Nurturing Writing skills- A ready reckoner for Tiger Moms and Teachers!

“I consider writing as a fine art. We kill it by imposing the alphabet on little children and making it the beginning of learning.”- Mahatma Gandhi.

I believe that writing should be learnt naturally and not forced onto young children; many schools are following this science and treat writing as a natural process. This article is for those that are forced to still follow the teaching of formal writing skills to young children maybe because of the ‘pressure’ from primary school. In India our primary, secondary and higher secondary school curriculum has gone through many drastic and sometime path breaking changes for the benefit of children but the preprimary curriculum is still shackled in age old redundant traditional senseless practices!  The reason these practices still prevail, to some extent is because we call it Pre School or preprimary instead of kindergarten or early childhood education. When we call it preschool the focus is on making it a preparatory for primary school and that is exactly what is happening, instead of focusing on brain research or theory of child development schools are forcing learning skills in kindergarteners that are not age appropriate.  Whatever the reason, it is time we took responsibility for the fact that early childhood centers very rarely train teachers in understanding the reason, science and research of how to nurture/develop a particular skill in young children. 

What is writing?

Handwriting is a complex skill that involves a wide range of cognitive, linguistic and perceptual-motor abilities. It is the way we record our thoughts on paper, using a generally understood system of symbols.

Is writing an essential skill like reading, spelling, and math?

Yes, like reading, spelling, and math, writing is a skill that has to be taught in school. The time taken to help the children learn to write fluently and quickly is well spent, since writing is required in every school subject.  Children cannot simply ‘pick up’ the writing skill by themselves. Even with effective teaching, it is a skill that takes time to perfect.

Why is sight vocabulary important for writing?

To write is to form symbols representing letters or words with pen, pencil, and brush etc. on any surface and especially paper. Hence, recognizing that symbols stand for something is the first step towards writing readiness. For e.g.: a child looks at a picture of a cat and is able to say ‘cat’. Now if the same picture also has the word written under it then the child will over a period of time able to recognize the word and read it

Some essential points related to writing and reading, what is happening in schools and what should be:

•  Is there any research that talks about what is the appropriate age for writing? Child development is the best research to guide educationists and child development says that growth in children happens cephalo-caudal and proximo-distal which simply means head to toes and torso outwards to your fingers, so our fingers are the last to develop, so writing should be the last skill to focus on! Writing should be taught to kids only at age 4 or 5! Till then give them writing implements and let them explore and they may even start forming letters , shapes , forms on their own, but controlled writing should not be taught before age 4! 
• Readiness skills are extremely important to develop fine motor, eye hand co-ordination so at age 2 and 3 more of such activities should be given to children, most children in primary school complain of ‘hand paining’ or inability to copy from the blackboard, this is because the two main skills of fine motor and eye hand are not suitably developed. Activities like catching a ball, (develops hand grip and eye hand co-ordination) parachute play, (develops all the write muscles namely wrist, forearm, elbows and shoulders) scissoring (develops the three main fingers used to grip a pencil) should be done before you give a pencil to a child.
• Writing develops in a systematic manner and yes, children learn reading and writing simultaneously, and maximum that children read is in print, but at that time we are asking them to join letters while writing, so confusion reins supreme in both reading and writing.
• Should capital letters be taught first or small letters? Small letters should be taught first because children learn to read first and all reading is in small letters also in a sentence you use more than 90% small letters. Another reason is that when you teach them capital letters first then they learn to write words in all capital and then they have to learn to unlearn and write the correct manner, this again takes them backwards on the learning curve.
• Many schools teach the writing patterns first and then move on to writing letters that are of the same pattern like all letters with curves together, lines together etc., that is fine for letters because the only place children need to know the alphabet in the correct order is when referring to the dictionary! But doing the same for numbers is not good, as some schools teach 1,4,7,9 first and then the numbers with curves, this is completely incorrect as in numbers you need to know what comes before and after so you are actually confusing children with this method.
• Are 4 lines important? Oh, the monsters called red and blue lines!  Ultimate goal of writing is to see that the child is able to write on a ‘single line format’. In most schools now the preference is given to using three line books instead of four lines as the transition from three lines to single lines is easier rather than from four lines to single line for the following reasons

a)     In single line the child has to use one line after the other and hence when the child is trained on a 3-line page, only the dotted middle line disappears, no unlearning and no major change.

