New Kids on the Block

Something new, something new. The past two days were a break from the rapt, attentive stares of post-adolescent college students in exchange for the wandering curiosity of toddlers. I observed Mother’s Touch School, a daycare and preschool center for 2-5 year olds. It was a chance to contrast my experience at Dhared Daycare, a free, public institution, with a private enterprise. The differences were astounding. Take a look at my report that I wrote for Atul this week.

“I have spent the past two days at Mother’s Touch school in Palampur, a privately-owned daycare and kindergarten. This contrasts with my experience at Dhared Daycare, a government institution. First I would like to highlight a few characteristics of Dhared that will soon stand out against Mother’s Touch. Dhared is free, government lunch is provided, the students are required to follow a syllabus provided by the government, and the children learn by rote memorization, studying just what is needed to complete the government lessons and pass the regular examinations.

“Mother’s Touch is a different story altogether. The first thing that I noticed as a huge difference was the facilities available. It is located on a renovated house that was well-painted, well-kept and fully furnished. It was covered with teaching aids, from posters of foods to a map of India. All of the signs were in English. It also had a very large yard with playground equipment and plenty of toys with which the children could play. Inside were three classrooms, a media room and an office for the principal, Brindula Karol. Her residence is upstairs.

“The 80+ children that attend are ages 2-5, and it was their attitude and actions that was the second significant thing that I noticed. At Dhared, all of the children were somberly sitting quietly with their books and there wasn’t much noise or interaction at all. At Mother’s Touch, the children were loud, happy and active. They start each day with an assembly reciting mantras, and then the children break off into their various age groups with their respective teachers (8 teachers total) to do their day’s activities. These activities include dancing, singing, learning manners, writing in their books (English and Hindi are taught) or playing on the grounds.

“The fee to send a child here is about 450 rupees per month (about 10 USD). It allows the student to stay on the premises from 9:30-13:00 every day. If the child needs to stay until 17:30, it costs an extra 300 rupees. This pays for the teachers’ salaries, the building, upkeep a backpack for the child and other various expenses. As a private institution, Mother’s touch is not required to follow a government-provided syllabus. In fact, there is no syllabus. Principal Brindula made it strictly clear to me on several occasions that the child’s happiness is first priority. If a child does not want to learn one day and just wants to play, that is allowed. Of course, all the children are strongly encouraged to follow along with their lessons, but if they want to go play, they can. I asked if she believes that the children are ready to proceed in primary school, and she does. I must agree. Most of the older children follow along well in their studies of English and math. I am not an expert in early childhood development, but I do believe from my observations that the children are progressing at a normal rate.

“One of the advantages to such a style of learning is that the children get more practical experience. At Dhared, the children only learn exactly what they need to learn to pass into the next level. They are learning the book and not much else. At Mother’s Touch, since no tests are required to be passed, the children learn whatever the teachers feel is important. In addition to math, Hindi and English, some trips are taken a few times a year to get the children out. Last week they went to a restaurant to learn table manners, and next week they will visit public buildings: the fire station, police station, bank and hospital. The goal is to get the children to enjoy learning, and she believes in trusting the children so that they will learn to trust others. Principal Brindula holds a feedback session with her staff at the end of every day to collect complaints, suggestions and reports of the students. She also has an open-door policy, not just with the staff, but with every single child. They often run into her office to share their latest accomplishment, show her a dance or even just to get a hug.

“At Dhared, the government provides a meal every day for their children. Mother’s Touch does not (it receives no funding from the government), and the children bring their lunches, but parents are asked to make sure their children bring healthy meals. This includes chapattis, vegetables and a serving of fruit.

“I would like to make one cultural observation about my two days’ experience, and that is children here are the same as in the U.S. The language is different, their skin is a different color, and they bring different lunches, but if you put an American child in this school, he or she will behave exactly the same as an Indian child, given the same situation. They will shout, dance, learn and behave just like everyone else. Likewise, if an American went to Dhared, he will be quiet, reserved, and shy and learn only what is asked of him, nothing else. I believe that this is because children at this age are too young for the intricacies of their respective cultures to set in yet. They will grow and mold themselves in whatever culture or society they are raised.

“Also, I experienced a bilingual learning institution for the first time. I had always wondered how children grow up learning more than one language, as schools like this are not prevalent in the U.S. Now I know: one simply has to use both languages in the presence of the child. These children hear Hindi or Pahari (the local language) at home almost exclusively. At the school, all of the general instructions are given in English. If there is a child that simply isn’t behaving or has trouble understanding and following directions, Hindi will be used. Eventually they will become accustomed to English commands, directions and phrases.

“On my first day there, I gave a simple geography lesson to the kindergarten class (4-5 years old), about 15 children. They sat down in front of a world map, and I pointed out to them the names of several countries on the map, choosing ones that were large and therefore easy to see, and/or help some importance to India: Australia, China, Russia, Japan, Iran, Egypt, the UK, Brazil, Greenland and USA. I also taught the four main oceans and the directions (north, south, west and east). Like any other under-5 class, there were those who paid rapt attention and those who couldn’t care less. Some remembered quickly, some didn’t remember at all. They all wanted to go to the bathroom at least once during the lesson, just like American youngsters, and the answers were shouted instead of spoken. Again, I would like to emphasize the similarities to American children. The only difference was their slightly diminished command of English, but frankly, that can even be expected of American kids.

“On the second day, I gave essentially the same lesson to see how much they learned. I was very impressed with most of the kids, as they remembered several of the countries from the day before. They had trouble remembering the names of Iran, USA and Brazil, and their Hindi accents made it difficult for them to pronounce the /th/ sound in “north” and “south,” but otherwise, they were very bright. In addition, I observed the kids eating lunch, and again, it was just like lunchtime at an American preschool. About half of the kids brought the recommended chapatti, vegetable and fruit. Several brought “unhealthy” foods like white sandwiches, chips and cookies.

“Finally, Principal Brindula asked me to write a flyer that could be sent home with the parents to make some more specific recommendations about their diet. Using the same data I had collected for my nutritional analysis of KLB hostel, I put together a simple way that the parents could calculate their child’s caloric needs based on age, sex and weight and provided examples for them. I also wrote a chart of healthy and unhealthy sources of fats, carbohydrates and protein that are common in what I have seen so far in Indian diets. While I am sure this will be helpful to the parents, I am not too worried about their overall health. Children have very strong and resilient bodies that can respond positively and healthily to a huge range of diets, whether they are American or Indian. “

All in all, it was a really great experience. Plus I was asked to make brownies for the staff. I swear, by the time I leave here, everybody in Palampur is going to know me just because of my baking. Whatever, I’ll take the ego-stroking when I can get it.