Young children tend to find the kitchen a compelling place and why not? Their parents are there most of the time, there are refrigerators packed with food, colourful cutlery, cupboards and what not. Some children also have a knack for cooking and like to see their parents cook. Most children find the kitchen an interesting place and may like to participate but as a parent, it's your duty to keep them safe and to set some rules for them.
Social media usage in current times has become equivalent to the air that we breathe in, it’s existence can neither be denied nor overlooked. For today’s Generation Z (10 to 18 years old) social media consumption has nothing but become a day-to-day habit, if not a requirement. It would not be wrong to say that every single morning we open our eyes to social media updates from our friends and family or even those whom we otherwise might not know.
The boost in the technology sector in the 21st century has definitely ushered in a lot of change, even in the education industry. From smart boards to fun apps, the education has become easier than ever. But the question is how far are the ed-tech based startups helping a child prepare for a lucrative career? How are mathematics based apps making learning the so-called 'difficult subject' fun and easy?
"Giving birth does not make her a mother. Placing a child for adoption does not make her less of one." Although the reasons behind adoption can vary from parent to parent, it is often about how one can change the life of an adopted child for his/her betterment.
The first five years of a child’s life are the most important wherein their brain develops faster than at any other time in his life. A child’s early experiences – the things he sees, hears, touches, smells and tastes – stimulates his brain, creating millions of connections. This is when the foundations for learning, health and behaviour throughout life are laid down. However, a significant challenge is the lack of awareness of the benefits of a structured preschooling experience. Back in the day, most parents were comfortable sending their child to the nearest preschool, purely due to the lack of awareness on the merits of early childhood education.
With India’s total import-export value pegged at $201 billion in the first quarter of FY 2019-20, international trade is booming for India. Such rapid growth, along with increasing connectivity between countries and firms indicates that today's businesses are aggressively looking for expansion on a global scale.
“If you want to teach English literacy, the medium of instruction in your school is English. If you want to skill students with the capacity for creativity to the same level, the medium of instruction in the school needs to be creative.” – Ken Robinson
The purpose of education is to ensure the flourishing of the individuals characterised by the 'goodness' of character and 'goodness' of intellect, Aristotle said. Unfortunately, character building has taken a back seat. Compelled by the overall eco-system,the entire focus seems to be on maximising the academic performance. The race for college admissions in a fiercely competitive environment and shrinking job opportunities have left very little room for the students to pair their passion and interest with the need to build a strong character. The reality of life skills, critical thinking, the appetite for risk and adaption to a multicultural environment being among the top hiring characteristics, has not deterred the race for a high academic score. Ron Miller, one of today's significant thinkers on holistic education, puts it succinctly, "Education today, is not a collaborative art of mentoring and nurturing the young, but a frenzied scramble to succeed according to some external measure of success.”The significant challenges in the education system occur on account of the following:
Homeschooling or home education is considered to be one of the best ways to educate children in modern times. Though homeschooling can be stressful, it can be quite rewarding too given its umpteen perks. In the United States, there are about 1.7 million homeschooled students. India is also catching up, with many parents now opting for homeschooling especially in the urban areas. However, parents must be prepared to make that extra commitment and become an effective teacher, failing which, homeschooling is a bad idea.
Sibling fights is a common sight in many families. It can be quite disturbing for parents to watch their kids pick on each other for trivial issues. Conflicts spoil peace and resolving them is stressful for everyone. Many parents are in a fix as to what to do when kids are at each other’s throats and the living room looks more like a venue for a wrestling match. The best way to tackle the situation is to maintain a cool demeanor and take measures to promote peace at home and help siblings get along.
The new academic year has already begun. Children are excited to go to school and meet their friends and teachers. Among the many agendas, mothers are worried about how to make the lunch box interesting and visually appealing to those discerning eyes. There are many creative ways to pack your children’s lunch box. Garnish the food with natural colours while packing in enough nutrition. Prepare the meals fresh so that it can provide health benefits to your children. This year, make sure your child's lunch goes straight into their stomachs and not into the trash bins.
During the days of the British Raj, an engineer was widely respected for his profession and enjoyed a great stature in the society. Post-independence, until a decade ago, students wanted to pursue engineering if they were not able to crack the medical entrance exams. However, in the recent times, with the evolving job market, many companies prefer candidates with new age skills. This has led to many students pursuing vocational or online courses and undergoing skills training instead of engineering. However, very recently, many new streams have emerged which the students can consider.