b)    It also helps them understand that the small letters are half the size of the capital letters

c)     Where as in the red and blue line, there are four lines and ultimate goal for the child is to write on single line, so when he writes a capital G and a small g on a four line he needs to use all four lines, so which of the four lines disappear when he moves to single one? Very confusing as all four lines are required to write so children go through a tough process of learning and unlearning. (try out this example and you will experience the trauma that they go through when changing from 4 line to 3 lines)

“Children should be taught to read before they learn to write.”- Mahatma Gandhi.

Writing is a researched systematic skill and teachers who teach foundational writing have to be trained in it. Knowing what to teach, how to teach and understanding the development of the child’s brain (D.A.P – Developmentally Appropriate Practice) all influence instructional practices for the young child. Lack of understanding the developmental milestones while developing the child’s fine motor skills for writing may end up developing more negative emotions than positive emotions towards the art of writing in our child thus affecting his/her brain development. 

Understanding the process of writing development in young children:

 Handwriting as a perceptual skill

·              Every action we perform involves the senses and interpretation of the information they supply. Even the simplest act of picking up an object from the floor, for example, requires guidance from vision and knowledge of where our limbs are in space.

·              Handwriting is a skill which involves very fine spatial judgment and good control of the body parts e.g. to join the letters d and a, a child must be able to 'see' the difference between them so that they can plan the movements required.

·              Similarly, it is difficult to help a child correct irregular slope if he/she cannot perceive the problem to be solved.

·              Linking sound to visual representation is another perceptual requirement if writing is to be linked to other aspects of literacy.

Handwriting as a cognitive skill

·              Handwriting is rather different from other movement skills in that it is language-based and involves learning rules specific to our language system. For example, we write from left to right, the main bodies of our letters sit on a line, and we use spaces to separate one word from the next.

·              In contrast, Chinese is usually written from right to left and there are no spaces between words.

·              All children enjoy learning about other cultures and for some, comparing writing systems may be a way of helping them to remember our rules better.

Handwriting as a movement or motor skill

·              Most children learn many motor skills without any instruction.

·              By the time they reach school age, they can run and jump, feed and dress themselves, and speak fluently - speech involves many intricate movements. In contrast, the ability to write comes later and does not develop spontaneously.

·              Consequently, it is really important to teach the basic movements as early as possible.

Variations in learning speed

·              Children vary in the speed at which they learn to write.
Some have very little difficulty from the beginning and may be using good joined handwriting while they are still in infant school. Others need much more practice and take longer to learn to write fluently.

·              Whatever the speed of learning, however, once a motor 'habit' (correct or incorrect) has been established, it can be very difficult to alter.

·              Preventing difficulties from arising by ensuring correct initial teaching is much easier than trying to put things right later.

When should writing be taught?

There is no fixed age to teach writing to children, because a child has to be physically and psychologically ready for writing. Hence, writing readiness activities are very important because it is very essential that the muscles of the finger, thumb, and wrist (fine motor skills) are properly developed before we ask the child to do any activity or make him/her hold a writing tool.

The concept of readiness:

Both physiological and psychological developments are necessary for the child to be ready for any activity – this is termed as ‘readiness’. This is a very difficult concept to define. An experienced teacher can have a clear vision that a child is not quite ready to learn to form letters. There are many possible reasons for this, e.g. the child may be generally delayed in the area of language and literacy or lack the physical coordination to hold and control a writing implement. A less experienced teacher making this kind of judgment about a child may be difficult and schools need to discuss and offer some guidance, e.g. a very simple rule of thumb is that a child who cannot draw a circle, a vertical and/or a horizontal line that is recognizable is unlikely to manage the more complex shapes that make up letters.

