Excerpts of LiveChat with KidZee experts: All you need to know about pre-schooling and curriculum – Part 1

Moms all over India connected with the experts– Ms Sindhu Aven, Head – Academics, Zee Learn Ltd and Mr Dipnarayan Chakraborty, Research Head, Zee Learn Ltd on this LiveChat on BabyChakra on September 5, 2015.

Q: How effective is Montessori teaching beyond level 3?

A: Montessori is very effective for the primary formation years.

Q: Which fine motor skills can my 2.5 years old daughter develop at this age? What can I do in helping her with that? Will she be able to draw with a crayon at this age?

A: You can offer her with various fine motor activities at home like sorting pulses, lacing cards, big colourful beads and a thread and let the child do beading. You can also provide her with a tray of wheat flour and let her doodle in that. Usage of crayons and introduction to writing can begin after three years of age.

Q: How should I ensure that the individual development of my 28 month old twins is not compared with each other?

A: You should provide them exposure to different activities depending on their own interest and refrain from imposing activities which they are less interested in. They would enjoy doing activities which interests them and the chances of building up of negative emotions will be reduced.

Q: My son is 2 years and 10 months old and does not like colouring at all. What can I do to encourage him?

A: You can try exposing your son by giving variety of art materials such as colour pencils, water colours, paints, etc.

Q: My kid is 20 months old. How can I make him more involved in creative activities? He is more into throwing and breaking stuff.

A: At this age there is lot of energy in the child which has to e channelized in various ways. For your child you have to provide him with creative activities of his interest which will instigate creativity in him. Some of the creative activities are letting the child doodle, cutting and pasting activities, colouring, and paper tearing and so on.

Q: My daughter is 4 years old. She doesn’t like extra studies and just follows things given for homework. Is this okay?

A: Yes, at your daughter’s age, only doing homework is good enough assuming she is participating in various activities at school. Also, 4 years is not such an alarming age, if she doesn’t show interest in any other activities. I would suggest you to expose her to variety of activities to find out something which interests her and let her pursue that.

Q: My niece has joined playgroup since 12 days and is unable to adjust there. She throws things, hits other children and is very stubborn by nature. What should I do?

A: Being adults, we need to be patient with the child. As each child is different, their settling periods are also going to be different. For your niece to get more comfortable you can take her on that route on holidays, talk more about the school and the activities at the school.

Q: Which is the best playschool in Kolkata?

A: Selecting a preschool depends on your location, safety of the school and hygiene aspects.

Q: My kid gets bored very easily. Is this normal? What should I do?

A: At this age, children have a very short attention span, so the child might get bored soon but that’s perfectly okay. It is more important to keep the child engaged all the time.

Find this interesting? Read the Part 2 of the Q & As from this Chat.