Learning with Garden

Garden is the part of our life and learning. Almost every morning we spend in garden....cleaning, sowing seeds, harvesting, watering, taking photos or just appreciating natural beauty around! It never cease to surprise us with it's ever changing nature.

Garden has sensitized Ashna in different way than Megh. She does watering but not much interested in sowing seeds, plantation, taking care of plants or any other gardening stuff. She just observes. Sometimes finds craft ideas from flower, leaf, bark, twig etc. I often find her calling me " Mommy, come soon there is something......." Anything no matter how tiny it is hardly goes out of her eyesight.....a new insect or butterfly or bird, nest, egg, insect colony anything that she never found before makes her excited and even though we have small patch of land it happens often! For her everything in nature is amazing no matter it's just a crushed and half decayed leaf, a butterfly wing, dry petal of flower anything.

Before two years I brought Homibhabha Science Centre's Small Science series of books and planned Std. 4th's Chapter no. 1- Living together, it's about how all life forms connected with each other in nature. I started typical bookish way and found her bored. Then collected pictures of all birds, animals, insects etc. we can find around us and made cards. Told her to draw lines  with pencil between all of them showing whose connected with whom. She had created a big complex net on floor completely out of her observation showing ultimate source of energy is Sun. For her it was fun. And for me once more it's realization of the truth that nature teaches us in her own beautiful way.

Her observation and interest in life around lead her to taking photos and then capturing beauty of nature as much as possible. Again one more realization that whether we know or not we always keep learning.

Learning with gardening

Today morning while taking breakfast I was talking about Mr. Masanobu Fukuoka and his method of natural farming from the book 'The one straw revolution'. Megh was listening curiously and his eyes were shining with amazement. Then I stopped as I have read only few pages and he pleaded to tell  more. He was so immersed into this unique method of farming without digging, weeding, composting or using chemicals and wishing like this talk never end.

 

Gardening is his favorite activity since long. When we moved to our current home Megh was 2 year old and he immediately made connection with garden. Digging soil, watering plants and other gardening stuff he took on his little shoulder! Every morning he used to spend hours just being in garden. I was very much into Montessori Method and keen to provide all sensory experiences to him but I realized he himself arranging all sensory activities just being in garden! So I gave up everything and let him be with Mother Nature. Often found him slipping to meditative state with the touch of soil and water.

We are growing some veggies and fruits for years and were planning to grow veggies of our requirement since long but somehow couldn't till we acquired motivation from OTG group on FB. People growing own food in whatever space available to them, sharing their experiences, happily sharing their harvests etc....all these moved us out of our lethargic state.

At 2-3 year  Megh enthusiastically joined us in setting up our Butterfly garden. At 8 he is same just added some more interests. But still when we are in garden he is fluttering around us, helps sometimes but most of the time has independent ideas and experiments in his mind. Sharing some of them...


I was thinning red amaranths. When seeds are directly sowed, thinning is required to provide proper room and nutrients for healthy growth of plants. But it is something I don't like to do, Megh knows and resonates with my feeling. He also came to know from my talk with Nikhil that Amaranths can grow bigger, have flowers and then seeds. So, he asked one sapling from me and then prepared a pot and planted it. We were new to growing amaranths and not sure it will grow or not as sapling was delicate, his pot was small and he tied it with copper wire (!)  so it don't fall during heavy wind! But he was sure and his plant grow nice and have flowers! Now waiting to collect seeds.

Before any trimming or pruning we need to take his permission, cutting or removing any plant is almost impossible here....have to assure we will grow many more. He truly feels that hurts plants. We have prepared lawn as I wished children should have place to play in garden but since he visited a FB page "Grow food, not lawn" that was his plan to remove lawn for making space to grow food. Ashna was against removing lawn and they both had their own arguments...but as soon as he found sunny weather last month he applied his plan rigorously pull it out ! Today that lawn area is filled with pots growing veggies.






He has seen some videos on growing tomatoes and keep guiding us on different stages from sowing seeds to pollination. Prepared and preheated soil under sunlight before sowing seeds  and saplings in his pot grown really fine. You need to transplant deep, it will grow up to six feet, need staking, how tapping helps in pollination, have to remove suckers etc. When he has seen first baby tomato he was on the top of the world and clicked photo that he rarely does!  




After we set Butterfly garden there was no open ground left and he was not happy with that. So have given him a area where he keep growing different plants or experiments building bridges/canals/green houses etc. There is one garlic patch also made by him. 






So this is what he is learning by doing but much more learning happens in nature by just observing, listening and feeling life around. Nature teaches us life's important lessons in many different ways , we just need to be open and receptive. We keep learning just being with her without any burden of learning.