General readiness activities for fine motor development

For Age group: 3 to 4 years activities like: Catching a ball, Play doh, Block printing, Lacing beads, Dabbing, Finger rhymes, Snapping fingers, Paper sticking activities, Thumb or finger printing, Sand play: making wet balls of sand, Using telephone with old fashioned dials, Dropping water with dropper, Jigsaw puzzle, Buttoning, Paper crumpling, Scissoring etc. 

For age group: 4 to 6 years activities like: Washing toys, Parachute play, Tweezers, Scissoring , Opening and closing lids of jars, Paper twisting, Paper sticking, Collage work, Spray painting, Paper folding, Cutting paper activities. The two activities that are important before the children start colouring within a given boundary are ‘doodling’ and ‘scribbling’.

“Good handwriting is a necessary part of education. I am now of the opinion that children should first be taught the art of drawing before learning how to write. Let the child learn his letters by observation as he does different objects, such as flowers, birds, etc., and let him learn handwriting only after he has learnt to ‘draw’ objects first teach a child to draw straight lines, curves, triangles, figures of birds, flowers and leaves as that would help the child to draw and not to ‘scrawl’ the alphabet”- Mahatma Gandhi.

The first 4 friends that help children write well, they are called Scribbling, Doodling, Drawing, and And Colouring.  (Read my blog on why is it wrong to buy a colouring book for your 2- 3 year old…)

Before a writing tool is introduced, teacher to understand the palmer grip and pincer grip and give activities accordingly. Which implement is the most appropriate for a kindergartner to begin their journey of writing? It’s firstly the crayon, then the scissors, and finally a pencil. By selecting the right kind of writing implement a teacher and a parent can foster healthy writing habits in children and make them love writing.

Crayon: Why a crayon?

·              Small muscle exercise stimulates brain growth.

·              Crayons help the children to exercise their finger muscles, especially those fingers that are used for holding a pencil.

·              Very young children should not be given a pencil to hold, as their small fingers cannot hold it comfortably, so they should first be given thick crayon that is comfortable.

·              Once the children are comfortable holding crayons, they will automatically hold a pencil comfortably.

While selecting crayons:

·              For toddlers select those that are thick and fit in the palm because that is the first instinctive way a child will hold a crayon.

·              Crayons should be such that they do not break easily, as this can be frustrating for the child.

·              Children tend to put everything in their mouth and may even bite it and swallow – so always select crayons made from food grade colours and avoid those made from textile dyes-as these are dangerous for children when swallowed.

·              The wrapper of the crayon should be of the same colour as the tip of the crayon as this helps the child select the colour all by himself and hence develops confidence.

·              A crayon box is usually labeled with the child name but what about crayons, as these can get easily mixed with the other children crayons so try and find those that have the facility to write the child name on each crayon.

·              After a child has done colouring it should not stain the other pages.

·              While colouring the child should be able to get an even flow and not a patchy print.

·              Teacher and a parent should always select a crayon that is 3 sided so that it automatically teaches the child the right way to hold the crayon and this will in future will help him in holding a pencil.

Why a scissors?

·              The ‘thumb’, the ‘forefinger’ and the ‘middle finger’ together help the child hold a pair of scissors.

·              The same three fingers that help the child in holding a pencil are used in a scissor and hence cutting with a scissor is a good finger exercise. It makes the fingers stronger and relaxed.

·              When a child learns to cut on a line – it improves ‘eye-hand co-ordination’ skills. So, by using a scissor a child will be able to hold the pencil comfortably and will hence have a relaxed and smooth flow and enjoy writing.

While selecting scissors:

It is very important to give cutting with scissors as a pre-writing activity as the same three fingers that are used in holding a pencil are used for holding the scissor and hence this helps develops them.

·              Both the finger holes should be of the same size as this teaches them to give the right pressure.

·              It should be sharp enough for cutting and blunt enough not to hurt the child.

·              Try rubbing the blades on your palms to check if they hurt.

While choosing a pencil:

·              A pencil should have a ridged body as this helps a child’s fingers rest comfortably.3 sided pencils are the best for grip and control.

·              If a child is finding it difficult to hold a pencil correctly, help him/her by putting a little soft clay on the pencil and gently press the child’s fingers into the correct position for writing. Check that the pencil only rests on the middle finger and not gripped to tightly.

