It was the Parent Teacher Meeting at Tamanna’s school. When she turned two and a half, she followed big sister Aarzoo into the portals of Little Feat Montessori. Insha-Allah, she should be there till it is time for her to move to Grade I. I met her Teacher, Ms. Paromita, who has nothing but praise for her wards. And when one has had both sisters under one’s wing as a teacher, comparisons are bound to arise, much as Ms. Paromita hates it. Heretofore, she always maintained that the two girls were very different in temperament and attitude. But this time, her report was entirely the opposite.
“Tamanna, is so like Aarzoo!! It’s not funny,” she exclaimed. “Remember, how Aarzoo used to be such a perfectionist and had to cross her t’s and dot her i’s?” I nodded, recollecting the times when I had gone to fetch Aarzoo from school and was made to wait because she had not completed her work to her satisfaction and insisted on doing so.
“Tamanna is just the same. I am amazed,” said Ms. Paromita.
“Well, don’t blame me”, I replied. “It’s their Bengali genes that are responsible. They get it from their father. Next time Parag is in town, I will send him to school and you can give him a piece of your mind”.
“I am guilty of that too”, said Ms. Paromita, who is a Bengali herself, laughing.
We had a good laugh.
“I am very laid back, I assure you,” I said and was pleasantly surprised at the work that the brat had churned out that term. Owe it big time to her teacher and her school.
Waiting to meet Ms. Munira Akhtar, the Principal, I came across this eye-opener message on the notice board.
Unspoken Words From The Heart Of A Child
My hands are small; please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture or throw a ball
My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you
My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely. Don’t restrict me unnecessarily.
Housework will always be there. I am only little for a short time, please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world and do so willingly.
My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs. Don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness – would you?) Treat me as you would like to be treated
I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guideline to live by and disciplining me in a loving manner.
I need your encouragement to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember you can criticize the things I do, without criticizing me
Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I will be prepared to make the kinds of decisions that life requires of me.
Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard but please don’t try to compare me to my brother or sister.
I realized then how important it was to keep going back to school. Those walls are teachers of the immortal kind!
2 comments:
Ture...going back to school, is going back to the past....i think, the amount of responsibilites that a play school / Kg school has in overall child development has been very well understood now-a-days and that is a real good thing for the future generation of this country...like, i dont think, when i was a kid, so much care and were given to me when i was in nursery / play school......in fact the care and attention was only for academics....i think all parents should be more careful in selecting thier kids play school / KG rather than schools / colleges
Jestine, change is coming albeit at a slow pace. I would not want my kids to go through the pressure cooker that is school in the regular and accepted sense. Learning should be fun and in any case humans have a natural and inherent thirst for knowledge.
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