ParentsWorld April 2019

Creative summer options for active children

To provide millennial parents options beyond signing up their progeny for normative summer activities, ParentsWorld presents some enjoyable, creative, off-the-beaten track indoor and outdoor activities for children in the summer holidays – K. P. Mailini, Mini. P & Cynthia John

The eight-week summer holidays, which begin this month in India for most schools, evoke contrasting emotions […]

The Buddhist pilgrimage circuit

With the resurgence of global interest in the gentle, compassionate and self-sacrificing message of Gautama Buddha, the Buddhist trail or circuit stretching from Nepal to Bihar has been experiencing a rush of pilgrims and tourists

Like the New Testament which recounts the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (1-33 AD), the biography of Gautama Buddha (536-486 […]

Enabling children to adjust to new city/school: Suncity School, Gurgaon

PW invited parents of Suncity School, Gurgaon, to share insights on how they enabled their children to adjust and adapt to a new city and/or school

“Ten years ago when we moved back from the US, my daughter Shriya (class XII) was seven years old. When she was enrolled in class II, she was obliged […]

Bitter gourd pickle

INGREDIENTS

+ 2 bitter gourds (pavakka)
+ 1 tsp mustard
+ ½ tsp roasted and powdered fenugreek seeds
+ 2 inch piece ginger
+ 20 cloves garlic
+ 3 small onions
+ 10 green chillies
+ 4 sprigs curry leaves
+ ½ tsp turmeric
+ 4 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder
+ ½ cup gingelly/sesame oil
+ […]

Lucky lauki kofta curry

INGREDIENTS

For the kofta

+ ½ bottle gourd
+ ¼ cup gram flour
+ Salt to taste
+ ½ tsp turmeric
+ ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
+ 2 tbsp corn flour
+ ¼ tsp garam masala powder
+ Oil for deep frying

For the onion-tomato paste

+ 2 tsp oil
+ 1 finely chopped onion
+ 2 […]

Masor Tenga

Assamese fish curry with ridge gourd

Ingredients

+ 4 pieces Rohu/ Catla fish
+ 1/2 tsp salt
+ 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
+ 1/2 cup mustard oil
+ 1 chopped ridge gourd
+ 4 chopped tomatoes
+ 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
+ Juice of 1/2 lime

Preparation Guide

+ Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder on […]

Good Gourd

The not-so exotic gourd vegetable — bitter, ivy, ridge and bottle varieties — is rich in nutrients and offers many health benefits. For instance, bitter gourd stabilises blood sugar levels, destroys parasites in the digestive canal, and cools the body (ideal on a hot summer day).

All gourds contain essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, manganese […]

Treating infant cold infections

Treating infant cold infections: ParentsWorld spoke to child nutritionists and paediatricians to suggest effective ways of treating cold symptoms of infants – Cynthia John

New-borns and infants are more susceptible to cold infections as their immunity systems are still developing. Since they are too young to express discomfort and vocalise pain through loud and continuous crying, […]

Heart to Heart

Do you want to make a difference to society?

There are many ways in which we can make an impact on the lives of others. We can protect the environment, create awareness of social needs and reach out to help those who are in need.

The satisfaction of making a difference is inestimable. PW Kidzone gives you […]

Rising demand for footwear professionals

With high-end leather and footwear multinationals shifting sourcing and manufacturing to India, promising career options have opened up for footwear professionals

Endowed with the world’s largest — and arguably most abused — livestock (cattle, buffalo, sheep and goat) population of 512.5 million head (2017), it’s hardly surprising that India’s footwear industry, with an annual sales turnover […]

Spoken Word Poetry

A performance art, spoken word poetry is written and intended for stage performance – Jayalakshmi Vaidyanathan

Just when poetry was being written off as old-fashioned and out of tune with the social media age, it has emerged in a new avatar — spoken word poetry. A performing art, spoken word poetry is written and intended for […]

The language of Mathematics

Every mathematical number or symbol has a corresponding word or phrase. Mathematics has a language of its own – Roopa Banerjee

Mathematics is associated with numbers and symbols. But, it’s also associated with intriguing words. Every mathematical number or symbol has a corresponding word or phrase. Math has a language of its own. The deeper we […]

3 summer reads

Here are 3 interesting summer reads

The Tintin series by Hergé (Casterman, 1929-1976)

The much-loved comic hero Tintin turns 90 this year! Tintin, the Belgian investigative reporter created by Georges Prosper Remi who wrote under the pen Hergé, has fans across generations and countries, with the comic series being published in over 70 languages.

It’s never too early […]

Is talc powder safe for children?

A friend recently told me about the dangers of infants inhaling talcum powder, especially baby powder. I wish I had not used it so liberally when my older two children were infants — my youngest is still six months old. Our entire family uses talc on the face. Does inhaling it cause breathing difficulties? — […]

Help! My son’s stammering is getting worse

My seven-year-old son stammers. I was advised to wait and watch. But it has only become worse. We are trying speech and language therapy sessions but there’s little improvement. My son too is becoming frustrated. Please advise. — Shruti Prasad, Bangalore

Stuttering aka stammering is a speech disorder which affects 5 percent of children. But most […]

Obsessive-compulsive disorder in children

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which an individual has uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that she needs to repeat continuously

Does your child indulge in a series of repetitive actions? Is she gripped by strong obsessions and unwarranted anxiety? Is she slow in getting ready for school […]

Making homes child-safe

Young children are naturally curious and accident prone. If left unsupervised for even short periods of time, they are likely to place themselves in harm’s way. Therefore it’s important that parents take special care to make their homes child-safe to prevent accidents. Here are 10 common household safety hazards and dangers parents must watch out […]

Children use too much toothpaste

Most children use too much toothpaste, and run the risk of having streaky or splotchy teeth as they get older, says an early February report of the US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the report based on a survey of parents of 5,000 children aged 3-15 years, 40 percent of three-six-year-olds used […]

50 percent of children’s cancers go undetected

Almost half of childhood cancer cases worldwide go undiagnosed, says a team of Harvard University researchers who analysed data of the World Health Organisation. The report published in Nature (March) says that in 2015, 397,000 children under-15 globally were afflicted with cancer, and 43 percent of these cases were undiagnosed.

The figures are much higher than […]

India’s hosts world’s largest population of stunted children

Only 9 percent of Indian children in the age group six to 24 months receive adequate nutrition, says Alok Kumar, advisor to the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, India’s government think tank.
“One-third of children in India are growing up stunted, and tackling malnutrition is a major challenge for India. The main reason […]

E-cigarette vape unsafe for children

Believing that exposure to e-cigarette vape i.e, vapour, is safe for children, parents are increasingly vaping at home and in the car, reveals a study published in Pediatrics (March). The study conducted by the Massachusetts General Hospital, USA which surveyed 750 parents, found that 56 percent of both e-cigarette and dual users reported using e-cigarettes […]

Right choice

I was homeschooled from class V onwards by my mother. It was a stress-free and enjoyable experience which is why I have decided to homeschool my three children.

Unfortunately the mainstream education system hasn’t changed since I was a child. It is too straight-jacketed and oppresses the creativity and natural curiosity of children. The biggest advantage […]

Letter from the Managing Editor

Once upon a time, the six-eight weeks summer holidays were a time of rest and relaxed recreation for parents and children with both taking a well-deserved break from stressful school routines. It was usual to pack the children off to grandparents’ homes where children spent their time in unstructured play with cousins and friends in […]