THINKING

 Takeouts from Session on THINKING (July 31, 2007    Thursday)

 

Today's session has made a profound impact on the way I have started interacting with my son. Till now, I was under the impression that by answering his WHYs! I am increasing his knowledge about things around him. But I was wrong. I was doing the thinking for him and stopping his. Now I know there is better way to answer him. By simply asking the right questions I can direct his thinking to a new level of learning and understanding. I can make him a "thinker".

 

Now I am "thinking" why we focus so much on gaining bookish knowledge of facts and figures, which becomes useless unless the child understands how he can apply in real life. Moreover, the child can dig out this knowledge of facts from anywhere, internet etc if he really need to. Instead, why don't we focus on teaching them the art of thinking, questioning and finding answers.

What surprised me is that even the type of questions we may ask can take our thinking to different direction. For example if we ask WHY, Why I am …., Why are you…..Why he/ she is….we may get more of excuses, explanations or negative answers. But instead of asking why, if we reframe the questions in terms of WHAT or HOW …I can …you can or …he/she can …….we may be looking at possible solutions or something positive to look forward to. The questions on page 62 of our program manual has truly great ideas on how can we develop the art of asking meaning questions. Also, three categories of thinking – Past (where we try to analyze – "Why"), Present (where we think in terms of Feelings) and Future (Creativity- "How or Why") can give our thinking a new dimension.

Yes, for sure! Today's class has opened up a new window where I can take my thinking as well as anybody's to a higher level of understanding, creativity and learning.

 

Just "thinking about THINKING" since I got out of today's class……

 

 

Anu

 

 

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Check this out....

Hi,
   Today's session got me thinking...the 9 questions at the beginning. I am now aware of how application of the knowledge is more important than the knowledge/fact. This brings to my mind an old Panchatantra story about 3 deciples who were taught by a Guru how to give life to any dead animal. They all tried it out on a lion which was dead in the jungle without thinking twice and after the process of giving life to the dead lion, the 3 deciples were killed by it.
See I am thinking too...

I used to be an impatient mother/auntie who used to rush on looking at a child struggle and help(or do the opposite??) in a moment. Now I am holding myself back.
I remember as a child(I vividly remember) in social studies there was a question in a test(I studied SS in hindi) " Hum Kapde kyon pehente hain?"  and I had written "Kapde na pehenne se humen sharam aati hai isliye hum kapde pehente hain" and I still remember how everyone was laughing at me for having written such an answer.

Changing questions from 'why' to 'how' was very interesting too. I realised how 'how' Qs can be more positive and they can unfold different options.
I am really unable to frame words to express what I learnt from the basket excercise. Maybe someone else's thoughts and reviews about this will help.
Pls see the cartoon on thinking...
Shubha

Visit website on thinking...

http://www.studygs.net/genius.htm


Shubha

Raising Self-esteem

From:

http://www.arlenring.com/raisingselfesteem.php

"This concept is widely misunderstood. It is not about
self-cheerleading or superficial attempts to think you
are wonderful. It is about really examining the
negative beliefs you have about yourself and seeing if
perhaps some of them are the result of programming
while you were growing up.

Self-esteem is the self-appreciation that comes from
seeing how much sense you actually make when you
finally get an unprejudiced look at yourself.

Self-esteem comes from separating out who you are from
what happened to you."

Sujata

review session 7

Hi,   

After entering the class i observed new exercise was already their on the board.Different questions were their ,  like write poem, talk to person to make her happy,so on----------.

Today we discussed   M I  ,all Q were related to different types of  MI

.Then what is intelligence.

Everyone gave different definition of intelligence,,,interesting  to learn   ,it can be  ability to understand or excellence in what we like..

then we all formed pairs  to do MI exercise,concept was to teach 6 yea r"punctuation". Amazing everyone actually did very nicely,i never thought that it will be so much fun doing MI.

WE should expose children to all the intelligences.

later we discussed interpersonal and intrapersonal  through a small exercise.Its like how we can use these intelligence with kids.

Really if kids were allowed to do more group discussion in  class they will understand things fast and easily..

We did some guided visualisation, on which i am still working and have some doubts which we"ll discuss in next session .

