OBSERVATION — WHY, WHAT AND HOW TO OBSERVE
A Workshop for Parents to Nurture Children’s Natural Playfulness and Creativity
There is no shortcut to understanding children. The only way is to OBSERVE, OBSERVE and OBSERVE.
Our current understanding, rooted in Western paradigms, often leads to misconceptions. The concept of parenting as we know it today is a relatively modern invention.
Our current understanding, rooted in the Western paradigm, is fundamentally flawed. The concept of parenting, as we know it today, is a relatively modern construct. In the West, it was only a generation ago that parenting workshops were unheard of, and there was little confusion about how to care for children. This is a relatively recent development, which has since spread to the non-Western world, particularly among the so-called highly educated.
When you learn directly from children about their nature, you adopt a process-oriented approach, yielding authentic insights. This is only possible when you’re unencumbered by preconceptions and theoretical frameworks, and you create a minimally intrusive environment.
Children utilize their senses as a primary cognitive tool, cultivating a process-oriented approach through playful exploration of their surroundings. They embody a discovery mode, characterized by openness, creativity, and fearlessness.
In contrast, educated adults possess distinct cognitive systems, honed for analyzing information through their educational experiences. As a result, their senses often become dormant, and their natural inclination for exploration and openness diminishes.
This is a concerning phenomenon, as children inevitably imitate the behavior of adults around them, thereby suppressing their innate, process-oriented nature.
This workshop invites adults to rediscover their senses, cultivate openness, and reclaim their process-oriented nature — all by learning from children.
Understanding Children: Talk at Un-Parenting Workshop at Chennai
Objectives:
• Provide parents with an opportunity to understand the true potential in their children.
• Highlight the shift in cognitive processes between children and educated adults.
• Encourage parents to reconnect with their senses, embrace openness, and regain a process-oriented mindset.
PROCESS and HIGHLIGHTS
In addition to the facilitator’s presentation, two or three parents who have systematically observed children for about a year will share their journeys. Through regular observation, documentation, and reflection, they have gained valuable insights in the following areas.
The parents will share their insights on the following topics:
1. Playful Exploration: How children learn about the real world through self-directed play, facilitated by a toy-free home environment and inclusive household activities.
2. Language Development: How children create strategies for communication and recreate language.
3. Sensory Integration: How children organize sensory inputs to form abstract concepts.
4. Value Development: How children develop values and how we unintentionally undermine them.
5. Aesthetic Development: How children cultivate an organic and natural sense of order and beauty.
6. Cognitive Toy Creation: The cognitive processes involved in children’s creation of toys.
7. Drawing as a Cognitive Tool: How children utilize drawing as a means of cognitive exploration and expression.
8. Self-Directed Literacy: How children learn to read and write independently.
How schools and toys are systematically damaging children ? — Jinan KB (PART #1)
Key Concepts that will be explored during the sessions:
1. Implicit Knowledge in Children:
• Children begin to develop ‘implicit’ knowledge from the age of 7 through exploration of the real world.
• Emphasis on the importance of allowing children to explore independently.
2. Cognitive Contrasts:
• Children use senses as cognitive tools, playfully exploring their environments, and adopting a process-oriented approach.
• Educated adults, in contrast, analyze information learned during their educational process, often leading to a loss of sensory engagement and exploration.
3. Learning from Children:
• Acknowledgment that adults can learn valuable lessons from children’s open, creative, and daring approach to discovery.
• Encouragement for parents to adopt a more childlike mindset in certain aspects of their lives.
Modern Parenting Damaging Children
Contact Information: Feel free to reach out for queries via WhatsApp/call: +91 7592013231.
Venue: THANAL, KIRALUR, THRISSUR, KERALA, INDIA
Dates — JANUARY 10 11 12 (10 AM 10th to 3 pm 12th)
Contribution: Adults Rs. 9000 (Non-Indians $180) Children 7 to 14yrs — Rs 6500, Btw 3 to 7 years — Rs 4000. (Fees include stay, food, and materials required for the workshop)
Feel free to reach out for queries via WhatsApp/call: https://wa.me/917592013231
REGISTRATION LINK: https://tinyurl.com/mvy9uwuw
