids. When I and my kid do some creative work together , we are not only utilizing time usefully ,we are creating great memories for the kid.
The sense of satisfaction of having created something goes a long way in building self esteem and also eventually allows the kid to look at honest work with an open mind.Not as just work – but as something that will bring happiness.
Here is a site/ blog that will help a parent find things to do with a kid during vacations.And the idea of building a lap journal is quite delightful.
http://delightfullearning.blogspot.com/

And one more that has specific activities even for Indian festivals

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/index.htm

Teacher Talk..

Most often when we meet our friends after a few minutes of exchanging groans and grumbles of the work LOAD , we tend to start sharing work related websites-
sites that allow free download of worksheets, tips for accommodating special children, ideas for planning a lesson,sites that generate word mazes  and what not.
Bookmarking them  for my use them is not enough. I want to list a few every week so that it is useful to others too.
We often spend hours searching for something specific and urgently needed – and end up with a whole lot of things we may need in the future.
So a tiny memo with details is ideal to have at a click.
Today I shall post links to rebus stories and picture puzzles. This site has much more. And I have spent  a lot of fun time here solving the picture puzzles- totally forgetting  the work on hand.

www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/worksheets/Highlights/#PictureStory

 

Art of living from auto drivers….

On a recent visit to Bengaluru, I got to travel a lot in autos.

The first memorable drive was with Narayana of Kumaraswamy layout. We were struck in a jam near BTM layout when he began his painful story.It seems he had just begun his day and became     a  victim to a superwoman. He had ferried her to some company. She offered to pay with 100 rupee note. He didnt have  the necessary change.Kind soul that he was offered to bring change for the note he possessed. By the time he came back, she was gone.The story began now. He was so dejected , he was going back home.He went on to tell me some incidents in which he had ferried people for free on being told of their problems.What amazed me was he told me that he would not lose faith in people just because he was  cheated by one.

On one another such journey, late in the evening , we travelled with a senior member of their  tribe. He asked us which route we preferred..we told him to choose -depending on traffic density.Just this little  trust in him made him happy. He talked about how honesty has helped him and his family. He narrated an incident where an unknown  passenger gave him a recommendation  letter to a  philanthropic hospital. This gift saved his son’s life.He said that if we  ever earned anything by dishonest methods the money would just go to medical expenses. This belief of his has kept him happy , healthy and content.

It was truly a learning  path that we travelled .

My Little Jakkanachareez

Ronak's Ganesha

Sowndarya’s work of art.

My kids(age .. 5+) were given a demo on how to make clay models. As it was their first lesson, their Craft teacher showed them how to make a Ganesha.They made these in just a few minutes.This was sometime in July.The multi coloured one below  is made by kind -hearted  Rohit.

In August they made collages.

More Ganeshas

More Ganeshas...

Ganesha-- in my class

I love these kids.

My class IB

Each day at school is so unique.
Meet Rajat. The ever jumping restless little fellow. He can’t sit still to write neatly-unless he is cajoled that he has the best writing !
He surprised me by getting 10/10 in the memory test .he got selected for the finals.

And when I was conducting the finals, the kids were shown 10 objects and told to close their eyes and recollect them .Rajat could hardly concentrate ..or so I thought. He was hopping and playing imaginary games with someone. When his turn came, he cooly reeled off all the names of the 10 objects.And the kids who I thought were calmly recollecting and would score full marks were leftfar behind.

My perceptions were wrong -yet again.

Another lesson.

Back to school..

School has restarted.
Meet my new children in Std. I …
Meet Aneeket.
The child who is bouncy and noisy.Yet he is so thrilled to be in his ‘big brother’s school.
I was suddenly asked to fill in some statistical details by the office.
I gave the kids chalk and told them to draw on the floor.

kids drew flowers, trees,animals, cars and what -not

And dear Aneeket drew a boy with tears .

A few minutes ago I had   told him to sit away from his newly acquired friend.

Kids are so sensitive.

I felt lousy.

I hugged him and told him to move back to his coveted  seat

I was repenting my action 😥

Truly a rewarding lesson on the first day of school—for the teacher.