 Shruti 

Session on MI - July 26 (Thursday)

Takeouts from July 26, 2007 (Thursday) Session on Multiple Intelligence - Anu

 

 

In the beginning of today's session we were asked to do eight different things based on eight different intelligences. Most of us wanted to do some activities before the others, but I was able to do all of them. It means all these intelligences are present in us. Some come naturally to us over others, but it is possible to develop other intelligences we are not so good at, through practice.

 

If you find something difficult, don't say "it's difficult". Instead say "I have just started learning".

 

Every body is intelligent in their own way. "It's not about how much but how my child is intelligent." Accept the way the child is. Acceptance is the most important, it's the foundation. This acceptance changes the way you look at the child. Now the focus shifts from comparing the child with other kids to "How I can groom my Child's intelligence to the best." Moreover, the child also understands his wants and needs better. He becomes more confident and can excel in that intelligence and later can focus on learning other intelligences too. Best thing we as a parent can do is to expose out child to all the eight intelligences and let him decide what he wants to do with them.

 

Sad part of Indian education system is that it focuses more on verbal-linguistic and math-logic intelligence. Other intelligences are considered under extra-curricular activities. Even worse, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence is least encouraged. Although in today's work environment, these two intelligences are most needed. A lot of learning can take place if children are allowed to learn in groups than individually.

 

 

 

 

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question about freedom

Hi all,

 

I consciously do not force my kids to do things of my interest.

I allow her to explore whatever she is interested in.

I also realise the importance of giving her respect and choices and love.

 

But when it comes to issues like keeping things back in it place after playing,

she is least interested in it.

I fail to motivate her to do it because she doesnt want to do it..

Whatever I do or say, she wont do it.

Even if I force her, she will do it just once when I am there.

And by forcing her, obviously I am not giving her freedom, not I am giving too much of respect.

But in these situations , I fail to put my learnings to use.

 

Though I want to give her freedom, I dont want to give her freeom to do things just like that as per her wish. For somecases I dont feel like giving her freedom....................

 

Am i putting her self-esteem down by forcing it ? Can I motivate her to do things whihc she is not interested in doing ?

 

 

 

Thoughts about previous session

The session was too disturbing. But finally brought me peace.

I am really really trying to look at intensions for all actions.

Sometimes it takes time to find one, but once ound it becpmes very easy to accept it.

I am trying it out with my daughter for every action of hers.

I am trying to express that I accept , or I agree or I appreciate her intensions even though not agreeing to her behvior.

She sometimes kind of understands what I am tryiong to do and cooperates with me. Sometimes she doesnt. Her vocab of feelings needs to be developed and for that mine too.

 

And why kids, it makes my life easier with everyne.  I can really really accept ppl more ,

I can really connect with them more..

Experimenting it with adults too and its working.

 

Can I really accept the way my child is intellient ?

 

This too is a confusing question.

I feel it needs lot of awareness in myself . I was thinking that I can accept my child the way she is.

But somewhere I realised that I am still expecting some intelligences in her and am still kind of forcing her to exhibit them.

I had forgotten that I just need to expose her to all kind of intelligence but what she is interested in , is her choice. Only then I would say that I have given her freedom.

 

Now I can appreciate her the way he/she is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

review session 6

Hi,

      New session,new surprises. .Actually i like the small exercises  ,generally which are given to us after meditation.

Today we were asked to become aware of our self "SELF AWARENESS"

 We closed our eyes,and were asked to think of any body part which we like more,then any body part which we don't like  ...body part which give us pain...like  this  we did small self talk.

During this time i was surprised , as i came to know so much about myself.

  Later we discussed about ACCEPTANCE.

We were given small incidents  like someone is cheating or a boy beating the dog .We were asked to think , as what will be our response . Almost all of us thought  action was not good so kid is not  good  so on-----------

  But then Ratnesh asked what can be  the intention behind all these things  ....it was good indeed.

  Behind every action is a positive intention  ,which we generally don't think. Then Pragya told real story in which action was not good . but when we thought of his intentions that was good.If we  understand others intentions then we can accept their behaviour.

 Acceptance is easy if we agree ,respect and appreciate  and lastly understand intention.

