This is summary of the talk given by Aditi and Ratnesh from Arohi Life Education at Maitri, an event by Indian Montessori Center in Bangalore 2019. They have been working with children for 20 years.
They read the books of all the great thinkers in the field of education like Maria Montessori, Aurobindo, Jiddu Krishnamurthy and so on. They all say the same thing. Child is a learning machine. More we are with them, less we have to interfere. Teachers should operate in such a way that students should not feel the presence of teacher.
Every parent wants their child to be a leader. If that is the case, you should step back and let the child lead their own life. We are servants. Kids are leaders. Education is a natural process which develops spontaneously in human beings.
If a kid sees a traffic light and asks what that red light means, as a parent should we answer it? or should we not ? We should let the child figure it out.
If child does a mistake, we immediately correct it as we do not like mistakes. But how will the child know what will happen if he makes the mistake, unless he sees the consequences. Mistakes are the great sources of learning.
If a child starts crying for something, we immediately give it. Let the child cry. Let him calm down. He will do it himself.
Ratnesh said there was a guy at the junction of Kelamangala in Hosur where Aarohi campus is there . He used to say kelamangala is this way, whenever he sees some. He used to say this even when no body asks him. He used to say this to every person who came to the junction. Ratnesh thought that this guy has gone mad. Then he thought that we also do the same to the kids. Do this, do that and do not do this, do not do that all the time. Let the child figure it out. If he wants it, he will ask. It is as simple as that.
Ratnesh’s son did not read, write for quite some time. He only used to build ships. Only when the time came for the need for reading, he started reading the whole Harry Potter Series.
When new kids come to Aarohi campus , no one helps them dealing with the pets in the campus. They figure them out themselves.
Kids are ‘inging’ all the time. They are playing, learning, shouting, fighting, jumping, crying, laughing, eating.
Language is required not only for communication, it is also required for thinking.
A new child came to the Aarohi campus. He was clinging to the mother. Ratnesh pulled the child from the mother and gave him to 8 kids in the campus and asked them console the child.
Ultimately the 8 consultants figured out a way to make the child happy.
Your kid made a drawing and showed it to you. What will you do? Most of the parents start praising. Then kid feels happy. If this is done again and again, then the kid will look out for the praise of others for his happiness. In a sense he is more dependent on others for his happiness.
Instead if we do not do it and let the child self appraise himself, he/she will build self esteem.
Aarohi Life Education team did sea surfing with kids which was a three day activity. Some kids were able to do it right on day one, some on day two, some on day three and some could not do it at all. They neither celebrated the success nor punished the failure.
They collectively just did reflection of the experience they had which is sea surfing.
Do you want your kid to be beautiful? It will be good if you do not compare your kid with any other kid or any ideal nature or anything of that sort. Each kid has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. Each finger of your hand is different and has a role to play.
What is the role of the adult in parenting? Do not do the things for the child. Do it with the child. Education for a child should be a life long process and not for a job.
Aarohi Life Education team did some work for the government school in kelamangalam. They asked kids to decide what they want to do. Kids came up with lots of interesting ideas.They wanted a library and so they built it. They only defined the rules of the library. They only implemented them.They did lot of other ideas on their own.
Summary of the talk
Kids are learning machines. They have the power of doing anything they want to do. There is no need to teach them anything.
Do not compare kids with anyone. Each one is unique.
Do not care about success and failure of any activity. Enjoy and reflect upon the experience.
Learning can happen from any where. From books, internet, people, etc