·              Check the centering of the lead-it should be exactly in the center or else the pencil point will keep breaking while writing and this can be very frustrating for the child.

Before introducing writing of letters, teacher to also observe the below mentioned points in children and draw an overall conclusion on whether a child is ready to write:

·         A child learns to appreciate the writing tools such as crayons, brushes, pencils, and scissors.

·         Is able to form simple shapes like circles, lines, and boxes.

·         Develops a hand preference.

·         Exhibits certain physical abilities like small and large muscle co-ordination, eye-coordination, is able to sit and concentrate.

·         Has developed wrist dexterity that is essential for proper flow and movement.

·         Shows visual and auditory discrimination.

·         Is able to find out likeness and differences in sizes, shapes, objects, and sounds.

·         Is able to follow left and right direction while looking at pictures.

·         Is able to follow instructions like big, small, left, right, up and down etc.

After identifying the above a teacher should observe if a child has sufficient pencil control/coordination to begin to form letters.

·         Horizontal lines left-to-right, both straight and wavy.

·         Straight scribble

·         Round and round scribble

·         A diagonal cross

·         A horizontal / vertical cross

·         An anti-clockwise circle

·         A clockwise circle

·         A vertical line in a downward direction

·         A vertical line in an upward direction

For a child to start writing with a pencil:

•       left and right preference should be in place

•       How to hold a pencil-pincer- three digit grip

•       Trace

•       Copy simple shapes

•       Be able to draw small and big

•       Progression from left to right

•       Do writing patterns

•       Control grip and pressure

•       Is interested in writing

•       Has attention span

In doing any activity with a writing implement, help children focus on the Tripod grip

1. Tall finger (side)

2. Thumb (pad)

3. Pointing finger (tip)

All fingers to be slightly bent

Also look out for children holding the implement incorrectly like:

1. Pressure on the pointer figure

2. All fingers pulled into a fist

Teaching the basics of handwriting

 It is important for everyone, teachers, children, and parents, to be familiar with the vocabulary of handwriting and to use the same words.

Vocabulary of handwriting:

Capital or uppercase letters/small or lower case letters

Teachers need to decide which terminology they will use with their pupils:

·              Capital or upper case letters or

·              Small or lower case letters

The terminology chosen collectively by the teachers has to be consistent for all the classes. So, when a child graduates from one class to the other, the new teacher is referring to the same terminology.

The base line

·              It is the continuous line upon which the main bodies of all letters rest.

Ascenders and descenders

·              These are the correct terms for what children often call the sticks and tails of the letters.

·              The teachers need to decide which terms they will use and be consistent.

·              A few teachers think that 'sticks and tails' is more accessible for young children.

·              The important thing is that teacher and children all use the same words and understand what they mean.

·              Letters with ascenders – b, d, h, k, l, and t.

·              Letters with descenders – g, j, p, q, y, z.

·              Letters with both ascenders and descenders – f.

X-height letters

·              The letters without ascenders or descenders such as a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w and x are the ‘x-height’ letters.

Letter bodies

·              Letter bodies are the parts of the letters which are neither ascenders nor descenders e.g. the rounded parts of b, d, and a and the 'arches' of m and n. Up and down, left and right

·              Teachers of young children will need to check whether their children understand the concepts of 'up' and 'down' as it is used when a child is writing with pencil on a paper.

·              Rather than using the words 'left' and 'right' when giving instructions to young children teachers may find that providing a reference point, e.g. 'towards the window or 'towards the bookshelf' is more helpful at first.

(the above are excerpts from the document, “Developing a handwriting policy for your school” by the Handwriting Association of U.K.)

Cursive or joined up – the heated debate! Marion Richardson font may be the solution.

 What is an Entry and exit stroke?

·              The beginning of every letter from the base line; is called an entry stroke.

·              Most schools teach their children not to finish their letters by stopping short at the base line but to finish with a final 'flick' in a forward direction - preparatory to joining to the next letter. This is called an exit stroke.

·              For this many schools use cursive handwriting, but cursive during the early years is too difficult for young children.

