Early Teaching Matters

Dr Shahid Amin
Early and good teaching matters a lot to make life more productive and meaningful in the future. An anecdote of a small kid who had all good facilities was shifted to his aunt’s home and receive good education. It is painful for a child to be detached from motherly love at a tender age. But a lot of my earliest and happiest memories of my childhood revolve around my beloved aunt and her family. I treasure the loving family to take high care and give directions to my life. Rightly put by thinkers that one’s value system mostly develops during his/her hey days. I am not an exception. The disciplined and single parent family of five members with mother as a teacher leader had the best package of strategies to make life more vibrant and enriched. It was never an easy charge to manage the family, but with effective delegation and autonomy, it looked very simple. The home related works were equally divided among the children. I could remember that the day started for the teacher mother to clean all the rooms in a big house of around 10 rooms and still managing her duty and school going children.  She always set right examples for those claiming lack of time despite they had no jobs to do and having sole work to manage their families.  I could revisit the time when half a litre of milk was sufficient to cover the family needs. Believe me there were families with five to six times more milk sometimes had to seek my Aunt’s help.It is rightly said that with small  savings, we don’t have to beg in need. Rich people manage their resources well but poor people mismanage them. There was always sense to watch TV, play and move outside the big house gate. We learnt how to maintain our toilets. Life received a good shape at that time only as we learnt to make better use of clothes -when to change, for how long to wear and when to wash them. There was no compromise to keep tap water on even if water was available 24/7. There was always zero tolerance for showing any disrespectful, irrational and irresponsible behavior.
The serious concern today in the country is time mismanagement. To be late has become a good standard now. Time is a bigger resource and losing precious time is deadly.  It is during my early days in the family that gave me good lessons for discipline and time management. There are rare chances that I am late on any event and being late makes me feel bad. Of course there were good moments too that were fun like the days we used to pool small fund and cook sweet dishes like halwa, khichdi and sewayaan. A family needs a leader and someone to pass on the right values to its members. I could highly succeed in my academic career during my time there with the family. I was equally good in co curricular/extracurricular activities and secured many top positions. The day I left my Aunt’s house I had a big and positive change in my life.  I have learnt meaningful and good lessons that I would never forget. Cherish the ones dearest to you and also cherish the time you have with them. I still believe that today, my beloved aunt who is in heavenly abode, will always be my second mother, and one of the most important people in my life.
The truth, of course, is that we do teach values to kids, daily, every minute of their lives. UNICEF study suggests that children must be empowered from an early age to become the creators of their own lives. They must be prepared to make their own decisions and to grow into valuable participants in society. The process of fostering young children to achieve this begins in the earliest stages of life and heavily depends on the environment in which a child is raised. Responsible parenting includes the provision of a safe physical environment, close monitoring of children’s activities, supervision of their behavior, fostering their socio-emotional and cognitive competencies and providing directions and guidance that are required to manage life properly.
There is a lot of pressure on govt. now to create new jobs. Good entrepreneurship is a solution for the govt. and societies. Unfortunately our school and family system as a whole discourages entrepreneurial thinking on a primary level. Our society prepares its children to become good employees. Rightly said, it is better that kids learn to have grit at an early age instead of having everything handed to them, never needing to push through difficulties, and then discovering later as adults that the baby gloves are off.
Life is not always a bed of roses and children must be prepared for crisis early. Parents must teach kids to wait before they buy something and to distinguish between wants and needs. Being lavish and accepting all of their demands will make them suffer later in their advanced stages of life. It is good to teach kids how to manage resources and teach time management skills too. But the earlier we start the better for our kids for a better future. Parents must also maintain control for the use of electronic devices by the kids. Researchers conclude that overexposure to gadgets is linked to attention deficit, cognitive delays and impaired learning. Active play makes kids healthier not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. To make things easy schools too have got a handy role and be accountable for good values of students. There should be a joint effort between parent and teachers to train the next generation of children to be future ready, independent and prepared for any life challenges ahead.
“Sabak Phir Padh Sadakat ka Adalat ka Shujaat ka Liya Jaye Ga Tujh se Kaam Duniya ki Imamat ka”, (Read again the lesson of truth, of justice and valour! You will be asked to do the work of taking on responsibility for the world.) ” (Dr. Iqbal)
(The author is Entrepreneur and serving as an Asst. Prof. ITM Univ. Gwalior)
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