Sumona Karim, vice principal of Glenrich International School, has worked for years with pre-primary children. In a column in Samakal she writes that small children lack adults' hesitation: they ask questions freely, do not hide what they like or dislike, and quickly copy what grown-ups do. The views are the writer's own.
Citing psychology, she says the first few years of life are crucial for mental, social and emotional development, and that surroundings, adults' behaviour, a sense of safety and early learning shape a child's later thinking and personality. Since children spend much of the day at school, teachers matter as much as families; children watch closely how a teacher speaks, reacts to mistakes and treats others.
Her concern is that strictness is still seen as the normal way to discipline: scolding, public humiliation, threats and even hitting are not rare when a child does not listen or has not learned a lesson. If a teacher or parent becomes someone to fear rather than a safe refuge, she writes, the child will be afraid to make mistakes, ask questions or speak up, and curiosity, the main engine of learning, may fade.
Her experience is that at this age patience and warmth are needed more than strict rules, with the teacher approaching the child sometimes as a friend and sometimes as a guardian. A child who knows a mistake will not bring humiliation learns to express themselves without fear.
She values raising children to be sensitive, confident and humane above pushing them ahead in the race for good results, and writes that a kind look in the classroom, a second chance after a mistake or a question heard with attention may mean more to a child than adults imagine.
Source: Samakal
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