Is it fair for children to compete with different starting points? Is it fair to expect children to finish at the same point even though they weren’t given an equal platform? I guess not.
It is completely unfair to let children compete with each other without having the same sort of primary knowledge. For example, I have a child in my class who is from a different school. This child didn’t have the kind of exposure in his previous school like the kind we have in our school. The child is brilliant but he isn’t able to cope with his present surroundings just because he hasn’t had the preliminary exposure and teaching style that our kids have had since the beginning of their schooling. Is it his fault? NO! is it his parent’s fault? NO AGAIN! It is just a play of circumstances. As a teacher, I’m not raffled about what the child has lost in his previous years. I’m instead focused on how to make his life better from here on.
So what is to be done? How to bring the child up to a common platform so he can compete with his peers in the class? The first answer is… Patience. The best way to deal with this child is to have patience and take baby steps. It’s not practical if we introduce him to words and expect him to start reading fluently in a week or a month. We have to be patient. It is ideal to make him learn the sounds and then connect the sounds to make words and eventually sentences. While talking he might not be able to say even a word. Give him time to think, translate and connect. Do not rush him to finish what he wants to say. He might give up after a point of time. Give him his time and he’ll do it.
The second answer is…Persistence. We have to be persistent with our methods. To remember, the child is new. He has to be given time to adjust to his surroundings, new friends, new teaching methods, new concepts and pretty much NEW EVERYTHING. As adults we need to understand his thought process and mold him into the way we want. Be persistent with the methods selected and do not stop until the desired outcome has been reached.
The final one is… love. When such a child comes to us, he expects us to love him for who he is. Every child is special and every child deserves to be loved. When the child knows that he is loved, he’ll jump through hoops for you.
So, it is my humble appeal to all the teachers… please set an equal platform for all the children before you start with the competition. Every child deserves extra attention and it is our duty to give them that. All the best teachers, for your future endeavors. It’s time we bring about positive changes one child at a time.