Introduction to language

Learning Bengali depends on three important points:

	Conversation Reading and Writing Stories, poems, songs

In order to increase your knowledge in the language you need to lay stress on

• Vocabular
• Sound Consciousness

When you begin learning the language, you should be limited to stories, poems and rhymes.

Phonics Step 1: Introduce the vowels and their sounds

Goals: In step 1, the primary goals are letter recognition and learning the short vowel sounds
using clue words.

How To Ideas:




আ - shôro a / vowel a

আ apel

Using alphabet flash cards, introduce the letter ‘আ’ by sound a. 
  You ‘read’ the flash card say:  আ ,  apel. 

Where Is Thumbkin?

DS learnt a new rhyme last week at his pre-school. The tune reminds of my pre-school, good thing I still have one friend Sanj who is with me since those days.
Aunt Cullen (as DS loves to call her) Thanks for sharing this


Where is Thumbkin?

Where is Thumbkin?

Here I am, here I am.

How are you today?

Very well, I thank you.

Go away, go away. 

Where is Pointer?

Where is Pinki?

The last one makes DS go beserk.

Food For the Fussy Kid - Red Rice

Winter is a time when my creativity just grows, leaps and bounds. My DS never likes eating RICE - he is sort of a kalan to Being BONG. Most Bongs I have come across wants their Bhaat (read rice) at least once a week, leaving alone my beloved health freak friend.
My DS he shares no such BONG CONNECTION with rice and it always keeps playing in my mind - how to make him LOVE rice.
Enough of my Bhaat (read rice) saga. I came up with this brilliant idea where the rice turns red almost magically. The magically turned red rice along with the story of that imaginary magician, turned today's lunch magically.

Pics and recipe will be up soon...yes, as soon as i finish Photoshop-ing them.

Mission Admission - Nightmare or a Joke

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." - Stacia Tauscher

The world today cares so much about abolishing child labor, but do that particular world has any clue what a child has to go through to get into a private school in India.

The extended part of our family and friends in the United States prides in sending their children to government (read public) schools and then these children turn out to be big names in their field of work, which is brilliant. Well, thank your stars that you are able to get your child into “A School.”

The trend in India for getting a child admission to Kindergarten has been and continues to be based solely on his performance in an interview/or a series of interviews. Recently legal bodies have banned these interviews, but it never stopped the schools from taking adult-like interviews. They now use the word interaction. Clever replacement indeed!

For some families their entire domestic life had come to center around their child’s admission tests. While others put off all vacations and even social life. Some start preparing their child as early as 19 months. Yes, my neighbor’s son could spell C-A-T before he actually gave up bottle-feeding. The Tiny little beings who are still in awe about the environment around can hardly behave like a child. Incredible and fully correct English Vocabulary with a phenomenal personality is expected. Some schools can actually figure out that a 2+ child has the ability to think out of the box.

One 2+ child actually juggles between attending his preschool in the mornings, to tuitions in the afternoon with a never ending list of things he should learn in order to secure admission. Readymade things ka zamana hai bhai – Schools ko bhi readymade bachche chahiye hai.

Nursery school admission has been an important issue in the recent times.  Kids as small as 2+ are expected to know numbers, sight words, retell stories, shapes, colors, see and read etc. I was in for a surprise when I got to know that some parents actually paid additional astronomical amounts in private tuition to prepare their children for entrance into K.

Google Busy Doing His Homework

My friends you paid less amount to prepare for JEE and GRE. Trust me on this you did!

Being a childhood educator myself, I am aware that The National Scientific Council on Developing Children (2005) emphases on development of core features including emotional development and should be able to identify and understand one’s own feelings. The child should be able to read and comprehend emotional states in others and able to manage strong emotions in a constructive manner.

I have a feeling that all the social unrest in our country has a very deep connection with all this. I understand why so many Indian lack the ability of motivational qualities and socio-emotional skills. Thanks to the unhealthy competitiveness exhibited in everything they do. 

Today India is trying to fight infinite accusations, and you feel corruption in every single transaction from the bottom of the chain to the top. Although many GREAT minds have suggested solutions including population control to lesser competition and effective control of people and government processes. However, how many actually thought of imparting good morals from the early days.

As parents (also read guardians), we are all educators and let us not forget to see the world through the eyes of the child. It is truly amazing when they slow down to spot a caterpillar move. Provide the child with a large amount of freedom and small amount of direction, to excite their growing minds.

"In early childhood you may lay the foundation of poverty or riches, industry of idleness, good or evil, by the habits to which you train your children. Teach them right habits then, and their future life is safe.” - Lydia Sigourney.  

The New Year’s Resolution for Every Mom

It is the year-end already! It is the time when most of us make resolutions for the coming brand New Year. I have one resolution that should be at the top of every mom’s list.

Taking time for myself .

Being a mom is always stressful. Supporting a family and a child is demanding and difficult and balancing your working hours makes it so stressful all the time. Your lives are busier than ever. Now, to make it even tougher we have raised our expectation as parents. We constantly strive to help our children become good people, successful and make them socially and emotionally intelligent.

In this brand new year 2013, I resolve to make sure to keep some time to care for myself. I know, you would say, who has the time. However, taking a little time everyday to care for you – even if it is just 5 minutes will help. You get to stop and catch your breath. This will be the greatest gift you will ever gift yourself and believe me or not, it will be an even greater gift to your child. You will feel calmer, happier and less reactive. This tiny little break will make you more present, attentive and patient parent.

Some of the greatest stress busters I feel are getting to yoga, brisk walking and meditation and even relaxation exercises. As for me, I love to walk and I go for a brisk walk everyday for 15 minutes while DS is at school.

I got the idea while reading about a Buddhist monk Pema Chödrön. Maitri, as they say, is unconditional friendliness towards oneself. The word unconditional friendliness itself makes you feel good. We parents always love to make it hard on ourselves and feel we fall short as parents, partners and people.

In a bid to make the world a better place for my child I pledge to start with myself and make me kinder, gentler and unconditionally friendly to myself.

Happy New Year!

Meal Time = Emotional War

I am busy in an emotional war started by my DS. Yes! you guessed it right MEAL TIME EMOTIONAL ATTYACHAR (Hindi for Torture)
This has resulted in immense damage to my energy and definitely my mood.