Cursive actually needs to be done away from kindergartens as children are too young to understand the complex curves and loops used. It would be like making children hop and run before they learn to crawl and walk! Print is always better in kindergarten as reading and writing go hand in hand and since reading is in all print, writing too should be in all print. 

As children learn to write the emphasis is also on teaching them to be precise, neat and increase speed of writing and since cursive is not good so the dilemma for schools was what to use with young kids. Marion Richardson a school inspector in UK understood this and created the Marion Richardson font which is a form of print but all letters have a ‘handle’ at the beginning or end of the letter (entry and exit stroke) to easily ‘hold hands’ with the next letter. This helps kids understand spacing, line format and helps them keep their writing neat and increase speed.

Should letters be taught in the ABC sequence?

·         The only place that children will need to know the ABC in the right order is when referring to a dictionary, so when teaching writing to children, it helps if same flow letters are taught together.

·              It is not so hard to teach the letters with correct formation if, instead of teaching each letter individually, they are taught in groups, teaching the letters which are formed with a similar movement together.

·              Teaching the letters in movement groups cuts down the learning load and provides for reinforcement of basic movement patterns. 

The same concept cannot be used for numbers. Because if you teach kids to write 1, 4, 7 then you are focusing on correct writing but the math concept will suffer as a child will be weak in what comes after!

Children with difficulties

·              There are some children who learn to write legibly but will have disabilities that preclude them from writing at speed (e.g. children with cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy).

·              This is where coordination is needed with a special educator so that special provision can be made for this group.

Advice on left-handed pupils- Some guidelines for dealing with left-handed pupils.

·              Left-handed pupils do not always find handwriting difficult but there is no doubt that our left-to-right writing system is 'the wrong way round' for them and this may need some consideration by teachers, e.g. during demonstrations of how to form letters.

·              Also, if the teacher needs to guide the hand of a left-handed pupil then he/she should also use the left hand.

·              Teachers might be reminded that left-handers should either sit next to each other or on the left of a right-hander, so that elbows do not clash.

Assessment of handwriting

While ‘correcting’ children’s writing work it is a common question asked by teachers, Should the focus and stress be on neatness or form while teaching writing? The two changes I would suggest here is first stop using a red pen to ‘correct’ children’s work and second don’t ‘correct’ their work instead guide them and support them.  Why to do away with the red pen? A study conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado showed that students think they have been assessed more harshly when their work is assessed in red ink compared to colours like blue. Researchers said this is because red is connected to danger, anger, caution etc.

While assessing the child, the teacher should keep in mind what the child 'knows' about handwriting (the cognitive component) and what he or she can 'do' (the movement or motor component). All assessments should include an evaluation of:

Letter formation and joining – This is the most important thing to observe for a teacher. Teacher should note how the child forms each letter and when appropriate how he/she executes particular joins.

Letter shape - Letters can be formed using the correct sequence of movements but still be misshapen.

Letter Size - Consistency of size is most important but overall size (too big or too small) and relative size is also relevant (e.g. ascenders or descenders too short).

Slant/Slope- Inconsistency of slant is most problematic (in particular, ascenders and descenders need to be parallel) but extremes of slope in either direction can make writing hard to read.

Alignment - Letters may be correctly formed but if the relevant components do not rest on the base line, reading can be difficult (e.g. letters like p and g, which have descenders, may stand up on their 'tails').

Spacing - This should include spacing between words and spacing of letters within words.

In addition, the assessor should observe:

Posture – How the child sits at the desk.

Pen grip - How the child holds the pen

Paper position - How the child positions the paper (different for the right and left-hander).

Pressure and fluency - Is the pressure noticeably too hard or too soft? Is the grip tense or too slack?

Speed - The assessment of speed of writing is not appropriate in young children but becomes progressively more important as children get older.

(Above are excerpts from the book “Developing a handwriting policy for your school” by the Handwriting Association of U.K.)

Some points to think about red and blue lines (the 4 line books)

 Are 4 lines important? Here are some points in favor of 3 lines to replace 4 lines (red

and blue lines)

·              Ultimate goal of writing is to see that the child is able to write on a ‘single line format.’

