The last Child development promotional activity I was involved in, at the place from where I shall retire on 30th June, 2023 was a temporary exhibition of a Child's corner, created in the foyer of the department. To me that was a momentous occasion!
During the time of COVID pandemic, we realised that pre-school children were denied schooling for two years. Those at three and four years, who longed to have a pre-school experience had to be content with on line contacts with the class room experience. This virtual experience reduced children to be media bound for long hours at home, depriving them of all the social engagements associated with travel to school, meeting other children in the class room and the game field, participating in different group activities, etc. Parents mentioned to us during that time that they were bereft of ideas to engage children at home. They too therefore consented children to watch the programmes in the visual media, most of which were cartoons and fantasising stories and caricaturing.
As early as 2019, we became suspicious that the toddlers visiting us with reduced language output had spent more time watching the visual media programmes than the usual experiences they would have had had, during the normal times of engaging with parents and other children. It was this realisation which led us to upload two videos in the U tube, initiating a campaign for creating a Child's Corner for pre-school children at home. Since that time some parents began to think about it.
Out of 240 visits of children to the department for consultation in May 2023, 126 were younger than five years. Among them 72 percent had primary language acquisition dysfunction following the development of normal language skills in the first year of life.
I felt that it would be appropriate to have an exhibition for the staff, working in the Medical College to have a visual experience of a Child' corner at home. The exhibition , the first photo above, was only for one afternoon. Although it did not elicit the expected response, I felt encouraged by a professional from the Community Medicine department taking time to understand the philosophy and ethos of such a family initiative towards child development.
It was the last of the initiatives in child development that I was part of, since the department started in 2012!
As I move on and foresee to 'lead a quiet life, work with my hands and mind my own business', I feel overwhelmed by some original initiatives of the last eleven years to promote child development at home with active parental involvement!
In February, 2023 I completed forty years of full time involvement in Child Development, spending time to have a first hand experience of the childhood dilemmas and parenting challenges.
I feel that I was on a journey to learn from children and parents. I send the flowers below, from our garden to about ninety thousand children and their parents, whose visits for consultations enlarged my thoughts and introduced me to details and insights that I could not find in books and journals or presentations at conferences.
Thos children and their parents became my path finders! You visited me and left me with a path to pursue in child development, different from what I was made to learn while in training. You had a song to sing while struggling for ways to develop into your optimal abilities. You left me surprised and inspired about your resilience to aspire to live beyond your limitations.
Children and Parents, you were what I needed in the desert of living, when I had more questions than answers! You visited me and have opened your hearts to show me the way! You were my companions in my formation of perspectives in Child Development.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment