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My 4 year old daughter, Lisa, taught me yesterday that we should never under estimate the learning abilities of children.
She's in pre-school and came home yesterday with one full page of math homework. I was really upset with the school for having started so early and thought that this was just pushing kids to the limit. However, I was pleasantly surprised. She completed the whole thing- 2+1, 4+5, 5+5 etc etc in less than 10 minutes using all 10 fingers. Very cool indeed.
I also found this link, which describes exactly how she does the simple math:
http://www.thecoloradoindex.com/the_colorado_index/2007/09/on-teaching-mat.html?cid=139939784#comments
I absolutely love this feature. I can actually write in the local languages:
Hindi: मेरा नाम रीना है और में इस फेअतुरे से बेहत कुश हूँ।
Kannada: ನನ್ನ ಹೆಸರು ರೀನಾ. ನನಗೆ ಈ ಫೆಅತುರೆ ತುಂಬ ಇಷ್ಟ ಆಯಿತು.
Malayalam: എന്റെ പേര് റീന. എനിക്ക് ഈ ഫീടുരെ ഒത്തിരി ഇഷ്ടമായി.
Tamil: எனோடு பேரு ரீனா.
Most of the spellings seem fine, except a couple here and there. Absolutely fantastic, strange that I've never tried it before.
We've been trying to decide which is the best school in Bangalore for Lisa and somehow it seems to be Sophia Girls School. The only problem is that it's really quite a distance for Lisa to commute everyday. The second on the list is Bishop Cotton Girls school and it seems to me now that it's most likely that she will go there. I submitted forms to Sacred Heart Girls early this week and I loved the campus very much. Old stone buildings, plenty of trees- lovely environment. What we are looking for Lisa is a place that does not concentrate on only academics but a more holistic approach to developement. Many of them also told me about Baldwin Girls but it's really not on the top of my list atleast.
I've been reading Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger and I must say I am impressed. It is hilarious, entertaining and outrageous. All about Balram Halwai's seven letters to the Chinese Premier, to educate him about the real India before his impending visit.
While many in India might be offended by Adiga's narration of the pathetic life in India, if looked through the eyes of the uneducated Balram Halwai, it is in fact the plain truth about the poor.
Everyone likes the world to know India as the emerging economic powerhouse, as long as the facts about the poor, the homeless and the uneducated are brushed away under the carpet.
Being brought up in Bangalore, I have seen how this place has grown from being a quiet paradise where the rich and famous were sparse, to a city bustling with people from all rungs of society, from every state, hoping for the "Bangalorean dream" to come true. Adiga is surely exposing the real India not just to the rest of the world but to some Indians who like to run away from the truth.
Lisa turned 4 on Sept 3rd. Here are some pictures!
This was supposed to be a plain glossy chocolate cake with a big 4 written on it, but the baker let his imagination go wild!
This weekend we were part of the bicentennial celebrations at St. Marks Cathedral, Bangalore. The Cathedral where we worship every Sunday also the Cathedral where we got married.
All of us were extremely tired but it was fun.
The webpage: www.saintmarks.in has some awesome pictures of the Mass Choir and Children's choir who performed at Bishop Cotton Boys School. Lisa is the tiniest of the lot.
Since I'm not going to bother with a new post, here is a picture of Lisa as Little Red Riding Hood for an even in school.