 End of session i was only thinking  how will i decide  that the child has made appropriate  action .

 Still thinking and waiting for next session and ofcourse new refreshing exercises.

 bye.

Wants and Needs from Ramki

Wants and Needs

As far as wants & needs, please see the link
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/economics/wantsandneeds1.htm.

It is interesting. I did an exercise of listing many
of my day to day requirements and analyzed them as to
the needs and wants. It gave me some awareness. I also
suggested such exercise to few children. It is working
good.

With Lov
Ramki

Self-Esteem from Ramki

SELF ESTEEM

Self esteem: First of all, be yourself! It is much
better to be you than an imitation of someone else. We
should accept that we are just human beings and forget
trying to be perfect in the eyes of others. The lack
of self-esteem is could be common. It can hold back
our progress, put us under extreme stress, and make us
feel generally bad about life. It may have been
building inside us for many years with the aid of bad
thinking, but bad thinking can be replaced with good
thinking, NOW and forever. See a poster attached about
declaration of SELF ESTEEM.

RAMKI

Feelings from Ramki

FEELINGS

Feelings convey information about situations, on both
conscious and subconscious levels, via at least 30
neurochemicals acting alone or in concert in complex
ways.

The feeling of fear, for example, is an anticipation
of injury, broadly defined. It raises the levels of
brain chemicals such as adrenalin and cortisol. In
healthy subjects, fear is triggered by stimuli that
indicate the presence of risk or direct danger.
However, even in the absence of a direct threat,
thoughts (the active comparing and contrasting of
data), unconscious brain patterns, and imaginings can
also promote fearful responses. Fear can therefore be
deliberately induced, as occurs regularly in both the
political and entertainment realms.

I have attached a list of feeling words, which we may
use when we deal with people, especially children. to
CONNECT them.

Ramki

July 19th Session Report fom Sujata

July 19th Session Takeouts - Sujata

For me, the concept that i can be imageless or have a
1000 images, and that this is normal, acceptable, not
weird, a desirable state to be in, was mindblowing. A
small joyful voice keeps nudging: See, you're ok.

I've always hated stating any adjectives about myself
(even though i may believe them), because at the very
time i make such a statement, i mentally add an
addendum that i'm not always so!

I love the fact that i don't have to be consistent.

Let me say that again, I LOVE THE FACT THAT I DON'T
HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT -- and that this is normal (no
actually, this is a DESIRABLE state to be in), it is
not a sign of weakness in my character or lack of
direction or any other negatives.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 19th Session Report fom Pragya

July 19th Session Takeouts - Pragya

"NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR
CONSENT"

This is Self Esteem.

"S" means be SPECIFIC when you praise the child.
Itencourages the child. He tries to do even better.
"E" means EMPHASIZE more on the strengths of a child
rather than his weakness. Make the child realise the
resources he has inside him.
"L" means LOVE AND PRAISE the child from the heart and
do it frequently without any frills added to it.
"F" means FOCUS on the right thingsof the child,
because "What you FOCUS on is what you get". Coal mine
leads to Diamond. A coal merchant never gets Diamond.
"E" means ENTER into a world where you respect the
child. Never argue or fight in their presence. They
may not feel safe then, which in turn can reduce their
self esteem.
"S" meansSEE the things done correct by the child,
instead of seeingthe things done incorrectly by the
child.
"T" means THINK positive about the child. What you
think shows it's affect on the child without you
telling them.
"E" means set an EXAMPLE for the child. If you say
it's difficult or I cannot do it, the child will copy
you.
"E" means EXPAND your beliefs about the child. Use
"and" instead of "." while talking about the child. He
is clever and he is obdient and he is curious and he
is active and he is sensitive and he is intelligent
and he is frank and-----------------
The child will also copy you, which inturn increases
his self esteem.
"M" means MAKE the child strong enough to deal with
criticism. Teach them to take criticiam in a healthy
and positive way.

All these words put together will help to develop
"SELF ESTEEM"
------PRAGYA----------

July 19th Session Report fom Sweety

July 19th Session Takeouts - Sweety

i enjoyed this session very much because here only i
learnt many ways to balance our harmony.

