Balanced Education For Children
29 Aug 2021 HYN Himalayan Yoga Academy
Children need to mischievous . If they are not allowed to be mischievous and are suppressed or restricted , they will become bad later and their parents will not be able to control them . When children are naughty in small apartment , it is very difficult for their parents to handle them due to restricted space , but if there is a property like an ashram , who cares ? the children can run five times from one end of the boundary to the other . They can play , make mischief and exhaust all their energy , then they sleep well . That kind of mischief is bal lila , child`s play. Children have an excess of energy . Therefore , they need to run , play , and enjoy a lot of games . It is not good for them to simply sit and study alone . Their energy has to be balanced . Parents have a very bad habit of nagging their children , and saying, “you are not studying . Have you done your homework ? “Children are never asked ,”why don`t you go and play football ?”or ” There is a good movie showing today . Take some money and go and see it . ‘people think their children have the same level of consciousness as they do .
The levels of consciousness of a father and his six years old child are entirely different . When the child says , “I want to see a movie ,” there is a different idea in his mind to when the father who is twenty –eight or thirty wants to see a movie . Children do not have an impure motivation ;their level of awareness is very high . Children are very close to God . It is true that children are pure . This state of innocence is described in the first part of the Ramacharitamanas where the childhood of Rama is described . Arrangements must be made for games or sports to become a subject at school . Games could be compulsory for all chidden except those who have physical problems . Games , drama and music competitions need to go on side by side with intellectual pursuits . What is the use of teaching your child that akbar was born in 1615 and Aurangzeb in 1750 ? Who wants to know all this history ? When children have time and want to read , then let them , but do not impose study as a part of their education . It is not necessary to overburden children with too much bookish knowledge .
Children do not become great through study or qualifications . They become great through the quality of their mind , intelligence and receptivity . They is based upon how much they are able to receive , retain , and give . It does not mean that one should not study . One must have qualifications because today this is the system throughout the world and we must respect it . But when children are continually asked , “have you done youor homework ?”they become scared of not getting first class marks in their exams . They worry about what their parents will say because if they fail . They know they will have to face the music .
School children are always afraid that they might fail in their exams . What does it matter if they fail? Parents should tell their children , “Never mind , if you fail you can try again . “ But parents do not have the courage to say such things , so their children think , “ other students are fighting for a first divisions . If I only get a second division , what will Daddy say ?” This idea , which is drilled into the minds of children , ruins their entire personality . Instead the child should be told ,” Go and study if you like , but not bother too much about it .”
We know that many students who lagged behind their school studies went on to have brilliant careers . Isaac Newton , who discovered the law of Gravity , was a poor student , but he became the foremost scientist and today the law of gravity is the basis of every scientific experiment .If a child is a dull student it does not mean that he will remain dull all his life . In my school days I was very bas at mathematics , but today I can do any calculations without a calculator You have to be able to tackle the problems of life , whether business , family or instituitional . If you cannot , then what is the use of being a first class student ?
Nature : Balanced Education For Children
The popular notion is that if children play and have fun , they will fail in their studies and in life , but it is not true . However , If they have time to play and have fun , they will be successful , and if they study too much , they will spoil their lives . Playing balances the muscular and nervous energies of children and it circulates blood throughout the system many times over . If a child sits in front of the TV all day or something only once . Children listen to a song from the cinema just once and they are able to memorize it , yet they need a tutor to help them learn from the schoolbooks . Children should be left free to play . I grieve to see what is being done to children these days .
Usually there is a very big gap between the mental state of teachers and young school students . While teaching one has to be mindful of this gap . One has to come down to the level of students in order to teach them . A teacher must not always be saying ,” Do this ; don`t do that .”Don`t always try to find a fault with the child . A teacher is neither a policeman nor a hunter . Rather he should be a loving companion who can become their teacher when the child is ten ot twelve years old . Until the age of seven , Forget that you have to teachc children anything . There should be allowed to grow and develop in a natural way ; to sing , play , make noise and do mischief . There is nothing wrong with that .
An important point to remember is not to tell the child what is right and wrong , good and bad . This distinction is the complex of a guilty mind . Do not put this sense of guilt into the minds of children . When they grow up and become adults they will know the difference between right and wrong , Good and bad . Even birds and animals know this . Paarents should not tell their children too read a lot , study hard or try to be great or important . Let them enjoy their schooling . They should think that their teachers in the school are good . loving and friendly . This will generate a feeling of unity in their hearts . .