     

Time

Time - very important factor in one's life. We are already conditioned with many stories, proverbs etc. to impose it's importance since early childhood. My father didn't like being slow in any work and mother is always anxious about time. So unknowingly I too have adopted these characteristics. I never like to be slow in anything, always complete my work before time, very punctual when given time to someone and yes as my mother  I too get anxious unnecessarily. I confess I'm still not changed much but completely aware about it.

Last Sunday, I said with bit disappointed tone " Whole day we have done nothing except watching a movie, we had so much work but we have wasted Sunday" and then I hear Ashna  saying " We have had big laugh today!"  Wow! how I can forget that? Since they have seen movie Marry Poppins they are just singing, laughing and dancing!

Since years I'm asking myself  'When will my kids understand value of time and be sincere about time?' With morning school it was always tough to wake up and make Ashna ready for school. Tears and guilt made it more tougher. She is moody by nature and when involved in play or work never remember to look at clock. Even with homeschooling and evening routine of gymnastics making her ready and reaching on time was constant challenge for me and more to my nature. No question about her passion for the sport but she is like that never seems careful about time.

So before 4 years when I planned trip to Junagadh and Gir with children, Nikhil was worried how I will take care of children and traveling all by myself. Ashna was 7+ and Megh was 4+, so it was obviously difficult at once. But they co-operated completely...from taking care of luggage, long train hours, food-living in hotel to getting ready on time for catching train or bus, in everything and we thoroughly enjoyed that trip. And it has build my confidence that I can travel anywhere with children, they will support me and they does.

Still at home and especially with Ashna, time was always a tension until now. She forget her Kathak time if involved in something and someone don't remind her. Megh's sincerity about time I have seen from the day first he has joined swimming class. Even in vacation nowadays he has 3hr morning and 3hr evening routine of swimming that seems really tiresome in these hot days but he is always ready before time. Though I'm bit worried about this, his enthusiasm & passion is enough to keep me moving. In peak winter days too, for Sunday morning routine he used to wake up and get ready on time to reach at class before 7am. Recently Ashna also joined swimming and that too in morning...but with my surprise now she gets up and gets ready on time all by herself!  And also getting punctual in everything!

I have changed lot with my children and learning constantly about myself, how my personality has been built, nature and her rules from them. When you are open to everything and constantly enjoying and learning then there is really no 'time waste' even th on surface it looks so. And awareness about time, reaching somewhere on time, completing task on time etc. takes it's own time and it's different for different child. Just let them flourish on their own, life will teach them whenever and whatever they needed.


 

Words

It happens with me when I'm stuck on a thought and then I find many references around it. Like I am thinking about importance of words, giving name to something etc. Sometimes ago when a friend was worried about her daughter's  study...I felt learning subject is not tough for children, they understand things but difficult part with school is they have to write what they understood and that becomes tough part for most of the children.

Language is an important tool man has invented for expressions. But is there any language for understanding things? Is there any measure how much one has understood the point?  For understanding something language power  is must?

After sports we three return home on my activa...it's routine. From I pick up Ashna from gymnastics class about 6 km away  to home it is our jolly ride. Both sings many of their favorite songs loudly, laughs and have endless talks. Nowadays they love Jodha Akbar's 'Jashne Bahara...' and remembers whole song. Once I asked do they know meaning of Urdu words used in that song? They don't. I tried to explain but they stopped me telling they loves this song as it is, no need of meaning!. They didn't want to dissect this lovely song. Okey....music generated by those words is more important than their meanings?


Found Harivanshray Bachchan's lovely poem on FB. Are our words capable to describe that beauty, that music, that love, that power?

 
While doing Arvind Gupta toys  I never try to 'teach' science behind any toy...not to my children and not to children in other workshop/summer camp. I just like amazing feeling on children's face and don't want to spoil it making it subject of any teaching. But teachers and some parents says what is the meaning of making and playing with toys if we don't teach them science behind them?! What I feel is...when a child makes a toy, even a simple toy... he has to try different skills he already possess and in order to make it working he learns things by trial & error and that is enough.....but more than learning by heart or feeling teachers/parents like to connect it with scientific terms and when they try so I can see science & even toys becomes boring.

Yes...science seems hard field to many. Science is so much around us but still it's difficult subject! It reminds me Richard Feynman's childhood story and famous quote "You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing — that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."

 I think  J. Krishnamurti said, when a child ask why the leaf is green then giving him answer 'it's because of chlorophyll' seems meaningless. But today how many of us explains function and importance of food to our children without using protein and calcium? Do we think, does it make sense to children or not?

Life is simple and language is great tool...then why  make life complex using difficult language/terminology? 

 


 

Clay work

Clay is probably first play thing of human kind...and we all still love to play with it. It's still fascinating.