Children between the age group of nine to 12 years also called the tweens, desire to be like the teenagers. In the process, they exhibit negative behaviors such as arguing, yelling, lying, bunking school, and secret outing with friends. At this stage, you cannot employ the discipline strategies that you used when they were little kids. In many parts of the world, tweens think it is a cool behavior to indulge in alcohol and smoking without the knowledge of the parents. Therefore, not disciplining the tweens can lead to dangerous consequences. Parents should employ age appropriate discipline strategy to prevent their children from committing serious mistakes and can impart life lessons.
Reverence for one's parents is deeply embedded in Indian families. Children deem it their moral duty to look after their aged parents and elders. In the last few decades, our society has undergone massive transformation in terms of family structure. As a consequence of the social transformation and evolving lifestyles, many of the older parents are landing in old age homes. The mushrooming of nuclear families especially in urban India, has led to steadily increasing number of old age homes.
With technology advancing at a rapid pace, it has influenced every sector, and education is no exception. By 2025, one-third of the global population is going to be made up by the youngest generation: Generation Alpha, also known as the iGeneration. Generation Alpha is considered to be the children born between 2010 and 2025. This will be the first generation entirely born in the 21st century. These children are considered to be the most technologically savvy demographic cohort till date.
We exhibit aggression under various situations, threats and pressures. As adults we have better control over their negative impulses, but children lack the ability to express their anger in non-violent ways. Younger children vent their aggression through violent behaviors such as kicking, biting, and hitting. While older children express their aggression through bullying, fighting, and teasing. It has become imperative for educational institutions to employ different strategies to curb aggression in children.
Although we are incontrovertibly living in the most materialistic era in human history, the world is witnessing a steadily rising trend among the youth who are driven by a desire to contribute to the welfare of the society. Many youngsters today accord high priority to community service, sometimes higher than a lucrative career. Even those employed full time are keen to engage in social activism in their spare time and make the world a better place to live in.
Today’s dynamic corporate scenario is witnessing an unprecedented growth of e-business or e-commerce as it is popularly known. E-business refers to integration of ICT with business processes so as to enhance an organisation’s competitive strength. Companies must assess global markets and foray online in developed countries as well as in the emerging economies to explore the technology of global e-business.
Children instinctively depend on their parents for love, care and support. Kids get motivated when parents encourage them and get demotivated when they fail to do so. Many a times, parents give undue attention to the younger child while not giving enough attention to the older ones. In mixed families, parents favour their biological children over the step-children while in patriarchal societies, parents display extreme affection for the male child.
Parenting is one of the most beautiful and enriching experiences of one's life. However, raising more than one child at the same - time be it twins or triplets - can become quite demanding. While multiples are a bundle of joy, caring for them could become quite hectic. It could involve months of sleepless nights, changing diapers and feeding and therefore, an exhausting phase for the parents.
Steve Jobs once said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it, keep looking. Don’t settle”. At present times, choosing the right career path is one of the major challenges faced by the youth.
Education these days is not limited to merely fetching degrees from reputed colleges. The competency of a job candidate is based on the skills acquired by him/her. Vocational courses can help students hone their talents and skills, leading them to a great career and future.
It's summer time, the kids are all out soaking in the heat and indulging in play and outdoor activities. Parents must be extremely cautious during the summers because the soaring temperatures can cause the kids prickly heat rashes. Usually, excessive perspiration blocks the sweat gland ducts and it gets trapped underneath the skin. This results in irritation, redness and the sometimes even itchy heat rashes. Besides the heat rashes, children can succumb to other skin eruptions as well. We bring to you the various kinds of summer rashes in kids and what measures should be taken pre or post a rash.
According to India Skill Report 2019, while engineering students have maximum employable talent with 57%, the major roadblock that comes when they go to work in industries is practical learning. Recognizing this, 83% of students are willing to participate in apprenticeship programs to have hands-on training in an industry.
Eating healthy at all stages of life is always beneficial be it a kid, teen or an adult. An Indian meal is incomplete without signature-lip smacking dishes, mouth-watering snacks and a wide variety of sweets. People tend to find various reasons to indulge in sweets - be it a get-together, festivals, parties, dine-outs or social gatherings. This leads to overeating, adding on empty calories and consumption of unhealthy foods. It often seems difficult to maintain a healthy eating regime in the family. According to Navneet Singh, VP and head of Southeast Asia region PureCircle, you can follow the following simple tips to ensure your family stays healthy year round.