1. Respect vs Love: Every individual needs love and
respect. BOTH

2. Self confidence vs Self esteem: HARMONY +
DISHARMONY=SELF ESTEEM

3. What we FOCUS on , is what we get.?
focus on good (STRENGTH) rather than WEAKNESS.
Strengths in us will never change.but for that we
should stop :

judging, labelling, comparing....
we should cultivate ACCEPTANCE.

July 19th Session Report fom Shruti

July 19th Session Takeouts - Shruti

After this session i am focusing on the steps towards
their achievements not on the mistakes and it really
worked they are happy which makes me happy.
For things to change. I must change.

July 19th Session Report fom Minakshi

July 19th Session Takeouts - Minakshi

The sessions was an eye-opener for me on - Self
confidence, self esteem and social confidence. Also
how we use these interchangeably and that while self
confidence can fluctuate, self-esteem normally doesnt

I found Nupurs comment on Respect and love mind
blowing - that there can be respect without love but
no love without respect !! It was so well articulated
and so true, I shared this at home with my husband and
he too was floored.

The discussion on Self esteem and the need for harmony
was also wonderful

The three images of me - as seen by me, as seen by
others and as I wish others to see me and which leads
onto the question - who am i ? Present, past future
....

And then the discussion on raising self esteem - 4
levels of praise...

Level 1- Wow
Level 2 - Specific comments
Level 3 - How do you like it
Level 4 - Appreciate the skills and hardwork which
went behind it

This is one that I have always grappled with and I now
apply level 4 ( started yesterday) and my daughter
just lovessssss it. It works even better if I give all
4, there are many situations when she thinks I am just
not listening / seeing. This tells her that although I
amy be doing something else, I am still there and have
seen what she is showing. Better still Level 4 takes
away the need for the work to be visually wow or
correct

An incident I wld like to share - When my brother was
maybe 5 yrs old, my mum was asking him some math
questions and he on purpose gave the wrong answer.
When she asked him why, he said I wanted to check if u
were checking!!

On Shubhas comments on pictures, graphice - very valid
- but I dont know how to do it on this editor yet....

assignment 2 multiple intelligence

My answers to the given q's are

Q1) what is multiple intelligence?

eight types of m i are

1) Visual/spatial Intelligence :    picture smart  people

2) Verbal/linguistic Intelligence :    word smart  people

3) Logical/Mathematical Intelligence : numbers/reasoning  smart  people

4) Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence :    Body movement smart people

5) Musical/Rhythumic Intelligence : music smart people

6) Interpersonal Intelligence : people smart people

7) Intrapersonal Intelligence : self smart people

8) Naturalist Intelligence : Nature smart people

 

 

Q2)  My topic is clock for 6-8 yrs young kids

Ans)  While teaching them I will need some things like : a picture of a clock, 2 hands of the clock, a bell and a drum, pictures of rising sun, setting sun night stars, moon and of the afternoon sun.

I will tell them a story about Mr. and Mrs. clock and their 12 children

Inbetween the story I will explain like this

 

1) visual/spatial intelligence : through the picture of clock with both hands showing time which can be changed of course.

 

2)verbal/linguistic intelligence : tell them time orally

 

3) logical/mathematical intelligence : through skip counting of 5.

 

4) bodily/kinesthetic intelligence : show them different time by using hands (mostly the thum and the pointer)

 

5) musical/rththumic intelligence : bell can ring once or twice or---- up to twelve, for hours and drum one or two or three for 15 or 30 or 45 minutes.

 

6)interpersonal intelligence : they will understand by looking at others.

 

7) intrapersonal intelligence : they will find out some way on their own.

 

8) naturalist intelligence : by showing them the pictures of rising sun, setting sun, afternoon sun, night, stars and moon for different times.

 

All these activities will be done together along with the story.

 

# end

 

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self esteem

"NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT"

 

This is Self Esteem.

 

"S" means be SPECIFIC when you praise the child. It encourages the child. He tries to do even better.

 

"E" means EMPHASIZE more on the strengths of a child rather than his weakness. Make the child realise the resources he has inside him.

 

"L"  means LOVE AND PRAISE the child from the heart and do it frequently without any frills added to it.

