This phrase has had tremendous impact on me, both in my personal growth as well as my professional journey. I have always advocated this throughout my career in my role as an educationist, mentor and a counsellor. After all, the major brain development for any child occurs from 0-6 years. It is at this critical juncture that they need the utmost care and undivided attention from their parents as well as caregivers to stand them in good stead for their future.
Over-pampering can spoil your children
While parental love, obviously has no substitute, parents sometimes tend to over-pamper their children, especially in the nuclear family set-up that is prevalent today. This pampering, mainly owing to the paucity of time, actually has extremely detrimental effects on the minds of young children. It creates weakness and negative vibes, since the young ones develop the feeling that others should do everything for them. In fact, this is one of the leading causes for delayed speech in the young ones.
Parents do not want their children to cry, so they give them whatever they want for the sake of expediency. For example, they are always allowed unnecessary exposure to mobile or laptop screens whenever they want. Or, they are allowed to eat whatever, and whenever, they want to. This leads to the child growing up with a lack of responsibilities and the will to work hard to get what they desire.
Often, the parents are too busy pursuing their respective careers and the children are kept engaged with their nannies. This takes away the key opportunity of exposing the kids to different languages – it is often only English or just any one dialect whereas research has proven that every child has the potential to grasp eight different languages during this crucial age period of 0-6 years. Don’t we remember that when we were young, we were exposed to so many different languages by our grandparents and parents through the medium of different stories and folklore?
Without proper care, guidance and nurturing, the child loses focus. The ability to communicate and think coherently is thwarted and compromised. So I always advocate to young parents that one of the greatest gifts you can bestow on your children is to provide them with quality time and inculcate in them the self-belief: “I am capable”.
Pre-schooling is a must
In view of the above, pre-schooling has assumed immense importance in our lives today. Scientific research in the subject has indicated that the more intellectual stimulation a child receives before the age of four, the more developed the parts of the brain devoted to language and cognition will be in the future.
I want to share an interesting fact file with you that I have gained through my close interaction with children. Children from the weaker sections of the society, who have not been exposed to too many toys, over-pampering by their parents as well as other distractions early in their lives, often excel in the pre-school environment. This is the very reason that I always strive to ensure that education must not be restricted to a privileged few of our society. I am a true crusader of the following quote by Hellen Keller: “We are never really happy till we try to brighten the lives of others.”
Brightening up the lives of these young minds, irrespective of their societal standing, is truly what makes me the happiest. True to its tagline ‘we are the wind beneath your wings’, Wings considers every child to be unique wherein they are encouraged and guided to blossom into confident, happy and interactive children.
Our specially-designed curriculum is a perfect blend of the established Reggio Emilia Method, Waldorf Education, Montessori style of teaching and the Play-Way Method. Needless to say, this student-centric, activity-based, experiential teaching system has been very well appreciated by the discerning parents as well as the teaching fraternity. In fact, I feel honoured and encouraged that this unique, international-standard module of education is being adopted by several top schools as part of their curriculum. It is an expression of my passion for education and holistic development of children right from their formative years. After all, they are the flag-bearers of our future!
