Learning Can Be Fun
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Children ,nowadays, hardly develop any reading habits..thanks to the idiot box!!It is such a pity that they have missed out on the make believe world of fairy tales and adventure stories.Majority of the children give a blank look when asked about Rapunzel, Jack And The Bean Stalk, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs,Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves,Cinderella, The Elves And The Shoemaker, The Dancing Shoes , Beauty And The Beast,etc. The kids have grown up before their age….they are exposed to the world of computers and play stations at a tender age…toddlers play with electronic toys…Daddy is no more “horsey”….mommy need not make any more rag dolls!!!Alas…these little pleasures,that give so much joy,are lost in the maze of modern living!! 
Come study time….kids are sent to tution classes …..poor darlings….parents..please,please spend a little time with your child….help him with his studies….he will appreciate it and be forever grateful to you.Just BE THERE……that is all that matters to him……….it makes such a difference!!!
Learning can be fun if it is done in the PLAYWAY METHOD with the smaller kids.Some handy tips 
(FOR 5 TO 8 YEAR OLDS )
English as well as our Mother tongue:
Make flashcards of words like …wall,table,chair,cupboard,picture,curtain, lamp and stick them on to the respective objects.The child will,without making any effort,look at these flashcards everyday and know the meaning as well as the spelling.
Keep colourful objects/toys …and keep uttering “a red car”, “a blue ball “, “a green box”, “a big doll” “a fat teddy” etc…….there you are…you have a complete lesson on colours and sizes!!!
Gradually, speak to the little ones in complete sentences…”this is a blue bag”….” This is baby’s bottle” “where have we kept the new pencils?” You will be surprised how quickly your little angel will learn to speak correctly ….just by listening and by imitating
Give the child some old newspaper,crayons,water colours….let him scribble,paint,draw,finger paint on the newspaper….it can be so much fun…..you can join him and relive your own childhood!!!! You can frame the artistic piece and keep as a memento!!
Trace your child’s little hands….write a little poem about his hands below the drawing…frame the masterpiece !!!
Get some sheets of crepe paper…tear into bits…show the child how to crush the tiny bits into little round balls.Trace a big butterfly, a giraffe or a house on chart paper.Smear some fevicol or glue on the picture.Help the child stick the different colours of the crushed crepe paper very closely on the picture…frame the finished product and hang it on the wall.It is really an eye catcher!!
To help the child to think, you can play some some SPELLING GAMES with him.Tell him:-
to write five words that begin with ’st’ or ‘ch’ or ‘br’ or ‘cl’ etc.
to write five words that have ‘oo’ or ‘ee’
to write words that end with ‘ck’, ’st’ etc.
to make as many words as he can from the word ‘AEROPLANE’ or ‘TEACHER’
Give some JUMBLED WORDS …e.g kobo..(book),
nilo (lion)
ogd (dog )
WORD ASSOCIATION GAME…
Write the word SKY and tell him to write and draw five things that he can see in the sky.(some of my seven year old students came up with words like ‘aeroplane’ ‘balloon’ ‘kite’ !!!!)
WORD ANTAKSHARI….
Write one word e.g dog….the child has to write the next word which has to begin with the last letter of the word…… the letter ‘g’ in this case….he can write 10 words following this pattern.
SIMPLE RIDDLES …let the child fill in the missing letters
I play with this……. T __ Y (TOY)
I drink this ……… M __ __ K
I smell with this ……. N __ S ___
You will be surprised to discover how intelligent your child is!! Never ever understimate him !!
FOR MATHS GAMES..
You can try out some of these tried and tested methods …Instead of the abacus give your child some kidney bean seeds or black eyed bean seeds…..let him count.
Get some colourful beads with big holes and ask the child to string them…give him a number….let him count and string the beads.
Cut up some drinking straws into 3 inch pieces .This is excellent to teach the concept of tens and ones or units.Hold ten pieces of straws together and put a rubber band around the bundle …there you are…you have a bundle of ten which is = to 10 or “one ten”
Ask the child to put the straws together to make the number 24.Initially help him to tie the bundles….two bundles of ten and four single straws = 24 !!! The concept of tens and ones will be clear to him in this playway method.
Likewise, the bean seeds can be used to teach the concept of adding and subtracting .
Parents and teachers , please try and make learning FUN for the children………IT MAKES SUCH A DIFFERENCE !!!! Make up jingles ….sing to them…..do actions…go all out and do silly things…. In the process YOU will be surprised to discover that the little child in you,too, is still alive !!! 
;-) 