·              In most schools now the preference is given to using three line books instead of four lines as the transition from three lines to single lines is easier rather than from four lines to single line for the following reasons

·              In single line the child has to use one line after the other and hence when the child is trained on a 3-line page, only the dotted middle line disappears, no unlearning and no major change.

·              It also helps them understand that the small letters are half the size of the capital letters

·              Where as in the red and blue line, there are four lines and ultimate goal for the child is to write on single line, so when he writes a capital g and a small g on a four line he needs to use all four lines, so which of the four lines disappear when he moves to single one? Very confusing as all four lines are required to write so children go through a tough process of learning and unlearning. (try out this example and you will experience the trauma that they go through when changing from 4 line to 3 lines)

It is important to have a proper smooth transition for the child from kindergarten to primary school (standard one)-

·         Children must experience the same books, lines and fonts.

·         As it has to be a continution not a relearning and unlearning.

·         Transition should happen in the Sr. Kg so workbooks, narrow lines are all to be introduced.

·         In the first 6 months where reading and writing are concerned -  take it forward. 

Let us not stress out our children. Let writing and learning be fun and education a pleasurable goal.

References-

·          Developing a handwriting policy for your school” by the Handwriting Association of U.K.

·          The secret of childhood, Maria Montessori.

·          Montessori read and write, a parent’s guide to literacy for children, Lynne Lawrence.

·          Developmental milestones of young children, Redleaf Press.

·          Essential kindergarten assessments for reading, writing and Math, Scholastic.

NO KIDDING, THIS!

                           

This blog is written by a guest blogger who is Principal of Gandhinagar
 Podar International School Ms. Madhumita.

Angela Schwindt couldn’t be more explicit when she opined, “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” I have been fortunate to have spent most of my professional life working among kids and the best part of my learnings are what kids have taught me. Let me share here three very golden rules kids have given to me to follow as an adult:

1.    Happiness has no reason!

HAPPINESS spelt with capital letters! It is their default system. Kids are naturally happy beings and they do not require big justification for their happiness. If they cry or exhibit crankiness one can trace it back to either a physical discomfort or as their ploy to seek proper attention which often remains elusive from the adult world. Children invariably choose to remain unaffected by depressing things or grumpy people around them. In fact they like jolly people as easily as fish takes to water. When children are around us happiness free flows because they are genuine brand ambassadors of it.

2.    Only unconditional Love!

Kids love uninhibitedly without any conditional tags attached.  They have amazing capacity to forget and forgive. They don’t analyse, weigh upon or scrutinise the emotion of love. If they feel it they express it spontaneously. If a child has difficulty in expressing love, we better check what or who is stopping the child from doing so.

Human beings to toys, pets to cartoon characters- all receive abundance of love from kids. No bitter past accounts are held in their heart. They keep their dealings simple and beautiful.  In relationships, children deal only in one currency, i.e. unconditional love.  

3.    Don’t give up spirit!

If you stop a three year old from scribbling on walls, within moments the little genius launches another business. May be, this time it is dragging an oversized carton from corner to corner. You stop that too and next immediate target of attention could be your mobile phone left on table unguarded. Kids are born busy bees! Display of kinaesthetic energy is a sign of robust health in a child, both physical and emotional.

 Children do not buy discouragement very easily. If one occupation is taken away from them they instantly find another one and still another one.  Indomitable resolve!  Every child has it.

I learn my lessons in happiness, unconditional love and resilience from kids every day.  Their company is both therapeutic and enlightening.

When as parents, family members, teachers and care givers we deal with children we must understand our job is to preserve these three wonderful qualities in a child as much as possible while they are growing up. Let us help them: to continue practising happiness without harming or hurting others; to Show kindness and consideration to express their love; and remain unfazed at the face of any discouragement, rejection or defeat in life.

                                         -

It is Planet Earth’s birthday today…. Let’s celebrate by belonging to it.