 

"F"  means FOCUS on the right things of the child, because "What you FOCUS on is what you get". Coal mine leads to Diamond. A coal merchant never gets Diamond.

 

 

 

"E"  means ENTER into a world where you respect the child. Never argue or fight in their presence. They may not feel safe then, which in turn can reduce their self esteem.

 

"S"  means SEE the things done correct by the child, instead of seeing the things done incorrectly by the child.

 

"T" means THINK positive about the child. What you think shows it's affect on the child without you telling them.

 

"E"  means set an EXAMPLE for the child. If you say it's difficult or I cannot do it, the child will copy you.

 

"E"  means EXPAND your beliefs about the child. Use "and" instead of "." while talking about the child. He is clever and he is obdient and he is curious and he is active and he is sensitive and he is intelligent and he is frank and-----------------

The child will also copy you, which inturn increases his self esteem.

 

"M"  means MAKE the child strong enough to  deal with criticism. Teach them to take criticiam in a healthy and positive way.

 

All these words put together will help to develop "SELF ESTEEM"

 

 

------PRAGYA---------- 

 

 

 

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sharing some thoughts....

Hi all,

After the last session's assignment on motivation, specially the one on motivating child in doing 'what you want', some thoughts have been coming in my mind which I want to share with others...

If parent's idea of child's goal is same as child's goal for himself then great!!!
Suppose it isn't and parent defines child's goal, will the child be happy to go for it?

I remember Osho's message on love and faith which I heard somewhere...

Do we believe god loves us and he is our creator like mother and father? If we do, then if we torture ourselves by not eating for day(s)(fasting), piercing ears, etc things people do to appease gods will god be happy? No creator will be happy to see the creation he has made with pain to suffer.
Reflecting on this, we created our children, if our children are unhappy will we be happy as parents?

I feel no field is lesser important, engg, medical, CA, MBA, geologist, geographist(??), astronomist, engine driver, teacher, cook, homemaker, mathematician, politician....any career is great as long as you LOVE and ENJOY what you are doing and you then naturally you try to be the BEST at it. No one needs to be motivated to do what you ENJOY doing.
This is what we(me and my hubby) are going to teach our son.

Any more thoughts on this? Pls feel free to agree/disagree and discuss abt this.

Shubha

The meditation music

There is something abt this meditation music too. Even if listen to it in most faul mood, it just changes me.

The name Genie is most suitable for this place. Things r really surprising me everytime magically.

---kirti

Drawing my thoughts

It really made me think in detailed.  I was constantly drawing myself in many different ways I was exploring. I drew myself with hands wide spread, ready to take on everything. I drew myself restricted in chains too and trying hard to break free. These were my beliefs that I was fighting too.

I also drew myself to be very tall. And surprising I drew myself upside down. And this happened so naturally that after drawing I realised that I have changed myself so much.

 

Ratnesh, u had said write abt urself every 6 months or so n enjoy the graph. But in few sessions itself my graph has changed so much that I have wrote abt my feelings n beliefs atleast 5 times till now. Everytime I see a new kirti inside me. I blossom after every session.

 

------kirti

my feelings after self-esteem session

Who am I ---- ?

 

I really dont want to know now who am I. I am whoever I am.

And after this session too.......... I want to rewrite 500 words about me.

 

It was so easy to say that it doesnt affect me , what others think. If I think deep down, I was still expecting something from others to think about me.

But then I realise what others think  is not in my control. And My self-esteem can defintely not rely on something that is not in my control.

 

When it comes to respecting kids or anyone for that matter ...........

I was under impression that one needs to earn respect.

But why do I need to earn it ? Now since I am not looking myself from other's point of view, I dont need to do anything for that. I deserve respect from myself most importantly and I am worth of it just because I exist.

 

I wanted to give fishes to so many ppl today. But dont know what was holding me back. Am still thinking abt it that too. U all made me think so much today. And  yes shaking up my beliefs too. I thank ratnesh for making me confused. I am sure I would find answers to my qyestions.  

And I am thankfull to all of u that u asked ur doubts , and with every question that u asked, i could relate it to myself. Making me think more.

And stories that  u all shared were wonderful.

 

 

 

 

review of the 4th session.

