24th August 2010
`If it weren't for electricity, we'd all be watching television by candlelight'
George Gobal
Ignited Child!
Log on to any search engine and try to learn how a queen bee is prepared in a bee colony. Actually a queen bee is selected from the available bees. Once the selection process is over, the bee is given a very special food to make it stronger and smarter. If you closely watch a bee high, you can easily identify a queen bee by its size and activity.
This process of making of a queen bee is relevant to prepare our children. The brain is identical for all the children, as I said before. It is just like a raw material. A raw material is as good as it is processed. Similarly, we have to prepare the brain of our children. If properly used, the brain can be `customised' for our need.
When the children are very young, especially up to 48 months, we need to specially prepare the visual brain. Next time you see a baby, notice what the baby watches and how it observes and scans the surroundings. The babies should be shown as many colours as possible. Give them as many toys and playthings as possible. Give a toy to a baby and watch what it does with the same. The baby will look at the toy closely, smell it, taste it, shake it to hear any sound that may come and then throw away the toy! What you see external to the child as an internal connection. The child is exploring the toy through the five senses and the process fine tunes the sensory organs.
When the child grows up, it is going to explore and understand the world only through its sensory organs and hence honing of the sensory skills is very important during the formative years of the child.
Make it a point to give your baby colourful and attractive toys and allow the child to explore. Avoid the children sitting in front of the television, though the child is being exposed to visual media. Television is only two dimensional, but a toy is three dimensional. For the time being, I am not saying anything on the violence that is being shown on the television media. To say the least, if I have the power, I will ban the television for the toddlers!
Take your child out to new places of scenic beauty out on a bright sun. Allow your child to run and explore the nature. This will enhance the visual pathways to knowledge.
N C Sridharan and Radha Sridharan
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