Megh loves to play with clay since long but he made his first recognizable shape recently of Shivling!  'Oh my God's dialogue  "use kala patthar nahi Shivling kahete he" made Megh suddenly interested in Shivling and made one...took my help making Nandi. Colored and worshiped too! I have made some beads and earrings.

We all had different plan. Me and Megh happy with our single day clay work and Ashna made one red mask attached with key chain ring. She made,break and again made some artifacts but somehow she was not happy with her work. She left it for some days. But one day she amazed me by her creation.

As a little girl she was used to set her barbie dolls in gymnastics position and now making sculpture in dancing position! Nobody taught her but that's why it's beautiful work.

 

Dream is dream either small or big

Two days back Megh learned typing Gujarati on Gujarati typepad and y'day he wrote 'My dream came true. I have build my small hotel and served food. I'm very happy. I earned 8 Rs. in a day.'


Megh made delicious Tuver-ringan (pigeon peas+brinjal) sabzi with green garlic and garnished it with coriander...th he don't like coriander leaves taste. Then when he asked 'why i liked it so much?'...i explained him in detail how aroma and garnishing along with taste makes dishes mouthwatering. Then he asked 'how do we know person liked our recipe or not?' i said 'from the speed he finish it !' Then suddenly i remembered Vithal Kamath's incidence of tasting food out of dish his customer left to check why he left it and told him abt Kamath's book 'Idli,Orchid and me'.....then he became so eager to read it. It is my fav. book but found it's missing from my bookshelf! I brought one from library and Megh has read some chapters. He always love to prepare and serve food...so he is liking Kamat's story. That day he started selling Mamra, made his own cone with logo and charged 2Rs. per cone. Then started taking orders of different recipes he can cook and so does his dream came true!!! 'Dream came true' probably learned from 'Idli,Orchid and me'!

For us this is play but for child you can't differentiates it from learning. Selling mamra or taking food order  everything happening with sincerity. Also learning different recipes himself from you tube. He charged & gathered money to buy supplies for next orders!And from his note come to know that he earned money too!!!

This is still an easy dream but another one is there since long...making own boat! We have floating boat but he want his own boat. Not toy boat or not just raft...want to make boat on which he can go for sailing!  Difficult and frustrating! I tried to divert him by making toy boat, he made and enjoyed but not satisfied. He ask for our help but we can't help making wooden 'Real' boat. He made his ship himself out of this frustration as shown in earlier post of Child's creations. but nothing brought peace to him.

 Sometime back he started making his wooden boat himself without anyone's help. Done all the carpentry work he can do, sanded and painted too. Have seen many videos and websites...th he is not fluent english reader he keeps gathering information from pictures and diagrams mostly. Once during morning walk he explained what is V-hull and why it should be of V shape. Front V-hull cuts water and gives direction and speed ! Name of boat given from his fav. word 'swimming'! Now he want to try it in river. After that he realized fevicol and putty will not stay in water, need stronger structure , need more wood...but still  hasn't give up. We could not help but he followed Rabindranath's poem "Ekla chalo re..."

I probably couldn't express his wish, dream or frustration here in words but if you have any idea which can help me to help him please share with me.

The Healer

Being normal human  I too get tired, irritate, frustrate, go mad sometimes...but then it's life. Most of the time you just needs a caring hand. I'm grateful I have one.

Since his early age Megh loves to use acupressure jimmy...he has seen Nikhil giving me treatment using jimmy and he just imitated. Though with little hands he can not press hard or find proper point but it is always healing and relaxing experience for me. He used to make potion using Tulsi, Ginger, Lemon grass, Cardamom or what ever herbs he finds for stomach pain or headache. Once he just added cinnamon and clove powder to water and it became very good mouth freshener!  He don't know what to use or how it helps but just he wish to help.

It was very busy day, many task on hand since morning, climbing stairs up and down, frustrated due to some reason and badly needed some rest but couldn't find it. Megh came to me "Mummy, what do you like most ?, I want to give that to you" I said "Right now I just need a hug from you" He hugged and said "Peace, I want to give you Peace in gift!!!" Then he went to a room, closed curtains, arranged pillows to make comfortable seating, hold my hand and took me to that room. Requested Ashna "don't disturb" and closed the door. He told me to close eyes, then he sat besides me holding and caressing my hand gently. Hardly five minutes and all my stress gone away , I was relaxed,  happy with my son's gift of Peace!

Last week I had headache and some stomach  problem...he brought a Phudin Hara pill and water along with acupressure treatment so I relax fast. Then with my surprise he came with drum and before he start playing I stopped him "Pl. don't play drum right now" ...i was in trouble and he was hurt by my tone started crying! "I want to play drum in a manner to soothe your pain" !!! Oh God, how many times I will do mistake to know the child.

Life is beautiful even if with pain, with such a healing hand.