Hi everyone,
here is the review of the fourth session.Hope I remember most of the points.

REVIEW OF THE FOURTH SESSION.

                   

            The beautiful morning started with meditation. As each one entered, we were told to take two icecream sticks and a straw and rubber bands. I was wondering what to make out of these? But as proceeded with it, I found there were so many things we could do like arrow ,tree, aeroplane, bird, caterpiller etc.

            Then we were asked to do what we have never done before. That was amusing part.  The saying on the board

                        "if it ain't moving

                         "i" ain't moving

            made me think so much and there is much more in it and the kids mind is full of so many things and we have to understand them better.

 

            The 4 steps we undergo while learning something is

·      Unconscious incompetence

·      Conscious  incompetence

·      Conscious competence

·      Unconscious competence

The 2^nd, 3^rd  stage is filled with frustration, anxiety, pressure & effort is more in that stage.

 

What made us learn something?

1. Goal
• Desire/failure
• Aspiration/inspiration
• Achievement/satisfaction
• Need-result
2. Liking/interest
3. Reward/appreciation/encouragement
4. Freedom to act ("INVOLVEMENT")

 

WE SHOULD LEAVE THE KID TO MAKE MISTAKES AND LEARN BY ITSELF.

 

We often discourage them by impinching their ideas while we really think that we are encouraging them. This is most important part of each one of the parent to think & realize before it is too late.

            The four letters which help the child to learn anything are

              F – fun(interesting)

              A – aim(goal)

               I – involvement

               R – reward

I was surprised to hear that PATIENCE is the last thing to work with children. I should know more about that.     

We should give the kids "freedom to do what they like" & "freedom to do how they like".

 

The exercise we did

            I feel good

            I feel great

            I feel excited

 was nice which depicts our capacity, ability & motivation towards the goal we set for ourselves.

What is u'r wish that you will ask a genie?  Was nice. I've come across such a question so many times but I never gave thought about being SPECIFIC in that wish/goal.       Mr.Ratnesh made  me think on that part.

 

"How do we wish is Important" than "What do we wish."

            Writing "I am GREAT" was nice.I never thought that I'm great at so many things. As I kept on thinking I myself was surprised . We never know our ability till someone makes us think about ourself. The goal setting is important. Personal, professional, family goals.

" CLIMBING THE HILL MAKES US STRONGER AND THAT'S IMPOPRTANT THAN REACHING THE TOP."

Motivation is important . Kids have motivation inside them & we h've to help them to come out with it.

As the card says,

            " If u want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood & don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the sea".

and that's the way u motivate.

Suma.V

where is my emotion ??

This session was an eye opener for me.

Making me very conscious n uncomfortable thinking that what was I doing all thiese days with my daughter.

Practically speaking, even though now I know that I need to handle emotions, it doesnt come to me naturally all the time.

Its so important to hold urself back n just acknowledge the emotions. I am finding it difficult to implement all the times.

Well, its a belief that its difficult. I want to break this belief.

The problem lies sometimes( from my personal exp) that we r so much attached with our kids emotionally, that first thing that I need to do is acknowledg my feelinbgs first.

When I see my kid in problem, I myself become emotional. I realised that I should aknowledge my feelings first, then go ahead and acknowledge the kids feelings.

I need to be stronger , and stable.
Kirti

Session 3 review

SESSION 3: FEELINGS (CONT'D) AND GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
JULY 12, 2007

The following quote was up on the whiteboard during
this session:

We'll forget what somebody said
We'll forget what somebody did
But we'll always remember how
Somebody made us FEEL!

So true, so true.

A big lesson learned during this session for me was:

When children are being emotional (be it angry,
anxioius, frightened, etc.), take care of their
emotional needs first by acknowledging their feelings
in a non-judgemental way. Examples are "You seem to
be bored." or "You are very sad right now." [It's okay
if you don't name the right emotion; chances are that
you will be in the ballpark and the child will correct
you anyways.] Such statements will show the child
that you are trying to connect with her and that her
feelings and needs are important to you.

Acknowledging a child's feelings normally leads to her
becoming aware of her own emotions, which in turns
leads to the child becoming calmer and eventually,
changing her behaviour.

