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HT Brunch Game Show: Who’s homeschooling their child best?
The couple painting with their kids, the ones gymming together, or the parents focussed on building life skills? Or you?
Eram & Adil Pasha
Meet the parents: Eram, 35, doctor, and Adil Pasha, 41, architect
And their kids: Ammar, 7, and Arham, 3
Their approach: “We tried to think like seven-year-olds themselves. We set a time table and joined Ammar in his school work, played games, did experiments, read books, indulged in art and craft activities, gardening, cooking and baking.”
Work and play: “When multiplication was introduced in school, we used flash cards to teach Ammar so that it didn’t feel like a chore. We have a one-hour reading time before bed.”
Skill development: “To enhance his vocabulary and language, we played games like Boggle and Scrabble Junior, Dobble, Uno and Jenga to help develop better reflexes. We also painted a wall mural together.”
Sandhya & Ankur Maheshwari
Meet the parents: Sandhya, 45, storyteller, and Ankur Maheshwari, 44, businessman
And their child: Nandini, 9
Their approach: “We created a warm and stress-free atmosphere at home. Homeschooling for her was also about home learning so we made her a part of some household chores like cleaning up rooms, folding the blankets etc. Nothing was forced.”
Work and play: “We invested in our daughter’s reading habits and got her a subscription to a famous children’s newspaper.”
Skill development: “We used this time to develop Nandini’s multiple interests. Nandini loves baking, painting, art and craft, exploring countries and the world, and reading. We made sure it wasn’t boring.”
Neha & Jagrit Jain
Meet the parents: Neha, 35, homemaker, and Jagrit Jain, 37, businessman
And their kids: Aarna, 9, and Daivik, 4
Their approach: “Covid had made our kids’ lives sedentary, so we introduced both of them to the home gym and yoga.”
Work and play: “Aarna aspires to be a teacher so we asked her to teach her younger brother. Both were rewarded with whatever they asked for.”
Skill development: “Aarna is a foodie and used to talk to us about different dishes, looking up recipes. We decided to cook one new dish each day and she filmed it on her camera. Also, in this way she learnt a bit about the science behind cooking and baking, which was one of her main chapters in EVS!”
And the winners are…
Ankur and Sandhya Maheshwari
For giving supervised autonomy to their child
“Parenthood is challenging, but Ankur and Sandhya have found the balance,” says Dr Prerna Kohli, who was one of the first clinical psychologists to be awarded by the President of India, in 2016. She was working in the field for over 27 years, during which she has been an adviser to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, besides being a member of the Niti Aayog Nutrition Committee.
“Unlike the other parents, they allowed flexibility in times of uncertainty, which gave autonomy to their daughter, thus instilling and developing her confidence and self-esteem. They even taught her basic life skills. Making the bed can teach responsibility to a child. You should also include exercise and meditation focusing on developing physical and mental resilience. This friendly, developmental approach to parenting promotes values of optimism,” she concludes.
From HT Brunch, May 16, 2021
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