"A step-family is a fundamentally different structure and it makes a different foundation for relationships than a first-time family," says psychologist Patricia Papernow, Ed.D, a member of the National Stepfamily Resource Centre’s expert council and author of Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn't. But here’s a quick question. Do you believe that a stepfamily is a chance at love and growing into new families or on the contrary, do you believe that step-families are only filled with confusion, bitterness and difficulties in adaptation? The concept of a step-family is as complex as the psychological one. But the most affected in this process are the children, who largely suffer through divorces and re-marriage situations. Children are predominantly at risk if there is a conflict between the biological parents, if the divorce condition is very long-winded resulting in loss of important relationships that can hinder a child’s psychological development.
Traveling can be fun and hectic at the same time, especially if children are going along. Many a time, parents are so worried about what should or should not be packed. In confusion, parents end up packing everything that the child insists upon carrying, including the soft toys placed on their beds. So what are the do's and don’ts. What should be the checklist? In order to make the trip safe and fun for children and parents, we bring to you some useful tips for parents while traveling with their kids.
Every year SSC conducts SSC MTS (Multi-Tasking Staff) recruitment exam to fill the vacant job profiles in General Central Service Group ‘C’ Non-Gazetted and Non-Ministerial posts in various central government offices. With just 8300 vacancies for the lakhs of candidates, a well-structured study plan and a sound preparation strategy is a must to help you crack the SSC MTS exam 2018-19.
A 21-year-old girl suffering from extreme depression was diagnosed with suicidal tendency after a graphoanalysis session conducted by Naveen Toshniwal, a Jaipur based grapho-therapy specialist. The girl was suggested to immediately practise particular strokes in handwriting which she did diligently. Following the grapho-therapy, she overcame the crisis in six weeks’ time.
Pope Francis once said, “The cross is the word through which God has responded to evil in the world”. To challenge the evil and as a major contribution to peace just after World War I, an international commission known as International Federation of the Red Cross Societies (IFRC) General Assembly to League of the Red Cross Societies (LORCS) endorsed the World Red Cross Day as an annual event. This day is celebrated on May 8 every year where people pay tribute to individuals who participated in the Red Cross Movement and commemorate their contribution. This annual observance aims to support people who suffer from infestations of diseases, war outcomes and natural calamities. Local heroes are validated with humanitarian awards that have made an indispensable impact on protection of life and rescue. This day not only persuades people to protect their own lives but moreover, ensure dignity of the victims.
A concept that originated in the US, 'Size Zero' refers to extremely thin individuals, or trends associated with them. Quoting the Washington Post, “Models are as thin as twigs because that’s what a vast number of designers and fashion editors want…if models want to work, they have to fit the clothes. They lose weight. The samples get smaller, they lose more weight.” This clearly depicts a growing trend to be size zero as a form of social acceptance. On one side, the fashion industry requires models to be thin and lean but on the other side, there are models who exhibit different viewpoints.
With the shifting geopolitical landscape and the rise of terrorist nation-states, conventional approaches to conflict resolution and nuclear deterrence is becoming increasingly ineffective. The threat of nuclear retaliation has failed to rein in terrorist groups and suicide bombers who are willing to sacrifice their own lives to wreak destruction upon their political and religious rivals.
It is always not easy for the parents to understand their wards behaviours. Parenting can be made easy, in case they learn the different stages of neurological development in children. According to research those parents who understand the neurological behaviours, are better able to guide their children toward positive outcomes. We bring to you the different stages of neurological development in the children according to Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. The knowledge of the neurological development can help the parents in supporting and bringing up their kids.
Irrespective of digital advancements and the social media invasion, most of us still like to enjoy our day off exploring the world within the pages of a good book. Today the world celebrates World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day, or International Day of the Book, which was conceptualised by the UNESCO. It is observed across the globe on April 23 in order to celebrate the joys of reading and to inculcate a love for reading in children and youth. The main objective of the World Book Day is to promote reading, publishing, and copyright and celebrate the work of the great authors across the globe. On the occasion, we bring to you ten best-selling books of the 21st century.
- Ronita Torcato The Maharashtra government has nullified its order on implementing the three-language policy in schools following widespread protests against the perceived imposition of .....Read More
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