Try NOT to:

• Ask "why" questions (e.g., why are u crying?)

• Ask a question with an imbedded "why" in it (e.g.,
are you crying because…?)

• Offer solutions (e.g., why don't you play with Akhil
instead?). A note about this item: We adults tend to
offer solutions almost as a knee-jerk reaction when
confronted with an emotional child. In the interest
of raising an independent child, it is more effective
to let the child work through the problem on his own
(which he'll be able to do once he becomes aware of
his emotional state -- because you've acknowledged his
feelings nonjudgementally (smile!)), and let him come
up with solutions. Be patient! This will naturally
take time for him to figure out.

• Deny the child's feelings (e.g., "why are you scared
-- there's nothing to be scared of")

• Offer immediate physical comfort – let the child
give you signals that she would like a hug or wants to
be held. Offering physical comfort frequently stems
from fulfilling your own needs.

• Give pity (e.g., "you poor child…")

The above approach also applies when dealing with
emotional adults.

In any given emotional situation, think how you'd like
to be responded to. Let that be your guide.

Remember that an emotional person is normally looking
for ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of her feelings.

And if you are say, overwhelmed with anger, just
saying to yourself "I am angry" -- in the moment --
(i.e., becoming aware of and acknowledging the
emotion), will probably calm you down.

GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

We tell our children to study hard (and long). But we
should actually be telling them to study smart.

Nowadays, most of study time is devoted to
memorization, rote learning. Very little time is
spent on understanding concepts.

Wouldn't it be better (for the child atleast) if the
reverse were true? The goal would be to spend:

More time for understanding concepts

Some time for organizing

Little time for memorizing

Graphic organizers facilitate learning by helping
organize our thoughts and facts.

Graphic organizers have been used historically in the
Hindu culture in South Indian temples, with Mandalas.

-- by Sujata Aji

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Session 2 report

Beliefs and feelings on 10^th July 2007

We started with slumber and pajamas but somewhere sleep got in.

We wrote about what we can't do but somehow confidence crept up.

Beliefs are formed from years of experience which are hard to break,

Behaviour is the foundation of beliefs which fill our psyche.

Experimentation is the key to explore your horizons,

Stretch your limits and see how life unfolds.

Entangled in our own lives, we forget that children have feelings too,

Let them raise their voices as you would do too.

Open your antennae to sense their fears,

Calm them and lend them your ears.

-Shubha Priya

Lastly I would end with few quotes:

1. Lasting changes can happen only if the right beliefs are in place.

2. Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you

assignment 1from suma

hi to all of u

i dont know whether i am starting the right way,

i as a person has a thirst for knowledge, and i would like my children also to cultivate the same because we as PARENTS SHD TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GIVING THE RIGHT SET OF FOUNDATION AND TOOLS to our children for their overall development,and i would like to help them be more competetive in todays flat world, and improve their ability to think creatively .

actually as a person if u ask me my weakness i would say that i am posessive and shorttempered, but that has improved because of my children, we need to be like friends to them for them to trust us and respect us also.

life has thought me a lot of lessons and put me through hardship ,but i dont regret that because that has made me stronger and tougher person , and helped me balance myelf to be a better mom,wife,daughter etc.

for me every day has been a new learning experience.today i would like to thank my family for supporting me at all times,we have actually got much closer,respect eachother for what we are today.

over a period of time i have learnt to prioritise my family and children above anything else in my life. i enjoy playing ,being naughty, going for trekking, picnics with them because that is the time when u get close and make the relationship stronger.we make it a point to enjoy as well as do some social work also,i.e. my kiddos and my husband ,that is when the children will know the value of what they have.i dont believe blowing money unless it is a necessity , i usually take my kids to blind school,or fame india on their birthdays, i believe that we shd try to help the needy and the destitutes also and this ispiration came to us from my husband who runs an ngo himself.

i always agree in the saying that we are merely a strand in the web of life , whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves.as we give we get.

Mr. ratnes i would also like to say that i have lost confidence in myself for various reasons and that is why i am here at ur centre,to learn,improve and change myself if required,because i feel sometimes that i havenot given myself completely to my children, i do not know whether i have judged myself right ,but i have the confidene that i will get a lot of my questions answered which is cooking within me.

thank you all

Still thinking....