Earth is the only planet with chocolates and children! That is because it is blessed with life- insects, trees, birds, animals and especially humans. Humans are searching for life forms on other planets and in this search have forgotten to take care of what we already have- Planet Earth, a living breathing planet that has water and air and food.

But many people have woken up to face the reality about the kind of world we want to leave for our children and grandchildren and have initiated a day on which we can remember and acknowledge the importance of this wonderful planet and strive to treasure and save it. The world now marks Earth Day to make the human race realize the importance of the Mother Earth. Earth Day is celebrated every year on the 22nd of April. In 1970, a senator from Wisconsin, USA, Gaylord Nelson first conceived of this day.

More than just remembering or acknowledging the wonder of Planet Earth on this special day it is important we teach our kids and ourselves to ‘belong’ to this planet. And to do that we have to fall in love with Planet Earth, because when we love something, we bond with it, treasure it and it belongs to us. And we never have to be told to take care of something that belongs to us!

Its time to fall in love with Planet Earth and belong to it. Its time to help our children experience its wonders, instead of always putting the responsibility of saving it on them. How can our children save something that they have not experienced or understood the importance of?

Its time to take our kids on walks…not in malls all the time but once in a while in a park, on the beach and places where they can breathe pure unadulterated oxygen! Try a nighttime walk, help your child hear the sounds during a day-time walk and a night-time walk. Take a magnifying glass along for your walk in the park and see how your little explorer loves to look at leaves and insects with the magnifying glass. Next time try taking tinted magnifying glasses (available easily in all  toy stores) and see how your child will giggle and wonder at how green leaves look red or the blue sky looks green.

Sleep on the grass and look at the clouds passing by and play a game of finding object shapes in the clouds. At night look at the sky and try to look for star clusters. All these activities will help children fall in love with nature and help them understand that birds and insects and animals and trees are an integral part of our environment. They will not look at insects as ‘eek’ something to scream about or dirt and mud as ‘yucky’, they will be able to feel different textures in nature and this stimulation is extremely healthy for their emotional development and brain development. After all the 5 senses are the main route to stimulating our brain synapses.

When our children stop going outdoors they are left out of the nourishment that nature can provide for their emotional development. Nature Deficit Disorder, is a term coined by Richard  Louv  in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods, he refers to a growing trend around the world wherein  children are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.

Technology is something that children have already fallen in love with, and that is why you will notice how fiercely they protect their tech gadgets and tech use time. Because they have a bond with it, it belongs to them. Let us use technology to help them experience and fall in love with nature and when they do, ensure that they get real life nature experiences too.

I have given below a list of apps that you can use to help your child fall in love with Planet Earth (these are from igamemom.com and this site has a fantastic collection of apps). Have a fun Earth Day.

·         Lorax- this app recounts  a favourite Dr Seuss story by the same name in which Lorax tries to save Truffula forest from the hands of a factory owner. The story serves as an ecological warning and is suitable for age 3 to 6 years

·         Earth Primer- an interactive science book, in this app kids can create volcanoes and sculpt mountains.

·         WWF Together- this all is from the World Wildlife Fund and has origami instructions for each animal introduced. (free)

·         The Yuckies- a series of two FREE books teaching kids about environment. The stories use muck, goop and mischief to teach kids why it is important and how to keep our environment clean. The series is designed for 5-8 year olds.

·         Toca Nature- (is my personal favourite as it helps kids and adults understand the impact of ecological changes) this is an open-ended app for kids of all ages. Kids can make changes in the natural environment and watch how other elements change correspondingly. For example, by adding trees, kids will be able to see the animal distribution changes over time, water circulation changes too.

·         WilderQuest - is a free app by National Parks and Wildlife. Through the lenses of the device, kids experience the virtual reality of the wild nature, watching animals moving close by, be so near to the plants that they will feel they can smell them and touch them. It is great way to experience the nature when you cannot go out.

·         Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures: Lions-  from National Wildlife Federation (NWF), it is the first of the series of Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures. Kids follow Ricky Raccoon to visit Lars the Lion and experience a lion’s life in the jungle. With built-in games being integral part of the story, it is a great learning app for kids age 4 to 7.

