All my children are here together after quite a while as my youngest son & wife are here for a short holiday. We all went away on holiday--for 2 days--to a place where there was no cell phone connectivity and no phone cable either. So this meant no Internet either. The only connection to the outside world was the satellite TV dish. I think all the men of the family were feeling a little deprived of technology. But the women all thought it was a great idea because that way everyone got to have a real holiday, with no phone calls from work for anyone, no e-mails to check; just peace and quiet.
The place was beautiful and the weather up in the hills was lovely. The extended weekend went by in a flash. We are all back at home in the humidity and heat. But it's lovely to have them all at home.
But, I'm now feeling low at the thought of my son having to go back in just another 9 days
21 May 2008
13 May 2008
Was out walking at 8 p.m. last evening in the semi-dark. I am always admonished by everybody for not putting on more lights or carrying a torch, when walking at night, because there are snakes. But I love the dark and besides I had 2 big black dogs for company.
It was a warm muggy night with a hazy moon to shed some light. But the beauty was in the different scents that assailed my nostrils as I walked--white frangipani, white lilies and jasmine flowers, all at different spots along my walk. It more than made up for the stickiness and lack of breeze.
It was a warm muggy night with a hazy moon to shed some light. But the beauty was in the different scents that assailed my nostrils as I walked--white frangipani, white lilies and jasmine flowers, all at different spots along my walk. It more than made up for the stickiness and lack of breeze.
12 May 2008
A song
Wanted to share the song of the beautiful racket-tailed drongo (photo from wikipedia)
that lives in the trees near the house. You can't see him too well cause my phone cam wasn't up to it!
that lives in the trees near the house. You can't see him too well cause my phone cam wasn't up to it!
11 May 2008
"I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world,
I think to myself what a wonderful world"
I love being with young children, especially the from the time they start talking till around the age of 6 or 7. I have been teaching pre-school children off and on for over 20 years and now I have a pre-school grandchild.
What I find fascinating is watching a personality forming. Of course every new-born has it's own personality, it's own way of reacting to the world around it. No 2 new-borns are the same in the way they react to externals. But what is fascinating is watching how these personalities develop and grow and solidify. We, as teachers, try to mould their personalities, within their preferred ways of reacting to the world, so that they grow up to be people who can face the world with an inner strength.
As we live in a small town, we often get to watch our ex-students grow up. Now many of our ex-students are parents themselves and some of them have brought their children to our pre-school. To me that is even more fascinating as we see these young adults who we knew so well when they were 3 and 4!
What I have found most interesting is that the judgement we form of the child's personality when he/she leaves our school--usually around age 4 or 5--is what that person's personality is basically like when they become adults. We have had so many of the parents and children say that they have kept their reports and looked at it much later and found how true our assessments of their personalities were. I have seen children grow, rebel, seem totally different from what they were, but eventually come back to their essence, the essence that we saw at age 3/4/5.
I don't know whether all this is making sense and whether it is interesting to anyone else. but for me it gives me great joy and is, for me, one of the reasons I love my job. I think a teacher's job, especially of the younger children, is always one of hope for the future, because even if 2 of a class of 25 have that inner spark it spells so much hope for the future and you wait with bated breath for them to be adults. Besides, it is always exciting for me to think that here are these children I love and teach, and each year a new batch and they are going to be living in a world I may never see even and I see that as a direct connection to the future.
They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world,
I think to myself what a wonderful world"
I love being with young children, especially the from the time they start talking till around the age of 6 or 7. I have been teaching pre-school children off and on for over 20 years and now I have a pre-school grandchild.
What I find fascinating is watching a personality forming. Of course every new-born has it's own personality, it's own way of reacting to the world around it. No 2 new-borns are the same in the way they react to externals. But what is fascinating is watching how these personalities develop and grow and solidify. We, as teachers, try to mould their personalities, within their preferred ways of reacting to the world, so that they grow up to be people who can face the world with an inner strength.
As we live in a small town, we often get to watch our ex-students grow up. Now many of our ex-students are parents themselves and some of them have brought their children to our pre-school. To me that is even more fascinating as we see these young adults who we knew so well when they were 3 and 4!
What I have found most interesting is that the judgement we form of the child's personality when he/she leaves our school--usually around age 4 or 5--is what that person's personality is basically like when they become adults. We have had so many of the parents and children say that they have kept their reports and looked at it much later and found how true our assessments of their personalities were. I have seen children grow, rebel, seem totally different from what they were, but eventually come back to their essence, the essence that we saw at age 3/4/5.
I don't know whether all this is making sense and whether it is interesting to anyone else. but for me it gives me great joy and is, for me, one of the reasons I love my job. I think a teacher's job, especially of the younger children, is always one of hope for the future, because even if 2 of a class of 25 have that inner spark it spells so much hope for the future and you wait with bated breath for them to be adults. Besides, it is always exciting for me to think that here are these children I love and teach, and each year a new batch and they are going to be living in a world I may never see even and I see that as a direct connection to the future.
06 May 2008
I am in Chennai and have been for a couple of days. It's incredibly hot of course. But even so we did a trip to Mahabalipuram for lunch. Today, my husband has gone to watch an IPL cricket match. Am yet to do any shopping, which is one of the things I ostensibly came for! Hope to do a bit before I leave. Life in the city is a real pick-me-upper on an occasional basis.
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