An otherwise quiet WhatsApp group in the community went buzzing this morning. This group was put together on the sole common element, our children go to the same school and hence share the same bus. Hence when multiple messages popped up, I thought it was in connection with the bus routes or school reopening dates. Instead, I saw messages wishing the children entering grades 10 and 12 this year, the very best of luck. It almost felt like they are about to walk through fire for an entire year. Fire or not, these two years are crucial years, something that is ingrained in our minds as much as we despise it. Coaching takes up time during after school hours leaving little time and interest for casual reading and writing. But should it be that way?
The National Education Policy 2020 strives to bring about several changes to reduce the pressure of board exams, more flexibility, more diverse opportunities, pave the way for students to learn the art of collaboration and enhance their communication skills, to name a few. There a renewed focus on learning the fundamentals and enhancing knowledge expertise in areas of interest and reduce the focus on memorisation for the purpose of excelling in an exam.
The ability to read large volumes of text, decipher the important points and thoroughly understand them, needless to say requires good comprehension abilities. To be able to read something and summarise the essence of it becomes hugely important. It is possible to hone this skill early on a pressure free way- create a platform for children to talk about what they have enjoyed reading. It could be a way to make book recommendations to their peers which would involve thinking of details that a listener would need to easily identify a book and some basic information to enable the listener decide if he or she would like to read the book. In this simple activity, children learn to decipher the important details and understand the concept of target audience and its role in determining the details that need to be shared. With practice this become second nature.
To be able to master the art of reading volumes of text and narrowing down the key details is something that children develop over the years. This is the reason why children's literature covers a variety of age groups and reading levels starting from simple to complex. As your child grows he or she finds their way in the world of books based on their interests provided ofcourse there is access to books and a motivation to read.
Equally important is using writing as a means of free expression. At the Young Readers' Club for example, 8-12 year olds write small entries which could vary from random thoughts/ideas to sometimes small poems depending on their mood. Sometimes it would be thoughts based on what they are reading and other times it would be a set of imaginative ideas in response to a picture. These are then shared informally thus completely taking the pressure off them to produce a quality piece. The content matters first, writing style and edits can come later. That's a dictum that is followed even in the Young Writers' Club- the teenage group. Writing becomes a second nature as children write regularly and they begin to enjoy the process.
Although the creative writing section carries a significant proportion of marks, little attention is paid to this section in terms of prep.
Unlike the hard core subjects that need extensive study and prep, this section of the English paper requires minimal but regular effort. Regularity in terms of practice is the key. Making time to simply contemplate in writing or making notes after reading something can go a long way in enriching one's writing abilities. The ICSE board syllabus emphasizes on essay writing and the CBSE board emphasizes on letter writing and analytical paragraph writing exercises. All these writing applications require a basic knowledge of current affairs and writing clearly and also expression of solid, intelligent ideas/ thoughts. Being inclined to know what is currently relevant needs to become second nature. Writing clearly and impactfully to convey something of importance to the reader at a later point in time, becomes even more important, keeping the future in mind.
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Both weekday and weekend batches are available at the Young Readers' Club. While this program is for the 8-12 age group, the Young Writers' Club program for the 13-15 age group offers a weekly platform to read and discuss curated articles from the news, observe writing approaches and practise one's writing skills.
Need more information? Please fill in the contact form below and we will reach out to you asap.
Both weekday and weekend batches are available at the Young Readers' Club. While this program is for the 8-12 age group, the Young Writers' Club program for the 13-15 age group offers a weekly platform to read and discuss curated articles from the news, observe writing approaches and practise one's writing skills.
Need more information? Please fill in the contact form below and we will reach out to you asap.
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