Experiences of a parent, teacher and tutor

I play the roles of a teacher, parent and at times a tutor as well. Multi-tasking is not a child’s play and a lot more hectic in my field of expertize. However I am delighted the fact that I am able to mentor children gives me great pride.

A few things that I have noticed with children (especially talking about those in elementary and high-schools) is that they have so much of energy. They can play an outdoor sport, go for their music classes, do their homework, use the computer and yet have the energy to sulk about the food they are served.

I have realized over time and also a few unsuccessful experiments, that children of today actually like to be quizzed on their interests, most prominent of them are computer games and their other learning skills. Make sure you talk to them about stuff they are interested in or really good at.

My 11 year old son likes gadgets & gizmos and is very ambitious as well. Only last week he was talking about wanting to develop computer games, and late yesterday evening he spoke to me about his interest in spaceships.

We parents sometimes take a casual approach towards our child’s aspirations. I have been guilty of it quite a few times. However, in our defense I’d say most of the kids are fickle and keep changing their mind that more or less depends on peer pressures.

However all said, recent developments in my son has surprised me. These days he shows real interest in Maths, reads snippets on space expeditions and has also asked a lot of questions.

I realized the reasons for the sudden change in his attitude, he is getting ready to go to NASA. Yes, I mean it. He has enrolled in this ‘Destination NASA Challenge’ conducted by an online self-assessment site www.24x7guru.com . It seems to have been the topic of discussion in most schools and children seem to have taken a very keen interest in it.

After this I have immediately decided to check out all details and share it with his other cousins and friends. All our children, rich, not so rich, studious, no so studious, etc. need to be given a chance. The contest has begun and these are multiple-choice questions based on Maths & Science syllabus from classes 3-10.

Concluding I must admit the prospect of going to NASA along with my child excites me as well. Would it not be an amazing experience? So parents and teachers, our tasks additional would include to regularly check for the latest in education and other opportunities.