School is on, Now what?…

It’s been more than a week since most of the schools have started. That means another year full of new friends, new activities, and new hopes. With school work, come assignments, projects, home works and classes. But balancing extra-curricular activities can be a juggling act. Kids have to learn how to structure their days. That is the job of the parent. Parents want their kids to be involved in a variety of extracurricular activities for good reasons. They learn social interaction, learn to be team players, discover potential, enhance talents, learn discipline, and have fun in safe environments. Extra-curricular activities not always mean soccer lessons, learning dance or any instrument, art class. It also covers language classes. The main reason for parents to enroll their kids to language classes is giving them a chance to learn their national language where the parents have spent their childhood days. For Indian parents, Hindi is the language in this case.

We went to India this summer. No need to mention we had a blast there. For me, I will not deny, my daughter’s comfort in talking in Hindi was a concern. I wasn’t sure how openly she will communicate there in Hindi. And I am very happy and feel proud to say that she did great. Though our mother tongue is Marathi but being from Kanpur, Hindi is the primary language that people speak. Knowing Hindi helped her a lot in comfortably understanding & talking to people. She herself chose not to speak in English (she said it sound rude when others are talking in Hindi) & I respect her decision. I am sure, many of you have experienced the same situation when your kids surprise you and your relatives living in India by the way they talk in Hindi. But behind this comfort & ease, there is lot of homework on parent’s part. Sometimes, it gets difficult to maintain the regularity especially when school starts and they start getting assignments. Here is what I feel,

• Fix a day which you think is lighter than other days for practicing Hindi or any other language: It could be any day depending upon your child’s other classes and school work.

• Join language classes in your area: If you cannot decide any specific time or your schedule does not allow you to spare an extra hour then joining language classes is a better option. Few Sunday school also teaches Hindi after their regular sessions or may be someone in your neighborhood might be conducting Hindi classes.

• Talk in Hindi during family time: In most of the households, dinner is the family time. So why not to make a habit of talking in Hindi as much as you can? Unknowingly, they will get hold of the language in a very informal way.

• Tell them the importance of Hindi: Many times, they are not convinced about why they have to talk in Hindi? According to them, knowing English is enough. But when they themselves see its result then they are convinced.

 

And most important,

Maintain regularity: That is the most important point in any sort of work. It is challenging, especially when it is something that is not going to be required at school. It takes the back seat in front of other school work. So, discipline is the answer to that.

 Extra-curricular activities play a major role in any child’s routine. They freshen them, relax them. These were few points that I felt can be helpful in handling other activities and maintain a smooth flow with school work. Feel free to add yours.