REFLECTION ON IEP 2004-2005 BY PARTICIPANTS

Part 2:  A Parent’s View

Values play a vital role in our life.  Even though we talk a lot about them to our children, the questions whether we practice them in our day to day life is a delicate one, so children must know right from the wrong and take apt decisions, from their young age itself.

Values education as such is not emphasized in our curriculum, so we parents decided that this IEP class was the appropriate place for our children to analyze the values aspect of life.  Now I feel that they have some idea about their physical, vital, psychic and mental being.  Definitely this was the programme’s aim and certainly to has been achieved by choosing an attractive play-way method, which glued our children to the class. You won’t believe that it has become their favourite place now. 

I must definitely mention the Suryanamaskaram and breathing exercises, which have become regular habits of the children. Now they are able to reflect their inner feelings and balance beauty, truth and goodness in their daily activities. I find that my daughter Meenakshi is able to concentrate in her work and has reduced the number of her petty fights with her friends.

I take this opportunity to thank all the Co-ordinators and facilitators of this programme.  Initially they did face some difficulty in maintaining silence among the children.  Now they must be proud to have moulded the children in Mother’s way.  They have shown the children an alternative path, and we hope that our children will have a smooth travel in it.

- Veerappen Alemelu

The Mother on Education

The education of a human being should begin at birth and continue throughout his life.

Indeed, if we want this education to have its maximum result, it should begin even before birth; in this case it is the mother herself who proceeds with this education by means of a twofold action: first, upon herself for her own improvement, and secondly, upon the child whom she is forming physically. For it is certain that the nature of the child to be born depends very much upon the mother who forms it, upon her aspiration and will as well as upon the material surroundings in which she lives. To see that her thoughts are always beautiful and pure, her feelings always noble and fine, her material surroundings as harmonious as possible and full of a great simplicity—this is the part of education which should apply to the mother herself. And if she has in addition a conscious and definite will to form the child according to the highest ideal she can conceive, then the very best conditions will be realised so that the child can come into the world with his utmost potentialities. How many difficult efforts and useless complications would be avoided in this way.

Education to be complete must have five principal aspects corresponding to the five principal activities of the human being; the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic and the spiritual. Usually, these phases of education follow chronologically the growth of the individual; this, however, does not mean that one of them should replace another, but that all must continue, completing one another until the end of his life.