Thinking , thinking n more thinking.......

The surprising straw : Oh god , what on earth can be made out of a straw. But for my surprise I found more than 20 things that were already made by my friends. I myself didn't realize it was so easy , it happened so naturally. I wasnt really exepcting myself to create something worthwhile.

I learnt, things come naturally when u do not pressurize urself n don't have any expectations. Neither u need to impress anybody nor u need to judge anybody. Just be yourself.. You can learn many things only if you want to learn n focus only on that.

While discussing about favorite teacher, my mind was wandering about how an ideal student should be. How do I get most out of these sessions? What can I do so that I can get max learning from this class. And it turned out to be what my favorite teacher had.

And if I think about what qualities I would like to have in myself as a person, again its what the favorite teacher has. And these are the qualities I would like my child to have too.

There is adv of motorbike on TV which says " Thinking is such a waste of time" . I never understood what did they mean by it. In a way, if I take straw example that was right. I couldnot make anything while I was thinking of what I can do from this. But when I started doing it, I got so many ideas. My thinking trigerred when I was into action. Thinking accompanied by action or involvement is what worked for me on thrusday.

Also I observed my thinking was in its full swimg when question was being asked. I learnt so many things only by thinking in those 3 hrs, followed by many more hrs now. So " Thinking is such a great tool we have " .

kirti

My Favourite Teacher

welcome to Geniekids TRAIN the TRAINER 9th Batch

Welcoming all participants to the 9th batch with this quote from J Kirshnamurti

 

The problem, ... is not the child, but the parent and the teacher; the problem is to educate the educator.

 

The [child] is there to be guided and helped; but if the guide, the helper is himself confused and narrow, nationalistic and theory-ridden, then naturally his pupil will be what he is, and education becomes a source of further confusion and strife.

If we see the truth of this, we will realize how important it is that we begin to educate ourselves rightly. To be concerned with our own re-education is far more necessary than to worry about the future well-being and security of the child.

 

From Krishnamurti's "Education and the Significance of Life"

Warm Regards
Ratnesh Mathur

session 1 - "When the Student is Ready ... Teacher will appear"

(session report by Shruti)

Fifth July was a marked day in my calendar, the day to start my TTT - Train The Trainer program… from morning onward my mind started making plans as to how the things are going to work their, how I will learn and how I am going to do the tasks.

Then everything started simplifying by itself. We got a warm welcome from Ratnesh at the reception with some sweets, our ID card and one surprise – tiny winy straw. Yes, a straw, something we don’t think or look at twice in pour regular busy daily routine.

Interesting, I thought to myself … but more interesting and in some way amusing was that we were supposed to make something out of the ordinary straw.

As we started climbing the stairs to reach the classroom, our minds went ballistic thinking of what we could make of the straw… will come to the straw story later.

The class room was a surprise, totally eco-friendly … no wooden chairs and desks … but pleasant and friendly. Great place to learn. After the initial brief introduction, all thoughts were back to …. Straw ! ! ! poor thing getting punished by each one of us.

The tiny winy, unnoticeable straw had turned into Dolls, birds, bracelets, snails, snakes, finger rings, trees, triangles, stars …. Imagine…a simple straw into so many things… triggered a thought in my mind … I see it every day … our children make rockets and space shuttles out of nothing… first step of learning.. “Keep my mind open”

We started the session with meditation… was relaxing and set the mood going.

And then came the round of introductions …. Why be part of the class ? Everyone came with reasons along with their introductions. In summary, the only reason I think most appropriate would be

“To have good (and creative) time with children”

And now to summarize the classroom session (the learning was supported by a lot of stories, games,

1. “I can not teach anybody anything. I can only make you think “
2. How much we will learn depends on us.
3. Learn from each other
4. Listening (remember the names?)
5. “When the Student is ready, Teacher will appear”

The talking to each other (pairs) and the melting ice-cream game were interesting… Something I can play with my children… The melting ice-cream game would be a hot birthday party game.

Personally, I was very impressed with the class room set up, the teaching methods used… it created an atmosphere where we could learn, think, be creative and make lots of friends

Shruti

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