·         Audubon Birds- it is an encyclopedia on birds from Audubon Institute, who has been working on ecosystems, with focus on birds and other wildlife, for decades. There are many nice features in the app. The best is the search function. You can search a bird by color, shape, name, location, song pattern, etc. A great app to keep handy when being in the park.

Suicides and Celebrations

“I don’t hate you but I would remove your life support to charge my phone.”…

This is a joke that I read in a daily newspaper that shocked me. How can someone joke about something like this? Have we lost all emotions that we just end up making everything a joke? And then it struck me that the fine lines that divide our emotions have been corroded and when there are no lines it leads to chaos. Our emotional world is in chaos, we are unable to feel, sympathize, or empathize. One of the most important things that define us from other animals is our ability to empathize and sadly today we have reached a stage where we have to help our young ones and ourselves ‘learn about empathy’.

Everything is about the latest tweet, the latest joke to share on whatsapp, joke about husbands and wives, children, political parties, our prime minister, everything can be joked about and in the same manner. So no lines again. We have forgotten how to care, respect we only know how to expect.

We don’t have emotional ties any longer. We have more than 3000 friends on Facebook, we ‘share’ with friends on whatsapp but we have actually distanced ourselves and there is no one that actually knows us, understands us, we are unable to share our true feelings with anyone.

A recent suicide again rocked this country, a young actress, just 24 years old, Pratyusha Banerjee. The young Balika Vadhu, everyone’s favorite. Abused by her boyfriend both physically and emotionally. Who was she able to reach out to? No one. Everyone knew she had problems but she was not able to get help in time. Because emotional problems are not considered a problem. We have to deal with them on our own. It’s our own private emotional sewage that has no dumping ground. We collect it and then one day drown in our own emotional sewage. That is exactly what happened with this young girl. Who was her community?

We all need a community around us, people who will know us, our nature, accept us for our good and bad and be our emotional sewage release.  But today we have distanced ourselves from our family and community and created a cloud family and community on Facebook, twitter, and whatsapp.

My blog title says suicides and celebrations because when we have nothing to celebrate we get depressed and drown in our emotional sewage. Its time we have emotional celebrations not just physical ones.  All religions have abstinence, when communities come together to feel sorrow together. Happy festivals, festivals that talk about hope, new beginnings. These are the cleansers of our emotional sewage.

Today festivals and celebrations are about hoarding, buying, showing off. Its time to revisit celebrations and festivals and understand the true meaning of each and during those times connect with your family, community and feel a oneness, a spiritual release and you will realize that you feel emotionally lighter and happier.

Gudi Padwa is celebrated as Ugadi also and it is a celebration of spring, of new beginnings, of a new harvest. Celebrate the meaning behind the festival and you will feel an emotional happiness that helps you feel free and rejuvenated. Celebrate it emotionally, not what the ads in the newspapers want you to do- buy a house, buy gold. That is materialistic celebrations. Spend time with your family and community or just yourself. What ever makes you happy. But during festivals and celebrations seek happiness, embrace it with both hands.

This Gudi Padwa start a new chapter in your lives, have a person that you can vent to, a person you can confide in, a person you can share with. This person can be your emotional buddy, this is your new beginning. An emotional buddy has to be non judgmental, so choose wisely.

We go to a doctor if we have a physical problem, we call a plumber when the water is stuck in the sink. Then  why do we feel it is bad to go to an emotional counselor? So is our smartness only limited to using smart phones but we think it is not so smart to seek help for emotional issues?

Accept that you are depressed and then take responsibility for the same and seek help before it is too late. A recent survey conducted by Podar Institute of Education revealed that 70% of all adults above the age of 15 are depressed. Think, we are living in the most successful era of the human world, we have everything at our disposal, and yet we are losing the most important battle because our emotions are not strong.

On Gudi Padwa a Gudi is hoisted outside each house as a celebration of victory. This Gudi Padwa hoist a Gudi outside your house as your emotional victory, cleanse your emotions and your house. Get rid of emotional demons to be victorious. Clean your emotional sewage so that you don’t drown in it like so many youth who are committing suicide.  Happy Gudi Padwa.