PREPARING TINY TOTS FOR PLAY SCHOOL ADMISSION

“Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”. – John F. Kennedy

Children are unique and divine gifts of God. They are lovable and innocent angels. They are full of smiles when they receive love and appreciation. When infants grow, they learn about the basic virtues in life from their mothers, while on mothers’ laps, and at mothers’ feet. The father also plays his role in giving moral support and emotional security to the child and defends their child from the external bad influences and threats. Both parents are thus sources of encouragement and support to the child, at home. Thus, values are imbibed by the tiny tots at home. The tiny tots learn by example and standards set by parents at home. Children give unconditional love. They truly symbolize Lord Krishna. In fact, there is a Krishna in every child. Children’s qualities such as inner purity, simplicity, innocence and love and a sense of belonging distinguish their behaviour from adults.

The transition from a home environment to a school surrounding is imperative for the child. Education in India has become so competitive that nowadays it is common for children at the age of three years to be put in play school. Its advantages are multi-fold:

* The child learns to stay for a few hours away from parents and loved ones. In turn, parents find extra time to attend to other work.

* The child learns to mingle with other children and gains a new sense of belonging with friends of the same age in play school.

* The child learns to share toys with other children. This is especially very beneficial for a child with no siblings.

* A child is generally highly energetic and very fidgety and gets distracted easily. At play school, the child is trained to acquire and inculcates a longer time span of attention.

Useful Tips for Parents to Prepare their Children for Admission to Play School

1. Children must be able to wish and say their names to the interviewers.
2. They must know and be able to recite simple nursery rhymes, say letters of the English alphabet from A to Z and numbers say up to 20.
3. They must be able to identify colours, simple fruits and vegetables, and basic shapes like circle and square.
4. Children may be asked to identify common vehicles like car, bus, helicopter, aeroplane, ship, and common animals like elephant, dog, cat, monkey, horse, etc.

5. The child may be interviewed in front of the parents in schools. Parents should not prompt the child to answer any question. Doing this might disqualify the child for admission.

6. Teach your child not to interrupt when you are speaking and await their turn to speak.

7. Teach a child to say thank you by having them hear you say it. No matter how young they are, never forget to say thank you to them each time they give you something, even if it is their bottle. Children copy what they see and hear so make it a point to always use those words.

8. Teach them not to touch things that are on tables, either in your home or when visiting. Explain that they can look, but not touch!

9. Teach your child to be polite and that it is not proper to point or to stare at others who might be of a different religion or colour.

10. Children should be dressed neatly and must be trained in matters regarding personal hygiene. For example, children must use their own handkerchief. Parents must avoid using their handkerchief to wipe their child’s nose.

At home, while preparing the child for the above questions, the parents would do well to praise the child adequately for any correct answer so that it serves as a motivation for the child. However, the parents must also desist from scolding or beating the child in order to get the right answer.

The personality of the child also plays a significant role in the interview. Some children, being bold, answer very confidently; while others may be tongue-tied; still other children may show no interest in answering the questions. Efforts must be made by parents to identify the second and third types of children and remedial measures must be taken by parents by their behaviour and attitude towards their children, to set this right much before hand.

Because of the rat race, admission to a good school is a very important task for the parents and many of them take it as a burden in addition to their professional duties and household work. It must be remembered that a good school facilitates character building and inculcating ethical conduct, in addition to providing quality education.

Anup Y Attavar